President Joe Biden’s inaugural address pledged to “repair our alliances and engage with the world once again.” The United States, Biden proclaimed, would “be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress, and security.”
This has not happened. Instead, Biden’s foreign policy has oscillated between chaos and weakness.
The Afghanistan debacle looms largest here. In March, Biden said that when it came to withdrawing U.S. military forces, “We’re going to do so in a safe and orderly way.” He explained, “We’re in consultation … with our allies and partners in how to proceed.”
That did not happen. Instead, Biden insisted, against military advice and basic logic, on withdrawing all U.S. forces from Afghanistan. This meant the departure of 2,500 troops and associated contractors who were providing Afghan security forces with irreplaceable logistics, maintenance, intelligence, and air support. With the U.S. in full flight, the Afghan military quickly collapsed. The Afghan political class retreated in fear and disorder. The Taliban stormed toward Kabul. The terrible scenes from Kabul’s international airport were the result of Biden’s poor planning.
Top U.S. allies were ignored when they begged Biden to extend the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline. The truth is that thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan allies were abandoned by a president who ultimately cared nothing for “a safe and orderly” evacuation.
Biden’s year of foreign policy debacles doesn’t end there. He has also soured America’s relationship with its closest and oldest ally. He has snubbed Britain’s interest in a post-Brexit U.S. trade deal, pushing the United Kingdom into the arms of a hostile and genocidal Chinese regime. He has infuriated and embarrassed the French by failing to warn them of his AUKUS submarine deal with Australia. AUKUS makes sense, but it was nonsensical not to give France at least the courtesy of notice. France has responded by undercutting U.S. relationships in the Middle East and reconsidering its support for counter-Chinese efforts in the Indo-Pacific.
Even on China, where Biden’s policy has not been nearly as misguided, it is failing. He waited far too long to announce a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and did not apply moral pressure on U.S. multinationals to stop sponsoring those games. This failure reflects the shallow nature of Biden’s inaugural commitment to “lead not merely by the example of our power but by the power of our example.” These were empty words.