President Joe Biden took office with an ambitious foreign policy agenda summed up by his favorite campaign tagline: “America is back.” Above all, that will mean repairing the damage done to America’s global standing by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. During his four years in office, Trump strained ties with America’s allies in Europe and Asia, raised tensions with adversaries like Iran and Venezuela, and engaged in a trade war with China that left bilateral relations in their worst state in decades.
Biden’s agenda is rooted in a repudiation of Trump’s “America First” legacy and the restoration of the multilateral order, reflected in his early moves to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords and the World Health Organization. The COVID-19 pandemic offers Biden a unique opportunity to reassert America’s global leadership role and begin repairing ties that began to fray under Trump. He is also attempting to sell greater international engagement to Americans with his vision of a “foreign policy for the middle class,” which ties U.S. diplomacy to peace, security and prosperity at home.
Despite the multi-front effort, Biden may find it difficult to fully restore a pre-Trump status quo. Countries may no longer be willing to follow the U.S. lead on democracy promotion after the erosion of America’s democratic norms during the Trump era. And Europe, in particular, has recalibrated its relationship with the United States and may no longer be willing to align with America’s approach, particularly the hardening of relations with China and Russia.
It’s not certain that Biden is determined to return to status quo ante, in any case. He will have early opportunities to set his own agenda, particularly when it comes to America’s ongoing military engagements. Having opposed a troop surge in Afghanistan when he was Barack Obama’s vice president, Biden will face an early decision about whether to move forward with a planned troop drawdown there later this year.
But defining his own broader foreign policy vision may initially take a back seat to addressing critical challenges that require immediate attention. That includes engaging with both North Korea and Iran over their nuclear programs, and addressing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.
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