Member-only story
Biden’s Foreign Policy: A Balancing Act
President Biden’s foreign policy is beginning to take shape, and it is looking vastly different from Trump’s and more traditional than Obama’s. The Middle East has been a cumbersome region for most presidents to navigate. Trump’s foreign policy was America First, and overturned decades of U.S. policy in the Middle East from brokering of the Abraham Accords to ushering in troop withdrawals from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, predecessor Barack Obama took a more diplomatic approach and worked to reduce America’s commitments abroad in the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
For many, there was an expectation that Biden’s foreign policy would be a third installment of the Obama administration, but this is not the case. Biden who unlike Obama, has amassed a lifetime of political experience and is making it clear he has his own agenda he would like to see implemented.
During his campaign, Biden said he would revive traditional American allies and wanted a return to diplomacy. However, it has become increasingly clear the Middle East is not a priority for Biden. Like most presidents wanting to focus on issues at home, Biden has opted to focus on what he considers more pressing global issues such as China, COVID, and Climate.
This signal is not all bad for the United States, which has seen its fair share of entanglements in the Middle East…
