Washington, United States
“The United States is back,” says President Joe Biden’s slogan, but his unrepentant departure from Afghanistan seems to show that the United States does not want to be the same as before.
Beyond the trauma of the Kabul evacuation, Biden is offering a broader retreat: stop using its vast military resources to impose American order and values on the entire planet.
“This decision on Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan,” Biden said in a speech Thursday that, for many, was historic. “It’s about ending an era of undertaking major military operations to rebuild other countries.”
“Human rights will be at the heart of our foreign policy, but the way to do that is not through endless deployments,” he said. “Our strategy needs to change,” he said.
Washington, United States | AFP | Saturday 2021.09.04 – 05:51 UTC-6 | 671 words
by Sebastian Smith
“The United States is back,” the slogan says from’ President Joe Biden, but his unrepentant departure from Afghanistan seems to show that the United States does not want to be the same as before.
beyond from’ Trauma from the evacuation of Kabul, Biden is offering a broader withdrawal: stop using its vast military resources to impose American order and values on the entire planet.
“This decision on Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan,” Biden said in a speech Thursday that, for many, was historic. “It’s about ending an era of undertaking major military operations to rebuild other countries.”
“Human rights will be at the heart of our foreign policy, but the way to do that is not through endless deployments,” he said. “Our strategy needs to change,” he said.
Benjamin Haddad, director of the Central Council of the Atlantic Council, described the speech as “one of the most eloquent repudiations of liberal internationalism by any American president in decades.”
For those Americans who like to see their country as a unique, invincible, Cold War-winning superpower and then an impressive military interventionist everywhere, from Iraq to Africa, this is a shock.
For most, however, polls show Biden’s turn is likely to be popular.
– Where Trump and Biden agree –
Biden’s presidency is usually seen as the other side of that of his predecessor Donald Trump.
It is true that since Biden took office on January 20, many things have changed, from the decoration of the White House to the return of the United States to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
But the abandonment of endless military adventures – detractors call it acting as “police from’ world“It’s a trumpet thing.
When Biden announced “it’s time to end this eternal war” in Afghanistan, he said something that “could easily be Trump’s,” said Charles Franklin, director of Marquette opinion polls.
Currently, “the public does not feel committed to an important international role, certainly not like what the United States played in the 1950s and 1990s,” Franklin told AFP.
As for Afghanistan, polls show strong support for troop exit (77% according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll) even when Biden is being severely punished by the chaotic retreat.
– Alliances at risk? –
Where Biden differs markedly from Trump’s isolationism is in his enthusiasm for seeking alliances. The United States will not boast of being the policeman of the world, says Biden’s theory, but may be a friendly leader.
His government moved quickly to put Washington back at the center of tortuous negotiations between the great powers and Iran over its nuclear program, the climate deal, and traditional alliances like NATO.
Their trip to Europe in July to take part in the G7 and NATO summits was the only one abroad so far and seemed the diplomatic equivalent of a band meeting to play together.
Yet these allies could be nervous, analysts say.
Tricia Bacon, a counterterrorism expert at American University, told AFP that the Allies feel “a clear degree of frustration” over the lack of coordination during the U.S. exit from Afghanistan.
The U.S. message “must be very consistent to regain lost credibility,” he said.
Imad Harb, director of the Arab Center in Washington, said European partners were not the only ones surprised with Washington.
“Arab regimes accustomed to a close relationship with the United States should be concerned about what happened in Afghanistan,” he wrote on his institution’s website.
“Biden could have finally lowered the curtain on military interventionism in the wider East,” he said.