V.P. Biden has shared a comprehensive foreign policy agenda. First the good news; even a casual reading of the to do list on the agenda clearly sends the message that if Joe Biden becomes president then there will be a significant departure from the current policy that conflates our national interest and the President’s self-interest. Now the bad news; Biden’s foreign policy agenda reads more like a laundry list of all good things that most people would like. It has catchy slogans such as – dignified leadership at home and respected leadership on the world stage — but it is not a plan.
President Trump’s America First strategy has made America alone, less influential, less inspiring and behind on many key issues. In order to engender a day-one foreign policy course correction Joe Biden needs a well-crafted and crystal-clear grand strategy. Unlike run of the mill foreign policy agendas, grand strategies are visions that match values and capacity with goals and means. Here I outline a grand strategy that is within the broad parameters of Biden’s agenda. I do so by prioritizing the following five goals:
#1. Values First: V.P Biden in his agenda promises that “he will advance the security, prosperity, and values of the United States”. I recommend that he place values first. He can than call it The Values First approach to U.S. global engagement. Our security is threatened not by states but by pandemics and climate change and our economy though dented by neglect, tax cuts, inequity and the pandemic is still fundamentally strong producing 23% of the global GDP. What the Trump administration has weakened most is the relationship between our foreign policy and values such as democracy, rule of law, sense of justice, international cooperation and faith in diplomacy. While the Biden agenda does touch upon the idea of restoring moral leadership, it does so mostly in the context of our immigration policy. Our values should constitute the heart and soul of our grand strategy, not just an item on the list. Biden must send the message to the world in his inauguration speech that there is a new dealmaker in town and no values will be compromised in future transactions.
#2. Rebuild Department of State: We must restore the institutions that in the past served America’s diplomatic needs. The Biden agenda claims that “use of force shall be our last resort” and that too only to protect vital interests and only with informed consent of Americans. Fantastic. But if force is the last option then our capacity for diplomacy must be strengthened. William Burns article in the Foreign Affairs, “The Demolition of U.S. Diplomacy”, outlines how much damage needs to be repaired in our diplomatic capabilities. Unless the State Department and its adjuncts, such as the US Institute of Peace, grants for public diplomacy and centers for research in the areas of peace, peace building and conflict resolution are infused with talent and cash no immediate progress will be possible. Ramping up diplomatic capacity sends the signal to the world that the old America is back and diplomacy is in currency again.
#3. Restore our Soft Power: Joe Nye recently argued in The New York Times that rather than making America great, the Trump foreign policy had seriously eroded our soft power. According to the index Soft Power 30, the U.S. currently ranked fifth amongst the top 30 countries whose soft power it tracks. Under President Obama by 2016 the U.S. had regained the numero uno position. The Biden agenda touches on this issue when it promises that “the United States must lead not just with the example of power, but the power of our example”. When soft power declines, we are compelled to use hard power. Soft power is an indirect measure of hegemony and when that is eroded ugly brute domination is the only means to achieving our goals. No one likes a bully and nations will begin to align against us if we use hard power all the time. One can see how China and Russia, China and Iran are already cozying up.
#4. Re-engage and rebuild the international order: The biggest victim of the Trump foreign policy has been the international order. U.S. has withdrawn from international treaties like the Paris climate accord, the Iran nuclear deal, and international organizations like the World Health Organization, UN Human Rights Council and UNESCO. Under President Trump, the U.S. has turned its back on multilateralism and on its allies; weakening the international order and drastically diminishing U.S. global leadership. Look at the world today dealing with the biggest current challenge, the Covid19 pandemic, it is doing so without the U.S. This is neither good for the world nor for the U.S. Only China benefits from this. More and more nations are now turning to China for guidance and assistance during the current crises.
One way in which US leadership as well as international cooperation can be rebooted is by giving the climate crisis its due. The climate change crisis is an existential threat to all of humanity. Shift the global security conversation from national security to planetary security. Biden’s plan places it in the last paragraph of a long manifesto. He does have a separate plan for it, but it needs to be integrated into the grand strategy. Making the security of all an American agenda, will not only refocus US energies to address the crisis but also restore our global preeminence.
5. China Policy: Any articulation of a U.S. grand strategy must recognize that China with much enhanced military capabilities and a strong economy is now competing with the US for global leadership. It is also providing an alternate model of governance and development, a model based on political authoritarianism combined with mercantilist capitalism. It presents a challenge not just to US global preeminence but also to the values of democracy and human rights. The Biden agenda on China is neither clear nor compelling. Joe Biden foreign policy agenda needs to be more assertive with regards to China. This is not the time to be coy.
A firm approach towards China will also allow Biden to highlight the value gap between the US and China. A Values First foreign policy can help Biden stand apart from both President Trump and China.
