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Biden Offers Gestures at NATO Summit, But No Foreign Policy Vision

Posted on Tuesday, July 5, 2022
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AMAC Exclusive – By Daniel Berman

Biden

Upon arriving at the NATO summit in Madrid last week, Joe Biden pledged an increased American military commitment to Europe. His plan includes stationing a brigade of 3,000 American servicemembers in Romania, relocating the headquarters of the 5th Army Corp to Poland, basing two squadrons of F-35 fighter jets in the U.K., and two destroyers in Spain. While impressive on the surface, what Biden outlined was not what Europe wanted or what America needed. Biden, as has been typical for this administration, offered promises when what was required was clear guidance on what American goals were, and what strategy would be pursued to achieve them.

Biden billed the increased U.S. military presence in Europe as a response to the Russian threat. But the increased military presence is not an answer to any Russian threat. If a war were to break out with Russia, the new deployments would be of little use except as tripwires, and the fighters in Britain and ships in Spain would be distant from the theater.

What NATO leaders wanted from Biden in Madrid was clear guidance. They wanted to know whether the U.S. was willing to make the long-term commitment necessary to pursue a policy of total victory in Ukraine, or alternatively, whether the U.S. was willing to honestly admit that it would not, and give European leaders permission to pursue a settlement which would not require U.S. troops. What they got instead was Biden in effect saying “here, take these 3,000 troops and two dozen fighter jets. Happy now? Shut up and stop complaining.” It neither reassured doubters of the existing policy, nor provided a vision of a different one.

At its core, Biden has failed to resolve the contradiction at the heart of American geopolitical strategy, one which has raged since the Obama years: Europe or Asia? Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden have all recognized that China, not Russia, is America’s primary antagonist, with Obama famously mocking Mitt Romney for challenging that prioritization with his quip that the 1980s had called and wanted their foreign policy back. This did not mean Russia was a friend or even a benevolent actor. But if Russia posed a threat to the interests of U.S. allies along its borders, China posed a greater threat to the U.S. overall.

A clear implication followed. If the U.S. only has the resources to prioritize one military threat (China), there were arguments for pursuing diplomatic options with the Russia. This was not, for all the charges levied at Trump, appeasement, any more than Obama’s efforts to reach a “reset” with Russia were proof he was a Russian spy. It was logic. Goals are not merely a list of things which would be nice to have, or which are morally justified, but a product of a rigorous cost-benefit analysis in which their value is contrasted with the cost of achieving them. It would perhaps be an act of moral justice, and a strategic success for the United States, to militarily liberate Crimea from Russia or Hong Kong from China, but neither is worth a full-scale nuclear war. That is not to discredit the objectives, but to recognize that achieving the objective is not worth the likely cost.

While every administration acknowledges the need for this sort of thinking and the conclusion it led to–that the U.S. should seek an order in Europe which, rather than fulfilling all of its ideological goals, would be sustainable with as little American investment as possible–both Obama and now Biden have drifted into committing themselves to gigantic commitments in Europe.

The current Ukraine war is an unjustified act of aggression by Putin’s Russia, and its success would be a geopolitical disaster not just for the U.S., but for Europe at large. Biden is correct to support Ukraine. Yet the administration has been remarkably unable to define a post-war vision, much less one where Russia has a place.

There is a simple logic that the Biden administration is refusing to engage with. Absent the destruction of the Russian state, the U.S. and Europe will have to deal with a Russian power on the Eastern border of Europe. Any settlement which is not something some conceivable Russian government can live with is one which will not only require overwhelming force to impose today, but will require a constant commitment to defend against Russian attempts to overturn it.

If the priority of U.S. policy were Russia and Europe, then it might be acceptable to reach a settlement that required constant U.S. maintenance. But if the U.S. goal is to finally pivot its resources to the Pacific, then the Biden administration may have to compromise rather than trying to crush Russia at all costs—as righteous as that goal may be in theory.

The West should be fighting Russia in order to force Russia to the negotiating table. By proving Russia cannot achieve its goals militarily, it will be possible to force Russia to accept what it can get diplomatically. Foreign policy hawks are generally correct that this cannot be done in any other way than by preventing a Russian military victory. What is needed is a settlement which Russia may not like, but which it is not willing to fight a war to prevent. That settlement will have to be one in which Germany and France agree to back Poland and the Baltic states in sustaining them with the resources they realistically will have available.

Long gone are the 1990s when American policymakers could delude themselves into believing that they could have it all. The world of the 2020s requires a clear vision and tough choices. Biden not only lacks vision and refuses to make choices, but is openly contemptuous of those who urge him to act decisively in the role of president.

Daniel Berman is a frequent commentator and lecturer on foreign policy and political affairs, both nationally and internationally. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics. He also writes as Daniel Roman.      

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Kim
Kim
2 years ago

Guidance? Biden learned the hard way that a bicycle falls over if you stop pedaling or fail to put your feet on the ground in time. There’s an allegory for you that indicates how forward thinking he is.

To him, Ukraine is a “transitory” distraction. Throw the dog a bone and it stops barking, but that encourages more of the same behavior. Biden never taught Putin that actions have consequences; he never laid out those threats/intentions from the beginning, and now we have an enriched and emboldened Russian leader who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Putin saw a perfect opportunity when biden abruptly abandoned Afghanistan, leaving behind Americans, thousands of Afghanis who helped us and were promised a way out, and $86 billion in war materiel. In other words, failure to formulate a comprehensive plan of action…because he and his administration can’t think.

Hal
Hal
2 years ago

Biden could not give any foreign policy advice because no one could come up with a phony plan that Biden could plagiarize!!!!

Tom
Tom
2 years ago

Are you not aware of what the U.S. Democratic Party PROMISES the EU? Our Forefathers came to this country to ESCAPE the ‘World Order’. These sick egomaniacs each dream of themselves as President of the World. Vote each and every one of them out of office.

Amacer
Amacer
2 years ago

This article is too generous towards Biden. It says Biden has no foreign policy vision. I say he has no righteous vision at all on ANYTHING. Think about it. He supports the LGBT, the socialists, the marxists, and everything Leftist. This article doesn’t even scratch the surface in revealing the folly of Joe Biden.

Philip Hammersley
Philip Hammersley
2 years ago

Most foreign leaders aren’t stupid. They know that Slow Joey is an empty suit parroting whatever his handlers tell him. He’ll look at his cue cards or teleprompter and repeat as necessary. If they want more socialism or money from US, they’ll be happy. If, on the other hand, they want US leadership on ANYTHING, they will be greatly disappointed!

Michael J
Michael J
2 years ago

Biden is an embarrassment to our country. Since when does Europe tell Americans what to do? Since democrats became like them.

D.P.
D.P.
2 years ago

While many dislike the methodology of Pres. Trump (he often rubbed people the wrong way, which for me was/is the only real down side of his leadership), never let it be said that he was not clear in his asesments, recommendations and future view. Contrary, there is Biden, waffely, non-committed and so poor in his leadership, even the least of any foreign power can see his failures. The worst of this is that our open enemies relish his weakness and see only added opportunity to take advantage. There will be years of rebuilding to do in the wake of this current administrations international efforts (or lack there-of), not to mention the reparations needed stateside after the series of fiascos that has already taken place, with more to come. This spells double- jeopardy for the Republic. I would say we are currently at the greatest risk ever when it comes to the survival of America as we know it.

Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell
2 years ago

Only mind games & BS for NATO

Nancy
Nancy
2 years ago

Russia will not lose this war! And it’s still Obama who’s running our Government, using clueless, lies-about-everything Biden as his puppet! Soros & the CCP have a big say in it, too. Republican leadership had better quit trying to reason with these traitorous Dem
communists/globalists who are determined to destroy America as founded! And we are NOT a democracy — we are a Constitutional Republic!???????????????? Pure democracy is “mob rule”!
Mob rule is what they’re doing now, while saying they’re saving democracy! Indeed!

Barrett Smith
Barrett Smith
2 years ago

If you are looking to biden for vision, you are in the wrong place. That’s like looking to an Eskimo for surfing lessons.

Robert
Robert
2 years ago

It is past time to stop worrying about what the other members of NATO want and consider what Americans want. This American is tired of having our coffers and military stockpiles diminished by an enormous amount while those other members in total do not contribute more than a trifle. The UK is the only one who gets very far off of zero. I really don’t believe that the U.S. entered into this conflagration of nations realizing that we were going to be the chief financier and materiels provider. Time to get off the dime.

Jeb
Jeb
2 years ago

Joeblow makes lots of noise while expelling hot air, that is beyond obvious.

Rick
Rick
2 years ago

I think most of them gave him a gesture, too, with one finger!

CoNMTX
CoNMTX
2 years ago

Biden and other globalists in his administration have hinted and outright said what their goals are. They are to destroy America and rebuild us into the globalist one-world government. The leaders of most large countries are graduates of Klaus Schwab’s school for Marxist/globalists including Australia, Canada, France, England, Germany, and Ukraine. Many members of the demo/globalist party in America also attend Schwab’s school. They are Godless Marxists bent on their Global Reset. They will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. Human life means nothing to them.

Bill
Bill
2 years ago

I wonder if the one’s sitting behind Go Brandon in the picture above are laughing at him…

Allan Artman
Allan Artman
2 years ago

Biden is offering a false narrative from his advisors that are poor in knowledge and gutless in nature. this includes his military chief of staff!!

N
N
2 years ago

The demorat party needs to get rid of Biden. Problem is, there is not a single party member morally, sane, intelligent, honest, patriotic enough to run for President. The dems are a sick lot of losers bilking the taxpayers and the country. They have for 60 years built up their following to divide race relations, promote anti Christian beliefs, promote drug dependency, tear apart families,. They are an evil cult accepting any moron that hates this country. They have bombarded the education system with fascist instructors in the colleges and schools systems. They swarm on the young vulnerable minds in this country. They lie and bend the laws to corrupt the decency in our laws. They are an evil, evil bunch.

Sean Richman
Sean Richman
2 years ago

Sloppy joey is all talk and no action.The only thing that joey and his liberal handlers are good at is screwing AMERICA and AMERICAS legal citizens.

Max
Max
2 years ago

As usual, Biden has done nothing but to continue to show the weakness of his administration and its incoherent, bumbling policies.

edward
edward
2 years ago

Yeah, and I have a gesture to offer biden and the rest of nato!!!!!!

Mario Capparuccini
Mario Capparuccini
2 years ago

What do we expect from the man who gave 85 billion dollars of American military equipment to the Taliban and, as vice-president, helped Barak and Hillary to sell American military equipment to Islamic radicals who then formed ISIS? What a pathetic bunch of losers. God has given us the leaders we deserve for allowing abortion, promiscuity, LGBTQ+, and all manner of immorality. When we humble ourselves before Him and repent, He will deliver us from these abominations that pose as our leaders.

Bill Stout
Bill Stout
2 years ago

This demented SOB could not lead starving dogs to meat! Why would anybody put any kind of faith or hopes on anything this person says, this is the first time in the history of the USA that the country has never had any type of a leader in the top 2 positions of govern ment,

tika
tika
2 years ago

in a marxist government the leader is just “garnish” on the garbage dump

TPS
TPS
2 years ago

Hard to tell others, if you have no vision to begin with.

johnh
johnh
2 years ago

It was very disturbing to me to hear President Biden speaking on foreign soil & bashing SCOTUS for recent rulings. Our founding fathers set up three branches of Government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial —- so that this republic has some checks & balances. Come on Man — do not bash Americans when you are standing on foreign soil. What have you learned about politics in 48-years ????

James J
James J
2 years ago

Hey Biden doe ray me Fa Q TRAITOR !!!

BAE
BAE
2 years ago

Hmm, is Joe Biden really our president, he sure doesn’t act like President of the US of America.
He’s awful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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