Biden’s ‘return to normalcy’ pledge faces challenges
By Jorge Castaneda
US president-elect Joe Biden made a “return to normalcy” one of his election campaign’s leitmotifs. After four years of US President Donald Trump’s bald-faced lies, juvenile bullying, gratuitous cruelty and perilous volatility, it was certainly an appealing promise.
However, as Biden himself has said, the world is not what it was in January 2017, when the administration of then-US president Barack Obama in which Biden served as US vice president left office.
So, to what exactly is he planning to return?
Illustration: Mountain People
To be sure, Biden can certainly restore a sense of decorum and decency to the presidency. However, on concrete policy issues especially foreign-policy issues the “status quo” ante would be far more difficult, if not impossible, to revive.
Putin blames US for arms race thestandard.com.hk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thestandard.com.hk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
2020-12-17 18:35:08 GMT2020-12-18 02:35:08(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
MOSCOW, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the United States withdrew from key military agreements and failed to uphold its promises, when responding to a question on Russia s role in the deteriorating relationship between Russia and the United States, during his annual press conference on Thursday. Did we leave the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty? We didn t do that. And we have to respond by creating new weapons systems that can confront threats . then our colleagues [the United States] withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty . and the Open Skies Treaty, Putin said.
new Cold War.
In particular, the journalist mentioned the 2018 Skripal poisoning in Salisbury. Putin cited NATO having broken its promise not to expand eastward as an example of what Moscow perceives as dishonest dealing by Western states: I believe I am personally responsible for the wellbeing of the Russian people, and I will do anything and everything in my power to protect their interests. For example, look at what happened in Crimea.
I did what I did because the Russian people decided it through democratic means. Putin went on to ask why Western countries had imposed sanctions on the citizens of Crimea after the annexation, asking how the residents themselves were responsible.
Putin condemns US withdrawal from key military agreements
By IANS |
Published on
Fri, Dec 18 2020 3:42 IST |
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Russian President Vladimir Putin. (File Photo: IANS). Image Source: IANS News
Moscow, Dec 18 : Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the US withdrew from key military agreements and failed to uphold its promises, while responding to a question on Russia s role in the deteriorating relationship between Russia and the United States. Did we leave the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty? We didn t do that. And we have to respond by creating new weapons systems that can confront threats . then our colleagues (the United States) withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty . and the Open Skies Treaty, Putin said on Thursday during his annual press conference, Xinhua reported.