Among the many millions the world over who rejoiced over Joe Biden’s recent victory over Donald Trump, few are happier than the political leaders and diplomats of our oldest allies. Trump seemed to take almost as much glee in denigrating them, and the values of the liberal world order they created with the United States, as he did in patting authoritarian adversaries on the back.
Joe Biden promises that he will re-invigorate America’s badly frayed relations with allies and partners. The president-elect and his secretary of state designate, Anthony Blinken, are seasoned internationalists who intend to restore America’s much diminished reputation in world affairs as a result of the Trump administration’s staggering incoherence and incompetence, and the failed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Biden wants to restore America’s place in world affairs, as he put it recently, “at the head of the table.” Other nations will follow our lead, Biden wrote in 2017, “because they know America does not simply protect its own interests, but tries to advance the aspirations of all.”