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If America’s allies believe that the age of Trump’s populism is over, that impression has been shattered in the past few weeks. When he became president, Joe Biden declared “the return of the United States” on the premise of becoming a calm and experienced politician. But it doesn’t feel that way.
Trump’s presidency has caused serious damage to international relations. Many world leaders believe that the United States’ decision-making is unpredictable on the good side, and reckless on the bad side. This is most prominent in the random and chaotic way of announcing policy decisions through social media, the improper handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the abolition of painstakingly negotiated agreements such as the Iran nuclear deal, and the way many previously trusted allies and institutions, such as the EU and NATO is alienated.
Trump’s policies set a very low threshold for his successor to re-establish the country’s status as a global superpower. As a result, Biden won early praise for his soothing tone of solidarity and for returning the United States to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris climate agreement, from which Trump has withdrawn the United States.
‘Don’t listen to wise advice’
However, the collapse of Afghanistan provides a reality check, and Biden’s approach is strikingly similar to his predecessor. Although the President of the United States has been looking for a way out of Afghanistan for many years, Biden’s handling of the withdrawal belies his reputation for stability and inclusive coordination with close partners.
This may be because Biden has a lot of self-confidence like Trump — or, as his critics are more likely to have, an arrogant personality that prevents him from listening to wise advice. It is thought that his Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense are opposed to leaving Afghanistan suddenly.
Joe Biden’s senior generals recently testified on oath before the Senate Armed Forces Committee that they proposed to keep 2,500 US troops in Afghanistan, which directly contradicts Biden’s statement that he has not received such military advice.
Although there are 7,000 NATO allies that are completely dependent on US infrastructure, the United States barely consulted them when it withdrew from the country 20 years later. The sudden abandonment of the strategic Bagram Airport overnight is an example of this unilateral decision. The United States left its largest base in the country without even notifying its Afghan partner, who woke up the next morning. No electricity. This lack of communication undoubtedly led to the low morale of the Afghan army, which accelerated the takeover of the Taliban.
Biden’s Afghanistan plan echoes Trump’s plan weirdly.
Although the timetable was postponed by a few months, the US government insisted on following the blueprint for resignation negotiated between Trump and the Taliban. This is strange, considering the general tendency of most politicians to quickly deny the plans of the previous government, which is usually politically convenient.
‘Fight against partners’
With the rapid deterioration of the security situation, Biden, who had been silent for many days, finally stood up and defended the withdrawal with Trump’s unmodest words, avoided his own mistakes, and directly attributed the security collapse to the lack of willingness of Afghan partners. These false statements were severely criticized by veterans, who praised the courage of the local army.
After quietly signing the new security partnership “AUKUS” between the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia, Biden continued to follow in Trump’s footsteps and confront his partners. Intelligent, nuclear-powered submarine and innovative defense technology.
This caused Australia to terminate the $66 billion submarine deal signed with France and undermined the latter’s geostrategic plan in the Indo-Pacific region.
France was very angry. They withdrew their ambassador to the United States for the first time in the history of the two countries and recalled their highest diplomat in Australia. Their foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, accused Biden of “savage and unpredictable” behavior, reminiscent of the Trump era.
Britain, which had just gained independence from the European Union, must be happy to strengthen its relations with the United States, while the European Union was forced to win support for its member France. The EU’s call for greater “strategic autonomy” is growing because some member states worry that Biden will be as dismissive as Trump, and in the process undermine the unity of the West.
Although benefiting a lot from this deal, Australia has not been spared from Trump-style embarrassment. Biden seems to have forgotten the name of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a key summit, calling him “That guy”.
Many countries rely heavily on the protection of the United States, so the lack of an inclusive approach with traditional allies will have an impact on broader global security policies.
The United States is one of the two largest contributors to the NATO alliance, providing only more than 16% of the funding. It has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers in Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, and until recently Afghanistan. Will Biden keep their long-term security guarantees intact, or will he continue to follow Trump’s path of relaxing his promises, as he did with Afghanistan?
Targeting blue-collar voters
Biden also adopted Trump’s method on economic issues, retaining most of the protectionist policies of the previous administration. For example, Biden has promoted backflow measures such as “buy American goods” and maintained tariffs on steel and aluminum to protect heavy steel workers in the United States.
These policies are clearly aimed at blue-collar voters who unexpectedly won Trump’s 2016 election, but they also help to consolidate anti-globalization and ignore calls from international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund to cancel them.
Nevertheless, the United States will remain a global player. It is too rich, networked and military powerful to be ignored. As the ratings of his personal opinion polls decline, Joe Biden may learn from his early mistakes and turn his inclusive comments into reality. But as American politics is more polarized than ever before, allies will have to decide whether the United States can become a long-term reliable partner, or whether Trump’s spirit will continue to be reflected in the country’s policies.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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