America’s Constitution decrees that only the President can set and carry through our nation’s foreign policy. He does this, primarily, through the State Department, with the Secretary of State his principal surrogate for relations with other nations.
Since 1964 I have been voting and studying the national scene and political landscape. One item stands out, especially in respect to the foreign policy failures of most of the more recent occupants of the Oval Office. Presidents, both Republican and Democratic, have not been overly successfully in pursuing policies that strengthen America and show leadership to the free world.
However, the present occupant of the White House seems to take our foreign policy failures to another level. Joe Biden, despite his decades of experience in national politics, seems out of his depth when dealing with foreign leaders and showing leadership expected of the American government.
Beginning with Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), our nation’s foreign policy and actions have taken a toll on the reputation of the United States. In 1979, the Shah of Iran was deposed and the American Embassy occupied. For 444 days, until Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) was inaugurated, our weakness in the face of a third world nation was on display to the entire globe. Carter’s only true success in foreign policy was that he brokered the historic deal between Israel and Egypt, ending enmity between those two Middle Eastern powers that had endured from the inception of the Israeli independence in 1947.
Reagan, for his part, also had his problems with foreign nations and leaders. It must be noted that his leadership did help end the Cold War (‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall!,) but he left office having helped besmirch our reputation with the Iran-Contra debacle. Also under his watch our military was attacked in Beirut, Lebanon, resulting in the death of many of our servicemen. Overall, though, it seems that his successes outweighed his losses.
Reagan’s successor, George H. W. Bush (1989-1993), did not distinguish himself in foreign policy. He did oversee the ‘coalition of the willing’ in facing down Iraq after that nation invaded Kuwait, but his refusal to remove Saddam Hussein from power led to another conflict against that nation in a little over ten years.
After two Republicans held office, Bill Clinton (1993-2001), the Arkansas Democrat, took the reins of power. His tenure saw our involvement in the Bosnian war, the inability (or unwillingness) to intervene in the Rwandan genocide, and the use of our military to strike at foreign foes to deflect from his domestic woes.
After eight years, and following a contentious election, George W. Bush (2001-2009) became another Republican President who did not distinguish himself in foreign relations. After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centers, Bush launched a punitive attack on Afghanistan because they had harbored those who had killed almost 3000 of our citizens on September 11, 2001. The objective was achieved in a few short weeks, but Bush left our troops there in order to build a better Afghanistan. We would continue our stay in the woe-begone nation for almost 20 years. But Bush’s legacy would include an ill-taken attempt to change Iraq. We stayed there for ten years, removed Hussein, but lost four thousand of our soldiers in doing so. History may not be very kind to Bush’s legacy as a foreign policy leader.
After eight years of Bush, the Democrat Barack Obama (2009-2017) became our President. With a high profile, and a Nobel Peace Prize given for his promise as a world leader, Obama proceeded to make mistakes for which our nation paid in blood. When he ‘ended’ our war in Iraq, this enabled a minor Islamic sect to grow and dominant the Middle East, ISIS. This group caused untold suffering in their barbaric actions in that war-torn region. In addition, the debacle at Benghazi, Libya, took place, where inadequate policies ended up causing the death of our ambassador to this country. Obama continued the war in Afghanistan, and handed that mess over to his successor.
That was Donald J. Trump, (2017-2021), not a politician but a career businessman, who ran as a Republican. Trump’s tenure included the historic Abraham Accords, which furthered the peace process in the Middle East. He also began pulling our troops out of Afghanistan, got NATO’s nations to contribute more to their own defense, and managed to defang the North Korean deranged dictator, Kim-Jong-un , to mute his rhetoric and sabre-rattling. He was also the first President in recent history to not commit American troops to foreign interventions. Trump’s policies toward the southern border was showing great progress. Not only was a wall being constructed, but his deal with Mexico kept many illegals in that country instead of them crossing into the U. S.
But Joe Biden has taken American diplomacy to a new low. We are so disrespected on the world scene that when he wanted to talk to the Saudis and the Emirates about increasing oil production, neither nation’s leaders would take his call. His bug out of Afghanistan was a disaster, leaving behind the Taliban in full control, billions in war materiel, and 13 dead in a preventable attack on the airport in Kabul. In addition, thousands were ‘left behind’ when we absconded. North Korea has restarted its militaristic talk and practices, Canada has become unhappy with our treatment of the Keystone XL pipeline and European leaders are not following the 79 year old head of our government. In addition, our Southern border is virtually open, with nationals from at least 40 nations crossing with impunity.
Biden’s actions concerning Russia and its leadup to their invasion of Ukraine was inept at best, making matters worse more probably. Sanctions against the Russian were given only after the invasion began and what has happened since has not deterred the Russian bear from attempting to devour their former province.
The most potent weapon against Vladimir Putin was to cut off his oil profits (Russia being one of the top three producers of fossil fuel energy), but this was not done until after many lives were lost in the incursion. Biden’s pronouncement that we (and NATO) would not do much if a ‘minor’ incursion occurred meant that Putin had a pretty free hand to do what he wants to do.
All this, and more, has happened in the first 14 months of Biden’s term; one wonders how much more damage he can do to our prestige and leadership in the remaining almost three years until his successor becomes our Chief Executive.
It seems from the historical evidence that U. S. Presidents of late, Reagan and Trump excepted, have not excelled at foreign policy. That is leading us on the wrong path as the greatest nation on the globe, which should be leading, but is not.