Sunday, December 6, 2020

Time: Grave new world: How Trump’s disruptions could be Biden’s opportunity

By Kimberly Dozier and W.J. Hennigan

    Although much of the world and even some Republicans were relieved by Biden's election to the presidency, they all know that things cannot go back to normal after what President Trump has done. The NATO alliance is the weakest it's ever been, and relations with enemies are also bad. And to top it off, Biden has to prove to the world that the United States can handle a pandemic. However, this does give Biden a unique chance to completely alter US foreign policy after Trump's "America First" presidency.
    First, Biden must refill all the state and defense level positions that Trump has left empty. Then he has the problem of everything Trump left behind. The trade war with China, handing Jerusalem to Israel, and the floundering NATO alliance. He'll likely have difficulty with many strategies. China has been growing steadily, and Russia took advantage of the Trump area to expand its influence in Europe. One key tool he does have, though, is empathy. Even his biggest rivals recognize it as his strongest point.
    In Europe, Biden has pledged to reenter NATO. President Trump has frequently questioned the defense spending of European countries, and attacked the clause in the treaty that says that an attack on one country is an attack on all countries. This has led many European states to increase defense spending-and allowing Russia to step up its agenda. There are also other things to deal with in Russia, because the New START treaty, which limits nuclear weapons for both the US and Russia, is coming to an end. Moscow has expressed a willingness to negotiate.
    In the Middle East, President Trump blew up attempts at an Israeli-Palestinian two state deal by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and supporting its plans to attack Palestine. On the other hand, he has also brought peace between Israel and other countries, most notably the Abraham Accords. Biden's team will try to preserve the possibility of a two state deal. Iran has ramped up threats over the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and says that it will kick out inspectors if the US doesn't lift sanctions. It says that it is still willing to salvage the treaty with the Biden administration.
    Finally, Asia. Trump has managed to wage a trade war on the expanding country, ultimately forcing it to buy $200 billion in US goods and services over the next two years. Biden, on the other hand, will present a united front with allies in the region, which make up over half the world economy in total, to try to force Beijing to negotiate. With North Korea, Trump tried threatening and wooing, ultimately getting Pyeongyang to the negotiation table and failing to do anything with it. He has also angered allies South Korea and Japan by forcing them to pay for US troops based there. Again, Biden will try to form a more unified front.

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