President Biden quickly returned to committing the United States to the Paris climate pact and the World Health Organization, but America’s broader foreign policy is in a state of change between the Trump and Biden eras.
Driving the news: One of the Biden government’s most notable moves to date has been a show of continuity – agreeing with the Trump administration’s last-minute determination that China had committed “genocide” against Uighur Muslims.
- Appointed Secretary of State Tony Blinken also said that the United States will continue to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, consider Juan Guaidó the legitimate interim president of Venezuela, provide lethal defensive weaponry to Ukraine and oppose the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany.
- President Trump’s trade war tariffs will remain in effect for now, pending a review, as well as his plan to free the U.S. from Afghanistan.
- Biden’s nominees spent significant parts of their confirmation hearings promising not to make sudden changes in Trump’s policies. This is perhaps to be expected, as they have no incentive to stir before facing a Senate vote.
Still, Biden made some immediate changes in substance, in addition to style.
What they are saying: Blinken said unequivocally that the United States would end its support for the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen.
- He also promised to quickly review Trump’s controversial decision to label the Houthi rebels as a terrorist group.
- Meanwhile, Avril Haines, the newly confirmed director of national intelligence, said she would release an intelligence report on the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents. He blames Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the culprit.
In Iran, both Blinken and Haines reiterated Biden’s plan to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal if Iran returns to compliance.
- Yes but: Both warned that it is “too far away”, that allies like Israel will be consulted and that Biden’s real goal is a broader agreement that also covers Iran’s missile program and regional behavior.
- Worthless: Blinken said he does not believe that Biden has the legal authorization to attack Iran without consulting Congress.
The situation: Biden took the first opportunities to signal that the United States will once again commit to multilateralism, including in relation to the pandemic.
- Blinken announced that the United States would join the COVAX initiative – the global effort by WHO and other groups to ensure that all countries have access to the COVID-19 vaccines.
- Virtually everyone in the world had already signed COVAX, with the exception of the USA and Russia.
- Biden’s nominees did not signal any immediate change in policy towards China, although Blinken emphasized the importance of working with the allies to face Beijing.
Biden ended the travel ban targeting a dozen mostly Muslim countries.
- He promised during his campaign to raise the annual refugee admission limit in America to 125,000, from the historic minimum of 15,000 under Trump.
The final result: Biden’s team has a radically different perspective than Trump’s on how to tackle the biggest challenges the U.S. faces – or even what those challenges are. But it will take time to really chart a new course.