A Canadian's advice for Joe Biden
American leadership has lost much global credibility, says John E. Trent.
Dear Mr. Biden: It has been reported in the media a number of times that you have outlined your future foreign policy by using the expression: “Once more, America will lead the world.”
Please don't. The world has become somewhat dubious about American capacity for leadership.
Don't get me wrong. I am one of the many who are enchanted that the Democrats are returning to power in the United States and that you will be heading up its foreign policy. But the decline in American leadership has been going on for a long time.
It has not been just a Trump phenomenon (but that also). We can say that it probably started with the illicit bombing of neutral Cambodia in the late 1960s. During the invasion of Afghanistan and subsequent invasion of Iraq, the United States lost the huge, worldwide sympathy it had received after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers in New York in 2001. It is not since yesterday that the world has turned its back on U.S. leadership.
All this has been multiplied by Donald Trump's disastrous attacks on multilateralism and his undermining of the United Nations. He has insulted the organization many times in his speeches and he has quit UNESCO, the Paris Climate Accord, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran, and the Human Rights Council. The U.S. is $3.6 billion in arrears on its contributions to the budget of the UN. And to top it off, Trump quit the World Health Organization at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. He has denigrated his allies in NATO and the European Union at the same time as he has made cosy with the world's worst autocracies in Russia, China and North Korea. He has pointedly supported nationalism and populism as opposed to globalization. His undermining of the institutions of American democracy is notorious.
No, the world is not ready for “American leadership.” What we do want is American partnership. In a world where China and Russia are seeking ways of building new hegemonies, and a whole slew of nationalist-populist leaders strides about the international scene, it is more necessary than ever for a coalition of large, middle and small liberal powers to rebuild an effective multilateral system focused on the UN.
The building blocks are already in place. In 20192020, the first steps were taken to launch The Alliance for Multilateralism. It was initiated as a network of states co-operating on common objectives, pursuing shared goals based on agreed principles. Its foreign ministers met at the 74th and 75th UN General Assemblies. The momentum came from the Germans and French in the belief that a rules-based international order is the only reliable guarantee for international stability and peace. They were joined from the outset by Canada, Mexico, Chile, Singapore and Ghana. Many other states have acceded to the network and it is open to any country that shares the belief that common challenges can best be solved by common action. It would include co-operation to come to the aid of hard-pressed international institutions and advancing their reform. The Alliance wants to act through concrete initiatives in fields such as climate, health, digital technology, rethinking arms control and the Paris Peace Forum. It intends to reach out to non-state actors.
The Alliance can be the framework for a far-reaching movement but much flesh must be placed on the skeleton if it is to awaken into a smart coalition. The Alliance must be encouraged to become much more than a “network.” It should actively seek new member states and show some urgency in promoting the construction of an alliance of middle-power democracies in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Africa. This is where the U.S. should be applying its efforts, Mr. Biden. You have said that the U.S. will organize and host a “Global Summit for Democracy.” Would it not be wise to ask another country, like Canada, to host the summit in partnership with you?