More than three years since Biden swore the oath of office, Americans and the world now have more than enough information to determine what the "Biden Doctrine" is. But what began with lofty promises quickly turned into a disaster, both in the big and the little things, for this president on the world stage. Events in the last week put an exclamation point on just how calamitous Biden has been for America's friends — and how helpful he's been for our foes.
Little more than six months ago, President Biden used his platform as supposed leader of the free world to declare Hamas a dastardly terrorist organization and reiterate America’s support for Israel. “We will not ever fail to have their back,” the president said on October 7. “My administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.”
Fast forward half a year and Biden has adopted the demands of demonstrators who also chant “death to America” and “death to Israel” on Michigan’s streets. The president has abandoned his “rock solid and unwavering” support for Israel’s security and instead urges Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cease fire in Gaza — even as Hamas rejects one proposal after another. His administration has gone so far as to threaten Israel that if it continues its righteous campaign to remove Hamas as a military threat to the Jewish state, the U.S. might change its policy (read: reduce or end support) toward Israel. Biden’s Secretary of State egregiously even suggested that Israel risks becoming “indistinguishable” from Hamas barbarians.
Israel, and the rest of America’s allies, would be quickly forgiven for questioning the value and seriousness of a relationship with the U.S. under Biden’s faltering leadership. How does Biden’s abandonment of Israel — the lone democracy in the Middle East and America’s greatest ally in the region — play to those in Taiwan? More concerningly, what message does Biden’s caving to radical, supposedly “progressive,” leftists in the U.S. send to leaders in Beijing, Tehran, Moscow, and Pyongyang?
As the leader of Hezbollah offers his thanks and praise to American leftists demanding that Biden force Israel to allow Hamas to survive, other foes now know that if they can just create a domestic political pain point for Biden, he’ll roll over and abandon any ally. If unhinged voters in a swing state were demanding a cessation of aid to Ukraine, Biden would probably acquiesce to that too. Forget diplomacy, threats, or sanctions — just get a loud enough group of voters to threaten Biden and he’ll fold like a chair.
You see, it’s not about adults being in charge or America being a strong and reliable ally; it’s about what helps or hurts Joseph R. Biden politically. If a country benefits Biden and a few down-ballot Democrats, then the fight to defend said country is worth it. But if a country’s existential fight to exist ruffles voters’ feathers in a swing state, then that country has created a humanitarian disaster that must be stopped. That’s not leadership — it’s feeble, self-preserving cowardice.
For those who may have forgotten, this administration took power promising to win the battle for the soul of America, put adults back in charge, and restore America’s relationships with the countries of the world. How’s that gone? Clearly not well.
In another dramatic abandonment, President Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan failed to preserve freedom for the people of Afghanistan who now suffer under the Taliban, a group of murderous, stone-age terrorists the White House referred to as “businesslike and professional” during the withdrawal. The Biden administration’s unilateral execution of the pullout earned the president a formal censure by the U.K. parliament. How’s that for restoring America’s image on the world stage?
Even in the smaller, less existential dealings, Biden has abandoned and snubbed his way around the world. When the announcement of a nuclear submarine deal between the U.S., U.K, and Australia was announced, it caught France by surprise and led Australia to cancel a deal worth billions it had been working on with the French. Biden’s snub of France saw our oldest ally recall its ambassador to the U.S. in anger and resentment.
This is not to say Biden has done nothing to bring countries of the world closer together — he just unified the wrong nations. In his administration’s back-against-the-wall decision to seek China’s help in convincing Russia not to invade Ukraine as his supposedly brilliant efforts at deterrence failed, Biden pushed Presidents Xi and Putin closer together. Beijing shared intelligence provided by the U.S. to Moscow, giving Russia a better picture of what the U.S. knew about its preparations for the invasion that happened as Biden looked at the rotten fruits of his administration’s ineffective efforts.
In the big things and the small things, Biden’s feckless anyway-the-wind-blows “leadership” and often politically motivated policy flip-flops mean that America’s allies are finding themselves deserted while our enemies grow closer. That such a sorry state of international affairs has become the “Biden Doctrine” is yet another in a litany of this president’s broken promises or renewal and resurgence.
