Biden’s new America: How the president will unite the US and the world
Joe Biden will be busy mending fences both home and around the world in his first 100 days as the 46th US president.
Uncle Sam is back with a Joe Biden presidency, the big buddy to the rest of the world that had its back, for the greater global good.
Well, kind of, but different this time.
After four years of isolationist policies and an estrangement from global bodies like the World Health Organisation and NATO, Biden is expected to patch things back together.
“Under a Biden presidency, the United States will shift from a ‘with or without us’ approach to a policy that fundamentally believes the United States can achieve more when we work together with partner nations,” Jason Marczak, a director in the global leadership body the Atlantic Council said.
A flood of congratulations for Biden from leaders around the world foreshadowed an enthusiasm for America’s return.
“A White House without Trump should bring a less racist world,” tweeted Ahmad Tibi, an Arab member of the Israeli parliament.
Biden is a “globalist at heart,” Lowy Institute research fellow Natasha Kassam told Guardian Australia.
However, while Biden will mend fences with allies and partners, his focus is to mend the deep divisions within US society after the turbulent Trump era.
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He will also address the one big thing Trump failed ever to properly care about or manage.
On day one – Monday, the same day when Donald Trump has vowed to launch legal action in earnest against the vote count - Biden is expected to do two things straight off the bat.
Before even announcing his Cabinet or his White House team, Biden will form a national COVID-19 task force to combat the alarming surge in cases since numbers broke through 100,000 a day.
On the task force’s agenda will be coronavirus vaccine distribution, a federal standard on mask protocols and funding for hospitals and state run health care which has buckled under successive virus waves.
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He will also rejoin the Paris Agreement on Climate Change that Trump dumped in mid-2017, but without control of the Senate will find it hard to put in effect his green energy plan.
Biden will not be too zealous, because it would be “bad politics”, instead reducing reliance on fossil fuels and making their emissions cleaner.
Within the United States, Americans can expect Biden to roll back Trump orders on immigration and instead focus on human rights issues with Latin neighbours.
But what happens to the wall being built on the US southern border to stop the flow of illegal immigration that was a plank in Trump’s presidency?
By last month, 400 miles (640km) has already gone up and another 50 miles is on track by the end of the year.
Joe Biden has pledged “there will not be another foot of wall constructed under my administration”. but that does not start until his January 20 inauguration.
The new president intends to instead focus on security issues with the border, most importantly stopping the traffic of illegal drugs and other contraband into the US.
Leading political site axios.com said despite political roadblocks for his domestic priorities, Biden’s power to shape US foreign policy will be considerable.
He will welcome a stronger Europe and partnership with US allies, telling every European leader, “We’re back.”
The US relationship with China has plunged to a low ebb amid disputes over trade, technology, human rights and the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden is not expected to scrap all the tariffs Trump imposed, but could lift them on agriculture, in exchange for something from the Chinese administration.
In his first 100 days in office, Biden is expected to do more than Trump did four years earlier, and this will include probing whether Russia has engaged in election interference.
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