President Joe Biden sounded all the right notes in his Tuesday address to the United Nations General Assembly. He spoke on the need for global cooperation against pandemics and the climate crisis, as well as the need to counter rising autocracies by means other than warfare.
As an aspirational framework, the speech was admirable and spelled out what the United States should be aiming for. Yet, Biden’s words seemed painfully divorced from the realities on the ground, especially after the White House botched the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and created a spat with France that further undermines NATO.
Those events raise questions about the Biden team’s foreign policy competence, and its commitment to allies. In addition, the divisive politics of GOP Trumpsters are amplifying the world’s questions about whether America still has the capacity to lead.
So, friends and foes listened Tuesday when Biden called for global action on the coronavirus and the climate crisis, as well as on upholding the U.N. human rights charter and shaping new rules on advanced technology. But even our friends question how a viciously divided America can lead in the future. The adversaries gleefully watch America tear itself apart.
Moreover, Biden’s emphasis on allies seemed strangely disconnected from recent White House maneuvers. There was no coordination with NATO allies on the decision to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by Aug. 31, even though the allies had 7,500 troops in the country, three times more than the Americans. The botched departure was a slap at NATO.
A further insult to a NATO ally soon followed, when Biden announced a new security accord with Australia and Great Britain that excluded France. Australia also junked a $66 billion deal to buy French submarines. French leaders were justifiably furious that they were not informed until the last minute.
This is no way to treat a historic ally, at a time when Biden is touting the critical importance of fellow democracies in competing with Beijing. No wonder many pundits are now comparing Biden’s dissing of allies with the tactics of Trump.
This brings us to the issue of China, which was a subtext of Biden’s U.N. speech. Biden stressed that “we are not seeking a new Cold War” but said that “the United States will compete, and we’ll compete vigorously, and lead with our values and our strength.”
And he repeated one of the most important themes of his presidency: “We’ll lead not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.”
In other words, unlike Trump’s tariff wars, Biden recognizes that we can’t compete with China unless we up our game at home in infrastructure, education and technology. And we can’t counter Chinese claims that its autocratic model best suits the 21st century unless we demonstrate that democracy still works.
America is still potentially capable of global leadership — if it pulls together. The Biden team can overcome its mistakes and reboot its methods of operation. And voters can still sideline the crazies who deny Biden’s win, oppose vaccines and have the power to sink this country.
But if all of the above ends in failure, the ideals voiced by Biden at the U.N. will be remembered as so much hot air.
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