President Joe Biden’s first priority upon taking office was to reassure U.S. allies of America’s ongoing security commitments, promising that “America is back.” But that may not offer them the comfort Biden thinks it will. Meanwhile, having followed through on his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Biden must decide what to do about U.S. military deployments elsewhere, while also shoring up America’s security partnerships to deal with a rising China. Learn more when you subscribe to World Politics Review (WPR).
Upon taking office, President Joe Biden made it a priority to repair the damage his predecessor, Donald Trump, had done to relationships with the United States’ long-standing allies and partners, including South Korea and Japan, but particularly in Europe. Early on, Biden reassured European allies of Washington’s commitment to their security, promising them, “America is back. The trans-Atlantic alliance is back.” He followed that up with a successful tour of Europe that emphasized cooperation and a shared vision of the challenges facing the partnership.
Trump’s legacy also hung over Biden’s other early security moves, including diplomatic reengagement with the regime in Iran. Trump’s maximum pressure approach, which included abandoning the 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program, backfired, as Tehran responded by expanding its nuclear activities and assuming a more aggressive regional posture. Biden has jumpstarted multilateral diplomacy in an effort to revive the nuclear deal, but the outcome of those talks remains uncertain.
U.S. soldiers patrol on the outskirts of Spin Boldak, near the border with Pakistan, about 63 miles southeast of Kandahar, Afghanistan, Aug. 9, 2009 (AP photo by Emilio Morenatti).
In other areas, Biden was less eager to break with policies he inherited from Trump. On Afghanistan, for instance, he announced in April that he would follow through on the Trump administration’s deal to withdraw the final 2,500 U.S. troops that remained there, all but completing the drawdown by early August. The subsequent Taliban takeover of the country and chaotic final evacuation by the U.S. and its NATO allies from Kabul was a public humiliation for Biden. It also left many European observers questioning the wisdom of relying so much on the U.S. for their own security, particularly those who argue in favor of enhancing Europe’s “strategic autonomy” in the face of a shift in Washington’s strategic focus to China.
That, in turn, highlighted the work Biden must do to deepen and expand America’s security partnerships in the face of the greatest challenge to U.S. global leadership since the end of the Cold War: an increasingly assertive Chinese leadership under Xi Jinping. Countering that challenge will require continuing to shore up ties with the United States’ Asian allies, while also seeking to solidify nascent partnerships with regional powers—particularly India, but also Vietnam. That won’t be easy, given their reluctance to antagonize China, which remains a principal trade partner for many.
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