President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 U.S. election will have significant impacts on America’s role on the world stage. While changes in American foreign policy are common when the party in power changes, over the last four years, the U.S. has taken a radically different approach to its role on the international stage.
In this way, President Donald Trump’s defeat is unique. As opposed to merely being a rejection of a Republican president in favour of a Democratic one, it was also a rejection of Trumpism in favour of liberal democracy.
Over the past four years, Trump has broken nearly every norm and diplomatic protocol there is. While his tone and rhetoric have been abhorrent over the course of his presidency, it is also important to note the substantive damage his administration caused over the past four years: from leaving the Paris Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal, to destabilizing the NATO alliance, legitimizing dictators, and a complete absence of leadership on the global challenge of handling the COVID-19 pandemic.
International institutions that were set up after the end of the Second World War, such as the World Health Organization, NATO, and the G7 have all been critical in mitigating pandemics, regional conflicts, and global economic crises. As a result of the Trump administration’s lack of leadership and complete disregard for these institutions, America today is weaker, more endangered, and less committed to the post-Second World War international order that has kept the world relatively stable over the past 75 years.
All this has undoubtedly tarnished the U.S.’s reputation around the world. This is made clear by the various international opinion polls that show the diminishing favourability of America over the past four years. It has also made apparent the gravity of the task that lies in front of the incoming Biden administration.
In his victory speech, the president-elect emphasized a point that was reiterated throughout the campaign: “[T]onight, the whole world is watching America. I believe at our best America is a beacon for the globe. And we lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.”
Biden’s assertion here is worth digging deeper into. He argues for an America that leads the world not because of its military might or economic prowess, but because of the values that underpin Americana—democracy, individual rights, and the rule of law—that are universal values enshrined in the founding documents of the country.
This is not to say that America has always lived up to its values. On the contrary, one can reasonably argue that America has never lived up to its founding ideals at all. Nor is this to suggest that a Biden presidency will be without faults and that it should be free from any nuanced critiques.
Instead, Biden—and a Biden administration—will represent a fundamentally different version of foreign policy over the next four years. It will represent the aspirational version of America, an America that stands up for democratic values both at home and abroad, and a principled American foreign policy that is not beholden to the political and financial interests of the commander-in-chief. (The latter having shamefully been one of the core principles that has underpinned American foreign policy under the Trump administration.)
This would not be a new phenomenon; It has been done before: from the Marshall Plan in Europe, to the post-war Japanese reconstruction, America (and the world) has immensely benefited from a principled American foreign policy that has been based on democracy, the rule of law, and globalization.
The COVID-19 pandemic and climate change are two of the most pressing issues on the world stage. If the president-elect keeps to his campaign promises and delivers policy outcomes that tackle these challenges, he will not only be living true to the founding American ideal of striving for a more perfect union, but also living true to the theme that drove his presidential campaign: restoring the soul of America—while also working to mend its tarnished reputation abroad.
At a time when countries such as Turkey and Hungary are teetering towards so-called illiberal democracies, a Biden administration success will once again signal to the world that the 21st-century problems can also be solved without compromising the values of liberal democracy.
Ultimately, Biden’s successes on the foreign policy front will be the world’s success. For the sake of global liberal democracy, it is crucial that we hope and expect Biden will rise to the challenges that await him on January 20, 2021.
Featured image by Tim Austen.
