What Joe Biden means when he says American diplomacy is back

The vision of America's place in the world presented by Joe Biden was starkly, and predictably, different from that of Donald Trump, with a focus on undoing the damage done in the last four years as a leading role is reclaimed in the international scene.

Biden reassured allies of support, but also warned that it would not be unconditional. He put adversaries on notice, lauded international cooperation, and insisted that core liberal democratic values would be the linchpin on which US global strategy will be based on his watch.

The theme was "America is back", rather than "America First" and "Make America Great Again" of the Trump era. But, as with all slogans, it remains to be seen how that translates into reality. "America First" turned out to mean a doctrinaire turning away from multilateralism and retreat into isolationism. "Make America Great Again" sucked the nation into a quicksand of division and discord.

Biden chose the State Department, instead of the Pentagon or the CIA, to make his first major speech on foreign affairs. This was a message that the key role of diplomacy and diplomats will be restored after the chaos and confusion of the Trump years when advisers like son-in-law Jared Kushner seemed to run their own foreign policy operations.

"Diplomacy is back, you are the centre of all that I intend to do", said the President. " We are going to rebuild our alliances. We're going to rebuild our alliances, we're going to reengage the world and take on the enormous challenge we face dealing with the pandemic, dealing with global warming, and standing up for democracy and human rights around the world."

The most significant move announced by President Biden was withdrawing support for the Saudi led war in Yemen. Trump's first visit as President was to the Gulf states, essentially an exercise in selling arms, some of it for use in Yemen. Kushner had cultivated the friendship of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a key architect of the conflict. But all that will go through a reset.

The President also announced the halting of an order issued by Donald Trump to withdraw more than a quarter of its forces from Germany, a move which was hugely controversial and viewed as an expression of spite towards a key Western ally. But that, however, had already been announced, somewhat unexpectedly, by General Tod Wolters, the head of Nato forces, answering questions from journalists 24 hours earlier in Belgium.

While withdrawing offensive support for the Saudis in Yemen, Biden promised to support Riyadh against Iranian backed attacks. He is expected to announce Tim Lenderking, an experienced diplomat and Middle East specialist, as an envoy on the Yemen crisis.

"The war has created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe This war has to end," said the President. "At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV (drone) strikes and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries. We're going to continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people."

The two steps, over Yemen and Germany, showed that there are going to be moves away from the Trump administration's detachment from Western democratic alliances and attachment to autocratic states and rulers.

Turning to Russia, a country Trump has been loath to criticise, while constantly attacking Nato and the EU, and Vladimir Putin, against whom Trump had never uttered a single critical word, Biden said that in his recent telephone call with the Russian President he had "made it clear in a manner very different from my predecessor that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russia's aggressive actions, interfering in our elections, cyber-attacks, poisoning its citizens, are over".

"We will not hesitate to raise the cost on Russia and defend our vital interests and our people. And we will be more effective in dealing with Russia when we work in coalition and coordination with other like-minded partners."

One arena where the Biden administration would not differ too much from the previous one is China. "We will also take on directly the challenges posed by our prosperity, security, and democratic values by our most serious competitor, China," said the President. "We will confront China's economic abuses, counter its aggressive coercive action to push back on China's attack on human rights, intellectual property, and global governance."

There was a caveat. The US, said Biden, is willing to work with Beijing when it's in the country's interests, This will include issues like climate change and cooperation on health following the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic.

While the speech was about foreign affairs, the internal problems of America, the turbulence of Trump, the accusations and recriminations, could not be avoided.

Biden's National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, had stressed last week, "foreign policy is domestic policy, and domestic policy is foreign policy. And at the end of the day, right now, the most profound national security challenge facing the United States is getting our own house in order, is domestic renewal."

Trump had visited the CIA on his first day as commander-in-chief, which was ironic considering a number of senior intelligence officers suspected him of being the Muscovian candidate for the White House. The then President fueled the antipathy towards him by his performance while standing in front of the wall of remembrance for the Agency's officers who had given their lives for their country. He lashed out at his critics, boasted about appearing on magazine covers and inflated the size of the crowd at his inauguration.

Trump visited the State Department just once: it came after a year in office and after the resignation of his first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. Subsequently the diplomatic service faced budget cuts, political vendettas against senior officials such as Marie Yovanovitch, the ambassador to Ukraine, and being accused by Trump of being the "deep state" department, part of the supposed conspiracy against him.

President Biden wanted to reassure: "I will have your back. This administration is going to empower you to do your jobs, not target or politicise you. We want a rigorous debate that brings all perspectives, that makes room for dissent. That's how we'll get the best possible policy outcomes. So with your help, the United States will again lead not just by the example of our power, but by the power of our example."

But, as Biden acknowledged, America is going through a dark and dangerous period. "We've witnessed images we've never imagined, violent assault of the US Capitol, democracy, and a violent threat that took lives", said the President. His administration will have the daunting task of assuaging these deep fractures at home as it goes forward with its strategy abroad in a changing and uncertain world.