Now that world leaders and the D.C. foreign policy establishment have breathed a collective sigh of relief over Joe Biden’s election as U.S. president, things can get back to normal when it comes to preparing for a new administration in Washington. For world leaders, that means scrambling for access and favour, while readying offer sheets of how their governments can be of help to Biden’s team. For the D.C. establishment, that means angling to be part of that team, or else writing lengthy policy proposals that, unlike in 2016, might actually be read by the people who do end up on it .Before long, of course, foreign governments will go from complaining about an absent America under Donald Trump to once again complaining about an overbearing America under the more conventional Biden. And that Washington establishment will go from proposing policy agendas to criticizing the ones Biden’s team has decided to pursue, while swapping rumours about clashing egos and internal tensions. Some of those internal tensions could come into view in the coming weeks and months, as Biden’s team takes shape. Biden’s administration should be guided by the notion that the U.S. leads most effectively not when it mounts a crusade but when it takes up a mission. The most useful framework for U.S. foreign policy ,the one that takes into account the changes that have occurred over the past four years within America is an ambitious and restraint version, whose three watch words would be : complete, contest and conserve. America still enjoys unparalleled attractiveness when it comes to consolidating partnerships and leading coalitions that can easily compete with adeversaries.it must once again use the more strategically. Biden will do well to pay attention to at least one thing Trump was good at: to put adversaries on the back foot. Finally, Americas national power has now suffered through several decades of erosion since the pinnacle of its unipolar moments ,from the disastrous invasion of Iraq ,to the financial crises, then to the four years of Trump.Above all,Biden must avoid similar missteps to conserve what is left of it. |
