As Joe Biden’s presidency reached its first 100 days, most retrospectives highlighted the ‘transformative’ and ‘radical’ decisions of the new US president, such as his surprisingly progressive fiscal policy. Less attention was paid to the warnings of observers who noted that Biden’s policies present quite a few continuities with those of his predecessor, particularly in foreign policy.
Indeed, Biden has kept in place most of Donald Trump’s tariffs. Far from returning to pre-2016 orthodoxy, he is doubling down on protectionism with his ‘Buy American’ campaign. The US still has not returned to the Iran nuclear deal, nor does it show signs of easing tensions with China. Even the recent announcement of support for a waiver on COVID vaccine patents was unilateral, catching allies such as the EU and the UK off guard, and does little to offset the effects of the Trump-inspired export ban on vaccine materials that Biden has retained. In sum, even as he pays lip service to alliances and partnerships like NATO, Biden does not seem willing to break fully with the Trumpian mindset of prioritizing immediate material US interests and domestic popular grievances over the needs of allies and the international order.
But Biden is not alone in exhibiting this contradictory foreign policy model of outward liberal discourse and my-country-first actions. Other leaders who previously were viewed as bulwarks of liberal internationalism against advancing populism have followed policies that, in reality, do not conform much to their rhetoric or the lofty expectations vested in them.
