International Relations , Power & Security, United States In foreign policy, Biden adopts elements from former boss Obama — and from former rival Trump

Perry World House Director of Communications and Research John Gans is quoted in this article from The Washington Post.

If President Barack Obama’s unofficial rubric for American engagement overseas was “Don’t do stupid” things — and President Donald Trump’s was to apply an “America First” lens of short-term transactional benefit — President Biden’s version is some of both...

Absent a war or other unifying cause abroad, American foreign policy tends to drift inward, said John Gans, research director at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House global policy center.

“Without that, every issue becomes a debate between globalists and nationalists,” Gans said. “He knows this and knows there are risks there.”

World War II, the Cold War and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, all gave Americans and their leaders a consensus for foreign engagement. Biden has effectively declared an end to the terrorism-focused 9/11 era, with no imminent threat to replace it, Gans said.

Biden has been explicit about what he sees as the next threat on the horizon and a better use of American resources.

“We have to shore up American competitiveness to meet the stiff competition we’re facing from an increasingly assertive China,” Biden said as he announced the Afghanistan troop drawdown this month. “We have to strengthen our alliances and work with like-minded partners to ensure that the rules of international norms that govern cyber threats and emerging technologies that will shape our future are grounded in our democratic values, not those of the autocrats.”

Read more in The Washington Post >>