President Biden began his final week in office Monday with a staunch defense of his foreign policy, contradicting his rhetoric that America has grown stronger on his watch.
With seven days left to hand over the White House to President-elect Donald J. Trump, Mr. Biden hopes to use his remaining time to make his mark as a reformist leader who strengthened America at home and abroad even for one term.
The effort began with a speech at the State Department focusing on what he sees as his success in the international arena. He said he has strengthened American alliances in Europe in the face of Russian aggression, and in the Asia-Pacific amid China’s rise. At the same time, he pointed out that America’s enemies – especially Russia, China and Iran – were all weaker than when he took office.
“The United States is winning the global race,” Mr. Biden said. “Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our allies are stronger, our enemies and our rivals are weaker.”
The speech was the first this week aimed at presenting the best case for Mr. Biden as it has come to an end. He will deliver a wide-ranging televised farewell address to the nation at the big time on Wednesday evening, as many presidents have done. He will also deliver remarks this week about his conservation record and at the commander-in-chief’s farewell ceremony at Joint Base Myers-Henderson Hall.
Regarding foreign policy, Mr. Biden is leading a tumultuous time and Mr. Trump blamed him for the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, even though no US troops were directly involved on the ground in either area. Some critics say the idea that the world is on fire and spiraling out of Mr.
“The fact that Biden is handing the presidency back to his predecessor partly reflects the shortcomings of his foreign policy,” said Peter Rough, director of the Center on Europe and Eurasia at the Hudson Institute and a former aide to President George W. Bush.
“For most of his time in office, Biden has been on the defensive, first in Ukraine and then in Gaza,” said Mr. “The presidential liberalism of the 1990s may have been well-intentioned, but it always felt out of step to me with the power politics of the 2020s.”
Still, a new Gallup poll released Monday showed America’s standing in Europe has improved significantly under Mr. Biden. Of the 30 NATO allies surveyed, approval of US leadership has risen in all but four since 2020, Mr. Trump’s last year in office. Approval ratings rose by double digits in 20 of the 30 countries. In Germany, for example, approval of American leadership rose from just 6 percent under Mr. Trump to 52 percent less than Mr. Biden.
When he pulled US troops out of Afghanistan and pulled America out of the longest war in its history, Mr. But the chaos of the withdrawal caused a lot of damage to his and the country’s position in the world.
Mr. Biden rallied the world to resist Russia’s full-scale, unrelenting invasion of Ukraine and revived NATO after relations deteriorated under Mr. Trump, even accepted two new members, Sweden and Finland. He directed billions of dollars worth of American weapons to Ukraine that helped prevent Moscow’s attempt to take over the country.
But Mr. Biden was criticized in two different ways; some complained that he was reluctant to bring more powerful weapons to Ukraine for fear of nuclear proliferation, while others complained that he was investing too much of America’s wealth in someone else’s war. After its first spectacular success, Ukraine’s defense has stalled and Mr. Trump is now promising to end the war with what are expected to be concessions to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.
The war in Gaza that followed the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, was another problem that prevailed when Mr. He stood firm on Israel’s side and provided weapons for all attacks by Hamas, but was ultimately frustrated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who dismissed American pressure to do more to stop the killings and alleviate human suffering.
As in Ukraine, Mr. Biden has faced criticism from both parties. On the other hand, he was accused of not doing more to stop the killing of civilians and called “Genocide Joe” in the protests. On the other hand, he was wrong to put pressure on Israel to restrain itself in the face of the terrorist threat that existed.
But even now, in his last days, Mr. Biden is trying to broker a cease-fire deal that would end the war and result in the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, including several who are American citizens. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Monday that a deal could still happen next Monday, when Mr.
“We’re closer than ever,” he told MSNBC. “The ball is in Hamas’s court but it is very close and we have high hopes that we will reach the finish line, finally, after all this time. We’ve had Lucy-and-ball in the past, when the ball was dropped at the last minute. You will never get that out. But like I said, we’re closer than ever.”
Source link
