With Joe Biden, diplomacy does not cut short words

Francisco Fantemagi
France Media Agency

In the wake of the untimely tweets and thundering principles of his predecessor Donald Trump, someone expected a more traditional foreign policy from the man who was then senator, then vice president.

Your muscles

But the first two months, yet the very last days set the tone for the muscles.

When asked by a reporter if he thought the Russian president was a “killer”, Joe Biden said no. And to those wondering about the slippery possibility, the White House assured him he had no regrets about what he had said.

This is not the first time a Democrat has bombed the Kremlin master.

“I made it clear to President Putin that the timing of the United States’ response to Russia’s aggression was very different from mys. […] In early February, after their first phone call, he said.

In February, President Biden expressed the same perspective with Chinese President Xi Jinping: “He worked very hard” and “he has no ounces of democracy.”

“If we do nothing, they will crush us,” he said a few days later, after a two-hour marathon call with his counter.

“Values” of America

In fact, although this blunt language is sometimes reminiscent of Trump, the context is intended to part with him.

“Trump has personal relationships with authoritarian, ‘strong’ people. He admired them, ”recalled Thomas Wright of the Brookings Institution Think Tank. “Trump really has a big problem with America’s allies. He was more angry with his friends than his rivals. ”

Since coming to power in January, Joe Biden and his team have been working to coax Washington friends and denounce the “authority” of Moscow and Beijing.

Harsh words are part of this strategy, and a foreign policy that upholds human rights and America’s “values”.

“They are concerned about the progress of the regime, and they hope that democracies will work more closely to counter it,” Thomas Wright told AFP.

Democracy Summit

The US president wants to hold a “democratic summit” on an undecided date.

Perhaps even more surprising, its foreign secretary, Anthony Blinken, a civilized and sometimes withdrawn old-school diplomat, greeted Chinese foreign ministers in Alaska on Thursday with an offensive speech, in front of cameras around Beijing around the world, “threatening” global stability.

“These etiquettes are far from diplomatic etiquette! China has committed a crime.

“It’s sporty, sure, but at least it’s realistic,” said Thomas Wright. According to him, “It shows the world that the US-China relationship is defined by enmity and competition.”

For James Carrafano of the Conservative Heritage Foundation, Anthony Blinken was “absolutely right” to be so strong.

And according to him, the Biden administration has nothing to lose by displaying such rigidity.

“Being tough with Russia or China is a consensus on the part of both the Democrats and the Republicans. Everyone wants to be tough,” he said of these United States rivals.

He noted the great continuation between the actions of Democrats and the former Republican government, which faced two rival forces even when President Trump tried to demonstrate his “friendship” for Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping.

But basically, James Carafano adds, “rhetoric” does not change relationships, only actions count.

“Trump tried to talk very nicely with Putin, and Putin acted … in Putin,” he said. “And Biden says he’s tough on Putin, but Putin is going to continue acting in Putin.”