BY: William Holmes
PEJOURNAL – Joe Biden’s administration finally started after all ups and downs due to a transfer of power accompanied by unrest on the part of Donald Trump supporters.
On the eve of the 2016 elections, Trump made every effort to gain prestige and prestige in the political world. For the past four years, the US leader has sought to completely destroy Obama’s legacy, both in domestic and foreign policy. Obama’s reforms in the field of health and health insurance and in the field of immigration policy suffered a serious blow. Fighting lawlessness – was one of the main pre-elections promises of Trump.
In the field of foreign policy, many changes took place. Within four years, Trump withdrew from some international agreements. These include JCPOA, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and, Cooperation in the Pacific (TPP).
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) was a proposed trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and, the United States. Signed February 4, 2016. After US Ex-President Donald Trump withdrew the US signature from the TPP in January 2017, the agreement was not ratified if necessary and did not enter into force.
The remaining countries negotiated a new trade agreement called the Comprehensive and Leading Partnership Agreement for the Pacific, which covers most of the provisions of the TPP, and came into force on 30 December 2018.
In addition to the mentioned agreements, the cancellation of important arms control documents, including the contract for the dismantling of medium-range and short-range missiles and the Open Skies Agreement were also the treaties that has been challenged by Donald Trump and in all these cases, Trump sought new agreements. However, he only succeeded in concluding a new free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Trump’s other attempts to reach a new deal with Iran or arms control failed.
The US president sought to include China in new military agreements, as he saw the country as one of the main and strategic threats. Washington waged a war against China aimed at uniting its allies and a trade war with Beijing.
Trump also made economic claims to Europe. The US president has been embroiled in controversy with most EU leaders. The result of these conflicts was that Europe spoke of the need to achieve independence and not rely on Washington.
For example, Emmanuel Macron spoke about the formation of the European army and Merkel about the role of the European Union in the world. Europe opposed Trump on issues related to China and Iran. Germany and France refused to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran and in any way tried to reduce the pressure of US sanctions against Iran.
It should be noted that the numerous controversies against Trump did not have much effect on the level of public support for him. In the 2020 presidential election, more than 74 million Americans voted for him.
Among the positive points of US policy during the Trump era is the US economic growth. Trump has repeatedly called the country’s economic growth an important achievement. It should be noted, however, that the Covid-19 epidemic has dealt a severe blow to the US economy. The second achievement of the Trump administration was negotiations with North Korea.
Unlike previous US presidents, Trump did not start any war. In addition, he advocated the withdrawal of US troops from critical areas of the world. In late 2020, under Trump’s mediation, Israel signed an agreement to normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
»Valery Nikolayevich Garbuzov«, director of the American-Canadian Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that Donald Trump will no doubt be remembered in history as one of the culprits in the serious divisions in American society.
Overall, the American political system is in deep crisis because the two ruling parties can no longer defend the interests and approaches of American society. Trumpism, a branch of the extremist party in America, can become a separate group or even an independent party.
One of Biden’s challenges during his tenure in the White House is the Trans-Pacific contract. A deal that Trump called catastrophic and believed to destroy jobs, especially American technology. Whether Trump was right or not, the Biden administration is apparently seeking a return to the deal or something.
Biden brings with him not only extensive personal experience, a willingness to work with US allies and the most established US foreign policy officials, but also the stability and predictability that the White House has lacked for the past four years. To succeed in South Asia, however, Biden must not seek to repeat the failed efforts of previous US presidents, but must take a whole new approach to the region.
After decades of war, the American people are understandably and justifiably tired of continuing the conflict in Afghanistan, and Washington is focusing more on how to get the United States out of the region. But a new approach to maintaining a combination of economic assistance and security cooperation in the region could help the United States stabilize Afghanistan and South Asia. In the past, the most effective approach has been to invest directly in the people of a country, rather than relying on cooperating with corrupt political and military leaders and traders.
This new approach must be built on specific principles: First, the United States cannot do this alone, but must agree with its partners to achieve a set of long-term, specific goals for the entire region. Second, Washington should not rely on military power alone to resolve this conflict.
The new government should place more emphasis on the economic needs of the region and use the efforts of the Ministry of Defense, Foreign Affairs and Treasury as the approach of the whole government. Third, the United States must use its power in multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, to maximize the benefits of economic assistance and ease the direct burden on US taxpayers.
This new approach is similar to the one that helped rebuild the planned central economy of the former Soviet Union in the 1990s; When the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Community, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund joined forces to quickly change the economic and political landscape of Eastern Europe.
President-elect Biden has deep experience working in the region itself and Capitol Hill to do so. But just as he represented President Obama on Capitol Hill and the US ally in South Asia, he will need someone similar to build new alliances.
The new government must also understand that South Asia is one of the least developed regions in the world in terms of travel and trade routes. The United States should seriously consider activating the Grand Trunk New Road Project, which connects Kabul to Dhaka with an expanded infrastructure and removes trade barriers. The development of this ancient cultural, political and economic highway will lead to the expansion of local investments and the easing of regional tensions.
Many experts have predicted in the past that China’s economy will reach the US economy by 2030. But now that the Coronavirus has hit and the US economy is hit hard, many believe that economic competition could change the game for the next five or six years, and that China is even Economically surpassing the United States.
America is the biggest economic power in the world while it is one of the most indebted countries in the world!! Biden and the core and smart brains in America know this. Trump knew that, too. But each in their own way wanted to prevent this from happening.
It remains to be seen what policy Joe Biden will pursue by promising a return to multilateral economic agreements in the world, especially financial and economic agreements in the Asian market, especially in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Like Trans-Pacific, will this superpower be useful for the economic future or not …?