President-elect Joe Biden leaves a briefing from the transition COVID-19 advisory board on Nov. 09, 2020 in Wilmington, Del.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Bessma Momani is a professor of political science at the University of Waterloo and senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
In major cities across a divided United States, Americans celebrated this weekend as Joe Biden became their president-elect. A number of liberal democracies joined in congratulating Mr. Biden, hoping for a return to something close to normal after four years of Donald Trumps chaotic, unpredictable and damaging retreat from the global order.
But not all world leaders are so excited for a change in U.S. administration. For some, Mr. Biden signifies a return to normative Barack Obama-era preaching about human rights, a renewed commitment to multilateralism and to global climate action at the expense of their hyper-nationalist agendas, and a restoration of Chinese appeasement policies in exchange for short-term U.S. trade gains.
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Leaders in Israel, Egypt, Saudi and the United Arab Emirates, for instance, have benefited greatly from Mr. Trumps presidency. His transactional foreign-policy approach, favourable view toward unfettered arms sales, and disregard of their human rights abuses have all resonated positively. A Biden administration, on the other hand, may reverse the sale of advanced F35 warplanes to the UAE, and it will surely be more critical of Saudi bombings using U.S.-made warplanes in Yemen. Despite sending congratulations for the president-elect, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egypts autocratic Abdel Fattah el-Sisi have lost a friend with Mr. Trumps exit. Perhaps more importantly, Mr. Trumps unilateral maximum pressure strategy against Iran was welcomed by these Middle East leaders; Mr. Biden, meanwhile, has vowed to reopen multilateral negotiations on a nuclear agreement with that country.
Recep Tayyip Erdogans government in Turkey, which has purchased Russian-made missile defence systems and whose state-owned Halkbank faces indictment in the U.S. for allegedly funnelling money to a sanctioned Iran, will miss Mr. Trump too. Mr. Biden has unreservedly supported the NATO alliances military interoperability, which will comfort European allies frustrated by both Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Trump.
Europe isnt necessarily unanimous in its celebration of Mr. Biden, however. While Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Polish President Andrzej Duda found ideological common ground in Mr. Trumps anti-immigrant, anti-EU, populist-nationalist views, Mr. Biden has referred to those leaders as thugs. Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will have to deal with Mr. Bidens tough talk against a reinstated customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland unwelcome complications to Mr. Johnsons already fraught Brexit negotiations with the EU.
Despite Russias Trump-boosting election-interference efforts, President Vladimir Putin may have a mixed response to Mr. Bidens win. Mr. Trump added more sanctions on Russian officials, approved arms sales to Ukraine and declined to recognize Russias annexation of Crimea. But the chaos Mr. Trump brought to the United States did help Mr. Putin quash domestic discourse about the virtues of liberal democracy. Mr. Biden, meanwhile, has already affirmed his support for Russian civil society and democracy advocates, surely triggering memories of Hillary Clintons perceived interference in Russias 2011 pro-democracy protests.
In Asia, Mr. Bidens criticism of Indias illiberal turn with its new citizenship law and lockdown of Kashmir will not go over well with Indian PM Narendra Modi, even though Mr. Trump hadnt budged on a U.S.-India trade deal. Both Mr. Modi and the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte appreciated Mr. Trumps supportive tough talk on Chinese military expansionism, both on the disputed Himalayan border with India and throughout the South China Sea. While Mr. Trump may be seen by Asian countries such as Vietnam and Taiwan as a more effective countervailing force to Chinas ascent than Mr. Biden, who is likely to pursue re-engagement with Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo are relieved all the same to see Mr. Biden elected, given Mr. Trumps repeated threats that he would remove U.S. troops from South Korea and Japan.
In the Americas, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been among the ranks of the world leaders remaining silent in the wake of Mr. Bidens election win. Mr. Bolsonaro, who has been dubbed the Trump of the Tropics, has been criticized by Mr. Biden for Brazils deforestation of the Amazon and his governments failure to control raging wildfires. Similarly, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has struck up an unlikely rapport with Mr. Trump, shared Mr. Trumps interests in increasing investments into fossil fuels and stemming Central American migration. On both of these issues, a Biden presidency which is likely to bow to progressive forces within the Democratic Party and change course could potentially complicate the Mexican-American relationship.
In cities such as London, Paris, and Toronto, people reportedly celebrated Mr. Bidens win with fireworks, the ringing of church bells, and jubilant noise-making from their balconies. But for the international leaders who might have gotten comfortable with the trajectory of the last four years of discord, a Biden administration might now represent a Trump-sized system shock of its own.
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Home>>Fashion>>Donald Trump’s defeat in the U.S. election was met with much celebration in liberal democracies, but there are many leaders who will miss the chaotic president’s support
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