Biden tries to consolidate foreign policy legacy

US President Joe Biden in his farewell visit to Europe – he was in Berlin for two days where he met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keith Starmer --  had once again reiterated the need to support Ukraine in its war against Russia, and he also talked of the US-Europe – read NATO – ties.

Biden, it seems, would want his presidential policy to be stated clearly even as the stakes in the November 5 American president election remain evenly balanced. Though many of the American liberals do not want Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to get a second chance in the White House, they have their reservations whether Democratic nominee Kamala Harris can make the cut.

In some ways, Biden’s policy statements at this stage might seem desperate bids to keep American foreign policy on the liberal track, which means that the US as a democracy should continue to oppose ‘autocratic’ Russia. Biden said in Berlin, “As Ukraine faces a tough winter, we must – we must – sustain our resolve, our effort and our support. And I know the cost is heavy. Make no mistake, it pales in comparison to the cost of living in the world where aggression prevails, where large states attack and bully smaller ones simply because they can.”

Of course, the clarity of vision in the European context disappears and become fudgy and blurry in the Middle East even as Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Lebanon continue relentlessly. But it has to be said that Biden has gone further than many American presidents in pointing to Israel the red lines, even threatening at one point that military aid will be cut off if humanitarian aid does not reach the affected civilians in Gaza.

What Biden’s visit to Berlin emphasises is the importance of US-German ties, and more so on the part of the Germans. While Great Britain remains the tacit permanent ally of the US, and only too willing to play the second fiddle, France had always tried to assert its independent role in world affairs. Germany, like Japan in Asia, has remained allied to the US, mainly due to the reign of Nazism that triggered the Second World War. And it seems that Germany wants to retain the same equation with the US because it does not want to take over the burden of European leadership like France.

Berlin recognises that the presence of US, diplomatically, militarily is important to maintain the balance of power in Europe. So, it is interesting to take note of what German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had to say about the US-Germany relations. He said that friendship with the US “will always be existentially important” for Germany.

He acknowledged the fact that the two countries have not always been close. He pointed out: “Even recently, just a handful of years ago, the distance had grown so wide that we had almost lost each other.” This a reference to Trump’s presidency from 2017 to 2020. And he praised Biden for restoring “Europe’s hope in the trans-Atlantic alliance literally overnight.” This is indeed a clear and loud testimony to Biden’s contribution to the West’s foreign policy.

Germany however continues to toe its own nuanced policy towards Ukraine, to NATO and to Europe. Chancellor Scholz said, “Our position is clear. We are supporting Ukraine as strongly as possible. At the same time, we are taking care that NATO does not become a party to the war so that this doesn’t culminate in an even bigger catastrophe.” Scholz does not want the Ukraine war to become a European, or more specifically, a NATO war. There is plenty of caution and pragmatism in that. So, the US-German equation remains a responsible one.