Interview
How Biden can be a global leader
- The Trump-era storming of the Capitol is projected to remain an indelible challenge to America's global standing as a democracy beacon, with the administration facing an uphill battle to convince allies that such instability will not recur despite hopes that a Senate conviction for inciting insurrection could signal functional checks and balances.
- Domestically, the administration aims to restore global credibility by addressing internal challenges, specifically targeting a $25 billion investment in vaccine manufacturing and distribution alongside hiring 100,000 contact tracers to manage the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
- Foreign policy strategy involves reversing previous withdrawals by rejoining the World Health Organization, joining the COVAX initiative for global vaccine delivery, and re-entering the Paris Agreement to establish a net-zero emissions target by 2050, which modelers suggest would reduce century-end temperature projections by 0.1°C.
- A global summit of democracies is planned to coordinate efforts against autocracies, while the administration expects to maintain tariffs on Chinese goods as leverage for future negotiations, including climate change discussions, and prosecute a more certain, less impulsive campaign against China driven by a consensus that the regime will not liberalize under Xi Jinping.
- Efforts to repair alliances like NATO and multilateral institutions rely on leveraging relationships built over nearly half a century to create a more predictable US power, distinct from the previous administration's sudden policy reversals.
- Key nuclear security challenges include extending the US-Russia arms control treaty expiring in early February to prevent a problematic vacuum amidst rising Chinese power, and attempting to restore the Iran deal despite Iran's ramped-up nuclear activities since the previous withdrawal.
- Legislative ambitions for long-term policy shifts face significant hurdles due to a Democratic Senate control held by the slimmest possible margins, making it difficult to achieve all goals despite the potential for executive orders to undo some Trump-era policies.
- The administration anticipates that formal submission of the net-zero target before the COP26 UN climate summit in November is critical for convincing other governments of the US commitment to global climate leadership.