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Politics

¿Una política exterior estadounidense atrofiada?

Feb 8, 2021 Richard Haass

NUEVA YORK – Joe Biden solo es presidente de Estados Unidos desde hace unas pocas semanas, pero los elementos centrales de su enfoque para el mundo ya quedaron en claro: reconstruir puertas adentro, trabajar con los aliados, abrazar la diplomacia, participar en las instituciones internacionales y promover la democracia. Todo esto lo pone directamente dentro de la tradición ampliamente exitosa de la política exterior estadounidense posterior a la Segunda Guerra Mundial que repudió su predecesor, Donald Trump.

Durante su primer discurso sobre política exterior, desde el Departamento de Estado el 4 de febrero, Biden declaró que «Estados Unidos ha vuelto». Enfatizó que el secretario de Estado Tony Blinken lo representa y se esforzó por apoyar tanto a los diplomáticos estadounidenses como a la diplomacia de su país.

Biden también declaró que detendrá la retirada de la fuerzas armadas estadounidenses de Alemania, como lo había ordenado Trump. Es de suponer que para devolver a los miembros de la OTAN la confianza en las garantías de seguridad estadounidenses y enviar al presidente ruso Vladímir Putin la señal de que no debe tratar de usar la temeridad en el exterior para distraer la atención de las protestas en casa.

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Richard Haass

Writing for PS since 2000
159 Commentaries

Richard Haass, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, previously served as Director of Policy Planning for the US State Department (2001-03), and was President George W. Bush's special envoy to Northern Ireland and Coordinator for the Future of Afghanistan. He is the author of The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens (Penguin Press, 2023) and the weekly Substack newsletter “Home & Away.”

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 9 Comments on this article

David Lentz Feb 10, 2021

These discussions seem ridiculous when you consider that the USA appears much like a failed state. And Trump is not gone he will be making mischief for a long time. America needs to take a deep dive into determining if the union should stand or be dissolved. So a constitutional convention should be called and the states get together and determine the way forward even if that means breaking up into multiple countries
And look at a new more modern constitutional structure
Everything should be examined in a long process taking many months
Embrace change
Take a look at the map of Europe 200 years ago then 60 years ago then now
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Bernhard Kopp Feb 10, 2021

I would like to suggest that the USA tries much harder to be a friendly rather than a bully hegemon. The vast majority of all states are authoritarian. From Marocco via the Arab Gulf all the way to China, repressive regimes dominate. Everywhere, dissidents are persecuted unfairly, and also killed. Sometimes cut to pieces with a bone-saw after the killing. Russia is the largest neighbor of Europeans to the east. Russia is an authoritarian state and it will probably take generations to change that. The change will have to come from within, not from us. Economic sanctions did not change Cuba, will not change North Korea, not Iran, and will not change Russia. The very spirit of sanctions has brought nothing but " created animosity " to the detriment of everybody, also to the detriment of the USA even if the majority of Americans, in their large, continental country, far away from everybody but the tiny Cuba, hardly notice it. Europe needs a peaceful coexistence with Russia, and, Europe and Russia need prosperous economic relations among each other to meet the economic and political challenges from China.
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j. von Hettlingen Feb 10, 2021

Richard Haass says the core elements of Joe Biden’s foreign policy are now clear: repairing the damage at home after four years of Trump’s America First agenda, embracing diplomacy and rebuilding frayed alliances, participating in international institutions, forming a bloc of democracies to counter the world’s biggest challenges and advocating for democratic values. “All this puts him squarely in the largely successful post-World War II American foreign-policy tradition repudiated” by Trump.
According to the author, many around the world are worried that Americans could elect another Trumpian president in 2024, “if not the man himself. The fear that Trump was not an aberration, but rather reflected what the US has become, undermines US influence. The temptation to govern by executive action is understandable, but when it comes to foreign policy, Biden should try to revive the principle that domestic politics stops at the water’s edge.”
To begin with, the administration must lay out a vision for America’s critical policy choices at home and abroad, with solutions designed to restore the country’s power, influence, and ability to lead the world. It is in America’s interest - regardless of partisan affiliation - to find solutions designed to strengthen country. Above all, the US would need to limit its direct and indirect involvement in armed conflicts, resorting to diplomacy to help ease tensions and end costly wars.
Reversing Trump’s order, Biden would keep US armed forces in Germany, “presumably to help restore NATO members’ confidence in US security guarantees, and to warn Putin “that he should not try to use foreign adventurism to distract attention from domestic protests.” While holding Russia to account on cyberattacks and election interference, and calling for Alexei Navalny’s release, Biden acknowledged the value of engaging with Moscow on areas of mutual interests - a five-year extension of the New START nuclear pact with Russia. The arms control treaty aims to prevent a nuclear war.
The author says regarding Saudi Arabia, “Biden walked a fine line. He distanced the US from military and intelligence support for the war in Yemen, explaining how US involvement henceforth would be diplomatic and humanitarian. At the same time, he made clear that the Saudis were not on their own in facing Iran. Squaring this circle will be far from easy, especially given the added complication of US disagreements with Saudi leaders over their poor human-rights record.”
Given the “inherited” mess from Trump - like the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol - Biden has a Herculean task to restore America’s credibility as “an effective advocate for democracy,” to heal polarisation, to tackle endemic racism, and to manage the raging pandemic. Sadly, “the country’s political and social divisions are certain to endure. Biden is fond of saying that America will lead by the power of its example, but it may be a long time before that example is one the world again admires.”
While Biden is “correct to criticize Russia and China for violating the rule of law, he cannot force their hand. Putin and….Xi Jinping are prepared to pay the price of sanctions to maintain political control, and the US cannot hold the entire relationship with either country hostage to human rights. It must consider other vital interests” - climate change, pandemics, terrorism, a nuclear Iran, a turbulent Middle East, and a reckless North Korea all present serious challenges to America’s national security.
The author says, Biden would find it easier to “articulate” his China policy than to “implement” it. The author sees little influence the US has on Beijing’s “behavior in Hong Kong or toward its Uighur minority in Xinjiang. And even where Biden can place the rule of law at the center of US policy – say, in Myanmar – he may discover that governments can resist, especially if they have outside help. All this raises questions about the wisdom of making democracy promotion so central to US foreign policy.”
Biden has criticised China strongly, “but also noted a desire to work with Xi’s regime when it is in America’s interest to do so. China will have to decide whether it is prepared to reciprocate in the face of US criticism, sanctions, and export restrictions on sensitive technology.” It remains to be seen whether Biden’s pragmatism will pay off. Trump, known for his tough stance towards China, would no doubt call any cooperation with the Chinese a kowtow to Beijing.
Biden may disagree with Trump about America's place in the world, but he still puts America first. He and his officials talk about a foreign policy that benefits US workers, that protects their jobs and wages. He does want to address the country’s crumbling infrastructure, broken education and health systems, putting its house in order etc.
"There's no longer a bright line between foreign and domestic policy," Biden said. "Every action we take in our conduct abroad, we must take with American working families in mind." That will influence his trade and foreign policies.
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J Walter Feb 9, 2021

Partisan hypocrisy at it's finest, displayed merely paragraphs apart.

Biden, Haass claims, is right to hang the Saudis out to dry only months after a historic peace agreement. Why? Because of their "poor human-rights record". But, Biden would be wrong to "hold...hostage" the US relationship with China and Russia due "to human rights". This is, remember, the China that is actively carrying out a genocide on a religious and ethnic minority group, and a Russia that is undoubtedly the "worst" of the world's bad actors, and certainly one of the most anti-democratic.

What reason can Haass give for abandoning a historically successful peace building enterprise while bowing to literal murderers and slave drivers, other than the obvious fact that those policies are the opposite of what Trump pursued?

When the history books are written - assuming Haass and others like him do not write them - sympathizers like the author will be remembered no more positively than Petain et al. Whether their ignorance is due to pure partisanship or more nefarious motives will not matter.
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Stopda Steele Feb 9, 2021

We cannot have a "foreign policy which stops at water's edge" until we purge the military of all right-wing extremists, as SECDEF has ordered. As Brennan stated, the IC is working with "laser-like" focus to target "libertarians." Once Biden's Guardian Council has eliminated all right-wing views from the executive branch, our foreign policy will once again be pure.
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Ari Abrams Feb 9, 2021

I would like to hear Mr. Haass' opinion of Biden spending time and treasure exporting US social mores, such as LGBT and abortion rights, to people who are not of similar mindset.

Since many Asian and African countries will certainly not pick up the baton on this, it appears that Mr. Biden is just posturing for his home audience. What will this do to our credibility, making us look like we are using them for a domestic punching bag?
- J Walter Feb 9, 2021
  
  An excellent point, and a great example of the laughability of the idea that suddenly "domestic politics stops at the water's edge".
  A new reply to this comment has been posted.
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Yoshimichi Moriyama Feb 9, 2021

I heard a worrying report that Secretary of State Department Blinken and senior officers of the Department think it impossible to denuclearize North Korea, instead accept it as a responsible power of nuclear-status and aim at an arms control with Pyongyang while junior officers are bent on complete denuclearization. What a hell it would be if it be true!
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