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Biden’s rocky start on foreign policy
Can President Biden tamp down growing global skepticism and persuade his allies that the US is really "back"? Or is America's credibility irreparably damaged no matter what Biden, or any future president, says or does? Ian Bremmer is joined on GZERO World by global affairs journalist and Middle East expert Robin Wright of The New Yorker to discuss why Biden, the most geopolitically experienced US president in decades, is already looking to hit the reset button on America's foreign policy. After four long years of the Trump administration's bull-in-a-china-shop approach to foreign policy, Joe Biden's assurances that America was "back" had been like Xanax to the diplomatic community. But some major foreign policy snafus in the past eight months have thrown America's renewed global standing into question. At the very least, it seems the honeymoon is over.
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Can President Biden convince the average Joe that foreign policy matters?
President Biden may have convinced American allies that the US is back, but will It be difficult for him to convince his fellow Americans that engaging in the world is vital to protect interests at home? Former US ambassador Ivo Daalder believes that the COVID crisis has shown Americans that global problems can become local problems quickly. According to a Chicago Council poll, two-thirds of Americans believe that it is important for the US to play an active role in global affairs. Being involved is "no longer a luxury," Daalder told Ian Bremmer on GZERO World. "That's why a foreign policy for the middle-class is actually a pretty good slogan when you think about it, because it's trying to sell engagement, solving problems together with your friends and partners around the world, as a means to helping you achieve what you want every day - which is to have a good job that pays enough to take care of your family."
Watch the GZERO Worldepisode: Has Biden convinced the G7 "America is back"?
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Takeaways from President Biden’s first G7 summit
If the US is really back, as President Biden keeps saying, what is it back to do? That was one of the biggest questions at the G7 summit in the United Kingdom last weekend, the first stop on the first trip abroad of Biden's presidency. The G7 tackled the world's biggest problem by pledging to donate 1 billion doses of the vaccine to COVAX, with 500 million of those coming from the United States. Taxes, climate change, China, and Russia were on the agenda, too. Biden's trip went better than Trump's last big outing, to be sure. Ian Bremmer recaps this year's historic G7 meeting.
Watch the GZERO Worldepisode: Has Biden convinced the G7 "America is back"?
European allies welcome back a US that is engaged and “loves Europe”: Ivo Daalder
At the G7, President Biden brought American engagement with the world back to levels that used to be the norm. The United States playing an indispensable role in leading the world was never questioned until Donald Trump became president. The question now becomes how long is America back for, asks former US ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, who also raises the point: "Is the kind of way the United States has engaged the world still the appropriate way for dealing with the challenge we have?" Daalder speaks with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World about Biden's first presidential trip to Europe and the reception he received from European leaders.
Watch the GZERO Worldepisode: Has Biden convinced the G7 "America is back"?
Has Biden convinced the G7 “America is back”?
A look at US President Joe Biden's first trip abroad, which included a very important first stop at the G7 summit in the United Kingdom. Did he convince allies that "America is back" and ready to resume its leadership role in global affairs? And if so, does it even matter if Americans still need to be convinced that US engagement in the world is vital? In this episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, former US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder weighs in on Biden's performance and the way forward for the US and its closest friends.
European allies see Biden's visit as a strong beginning
Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, shares his perspective from Europe:
After Biden's first visit, do his European allies feel that America is back?
I think they do. Wasn't particularly surprising, we've heard that message before. But now it was, sort of more concrete issues. I'm not certain there was, sort of major, major, major progress. But there was the beginning of a dialogue on trade and technology issues with Europe, clearly on security issues with NATO, and quite a number of other issues with G7, and general satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting with Putin. So, altogether good.
Is Europe prepared to handle the Delta COVID variant?
Well, that's not the question. The question is, is the world ready to handle it? We've now seen it appearing in 80 countries all over the world. It is substantially more contagious than previous variants and somewhat more difficult to handle from the health point of view. So, we will see it being a very big problem in very large parts of the world in the weeks and months ahead, sorry to say.
Podcast: A former US diplomat rates Biden’s first presidential trip abroad
Listen: Former US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder weighs in on US President Joe Biden's first trip abroad, which included a very important first stop at the G7 summit in the United Kingdom, and the way forward for the US and its closest friends. Did he convince allies that "America is back" and ready to resume its leadership role in global affairs? And if so, does it even matter if Americans still need to be convinced that US engagement in the world is vital? Daalder speaks with Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World podcast.
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Expect Biden's first European trip to drive concrete steps with G7, EU
Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, shares his perspective from Europe:
What do you expect from President Biden's first European trip since taking office?
Well, first, it will be sort of reconnecting with Europe, reconnecting with the European Union, with NATO, with the partners in the G7, and going really from the initial message, which was, "we are back," to a more concrete message, "here is what we could potentially do together." That is the expectations. And let's see how it turns out.
What are the big topics on the agenda of the G7 summit?
Well, obviously, fighting the pandemic will have to be the number one topic. And there good messaging coming out on the sharing of vaccine doses, although should preferably happened yesterday, but that's the way the world is. Then I think there will be more cooperation that is needed on climate. There need to be concrete efforts in order to have a successful COP26 meeting in November. And then by necessity, there will be quite a lot of discussion on China.
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