Can America positively transform under Biden?

Trump not only isolated his country by augmenting conflicts but also amplified hostility

The ground realities prevailing in the United States in the first half of 2020 reflect that only a ‘miracle’ can save the Republican Party presidential candidate, Donald Trump, from a crushing defeat in the hands of his potential rival Joseph Biden from the Democratic Party. It is not only the results of opinion polls depicting a downward slide for Trump vis-à-vis Biden but the mood of American voters which, unlike the case of the 2016 presidential elections, has turned against the Republican Party.

Around four years of Republican presidency under Trump has transformed America in a negative and damaging manner. Not only were harsh steps taken against immigrants but the Trump administration literally gave a free hand to those groups who wanted to implement their agenda of restoring ‘white Christian glory’ in the US. The cold-blooded murder of African American George Floyd at the hands of white policemen triggered anti-racial protests and demonstrations. The last three years of Trump’s presidency are marred with countless incidents of racial attacks against African Americans and periodic confrontation with the media.

In the foreign policy arena, Trump not only isolated his country by augmenting conflicts with China; adding to disagreements with the European allies; and openly supporting Israel’s policy of annexation of Palestinian lands in the West Bank; but also amplified hostility with Iran by withdrawing from the nuclear deal and ordering the assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad airport in early January this year. During the pandemic crisis, the US failed to play a leadership role to control the deadly coronavirus. Trump blamed China for creating and proliferating the virus and expressed his chagrin with the World Health Organization (WHO) by announcing the US withdrawal from it.

The November 2020 elections provide an opportunity to American voters to either reject Trump and elect Biden or re-elect Trump for a second term. Although, US elections are around four months away, as things continue to unfold in the American political horizon, it will be a miracle if Trump is re-elected. Will America positively transform if Biden wins the presidential elections and what damage control measures would the new Democratic administration take to restore America’s image internationally and to rebuild the American nation? How would democracy, merit and multiculturalism — which have been badly damaged during Trump’s presidency — be restored?

One can visualise America’s positive transformation under Biden in two broad areas. First, in foreign policy the challenge for the Biden administration would be to restore America’s image as a supporter of democracy and human rights. For instance, the foreign policy adviser for Biden’s campaign, Antony Blinken, a former deputy national security adviser and deputy secretary of state, in a dialogue at the Hudson Institute, Washington DC, stated that, “the Biden administration, if elected, will raise the issue of Kashmir with India and would also convey its concerns on a recent Indian law that discriminates against Muslims.” Surprisingly, despite the historic ‘tilt’ of the Democratic Party towards India, Biden, a potential Democratic presidential nominee, will take a stand against New Delhi on issues which clearly come under gross human rights violations like the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) which was promulgated in December 2019, and the revocation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

Blinken, who is drafting Biden’s foreign policy agenda, made it clear during the dialogue that, “we strongly have challenges now and real concerns for example, about some of the actions the Indian government has taken, particularly in cracking down on freedom of movement and freedom of speech in Kashmir, and about some of the laws on citizenship.” It is yet to be seen how the powerful Indian lobby in the US, particularly its supporters in the Congress, would react to Biden’s foreign policy agenda related to Kashmir and the CAA.

In case of Iran, Blinken argued that tearing down the nuclear deal in May 2018 has not helped prevent non-proliferation as “in fact, the opposite has happened.” Other partners to the Iran nuclear deal, like four other permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany have not unlike, the US withdrawn from the deal, and want America to understand that the deal helped commit Iran to not take the nuclear road.

Likewise, the Biden administration is expected to take damage control measures by rejoining WHO and rebuilding ties with China. In fact, Biden made it clear that the first decision he would take as an American president will be to rejoin WHO. Unlike previous American administrations which considered Israel as a ‘sacred cow’ and rendered total support to the repressive regime of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden and his team in the White House would not give Israel a walkover or a free hand in the West Bank. Yet, it will be an uphill task for the probable Democratic president to reverse policies of the Trump administration which not only isolated America in global affairs but also generated dislike and hostility for the US.

Second, it may be easier for Biden and his team to unleash the process of reversing some of Trump’s domestic policies, particularly those related to the treatment of people of colour, especially African Americans and the issue of closing immigration to the US, including constructing a wall on the Mexican-American border. But it all depends on the composition of the House of Representatives and the Senate following the November elections. If Republicans retain their majority in the Senate and take control of the House, it may be difficult for Biden to reform domestic and foreign policy and implement damage control measures to restore America’s image internationally. Change in the Congress is imperative for Biden to have smoothly implement his domestic and foreign policy agenda.

Furthermore, the most important challenge which the Biden administration will face will be rebuilding the US economy and society which has been badly hurt from the pandemic. Trillions of dollars of economic losses and massive unemployment caused irreparable damage to the world’s largest economy and Biden will need his team of economic managers to formulate a quick financial and economic recovery of his country.

The ‘mafias’ which deepened their presence and clout in different American state organs under the patronage of the Trump administration will certainly retaliate if Biden tries to reverse policies pursued since January 2017. In that case, the Democratic Party needs to maintain its unity and trust of the people of America in order to take bold decisions for introducing domestic and foreign policy reforms. If Trump loses the November election he cannot hold the pandemic, worsening of the economy, anti-race riots and external factors responsible for his debacle. Instead, he should hold himself responsible as his arrogant attitude promoted corruption and nepotism.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2020.

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