2023-10-31 10:00:09
In the current issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, Jake Sullivan outlined Joe Biden’s foreign policy strategy. In the article entitled “The Sources of American Power,” he writes of the Middle East: Although the region remains beset by ongoing challenges, it is calmer than at any other time in decades. The assessment by the American president’s national security adviser, written before the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, turned out to be premature. The passage has now been revised in the online version.
Majid Sattar
North American political correspondent based in Washington.
In fact, a year before the presidential election, Biden is realizing that his grand plan to focus American foreign policy resources after the end of the era of wars on terror on the real challenge of the 21st century, namely “competition” with China, is under double threat. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has already forced Washington to assume the Western leadership role in military support for Kiev. And now America, against its will, has to once again act as a force of order in the Middle East.
Both wars have geopolitical dimensions. On both fronts, Washington wants to avoid an escalation that could end up making it a party to the conflict. And both wars have domestic political consequences, albeit very different ones. While Biden, in response to Moscow’s aggression, is struggling to stop the Republicans in the House of Representatives from letting military aid expire in view of isolationist tendencies among the population, he is fighting in the Middle East war with his own party left, which sharply criticizes his pro-Israel support.
Embracing strategy is intended to prevent Netanyahu from overreacting
Biden made it clear immediately after October 7 that America’s support for Israel was “rock solid” and “unwavering.” From the start, his positioning also had something of an embrace strategy. The unreserved solidarity with the most important ally in the Middle East, which found expression in arms and ammunition deliveries as well as in the dispatch of its own warships to deter Iran and its proxies, should also prevent Benjamin Netanyahu from overreacting.
The president speaks on the phone with the Israeli prime minister almost every day. Most recently, after the conversation on Sunday, it was said that Biden had reiterated what he had said from the beginning: Israel has the right and responsibility to defend its citizens. As always, he added that this time he had emphasized that this must be done in accordance with international humanitarian law, which gives priority to the protection of the civilian population.
The White House also said that Biden had underlined that the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip must be increased “immediately and significantly”: Here the president sharpened his tone slightly. Finally, he agreed with Netanyahu to continue the close coordination between the two governments.
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