Just about every U.S. president promises a new era of U.S. foreign policy. George W. Bush promised to abolish nation building as a goal. Barack Obama promised to make the world, and particularly the Muslim world, like America more. Donald Trump promised a foreign policy that benefited the United States. Joe Biden is promising a foreign policy that reverses the damage Trump did to all of America’s foreign relationships. The operant principle is that the past was bad and the future will be good. And to be good, the bad must be reversed.
But policy represents only the wishes of leaders, not reality. Bush spent his two terms trying to build nations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Jihadism failed to succumb to Obama’s charms. Trump pursued U.S. interests but rarely defined what those interests were. All their intentions were real; the world is just not that compliant.
Readouts of Biden’s conversation with Trudeau, the first he had with a foreign leader as president, and a flurry of press commentary make clear Ottawa and Washington plan to expand their strategic partnership to more aggressively challenge their great-power rivals, above all Russia and China.
Johnson, Biden discuss deepening alliance : PM s office - Expat Guide to the United Kingdom expatica.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from expatica.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
President Biden discussed NATO, climate change and the coronavirus pandemic during his first call as president with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday.
The Energy 202: Biden under pressure to stop utility shutoffs during pandemic washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.