U.S. Foreign Policy on the Verge of a New Path

• Published in: Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vol. 91; no. 6; pp. 667 - 676
• Main Author: Prikhodko, O. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Chemistry/Food Science; COVID-19; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Elections; Engineering; Environment; Foreign policy; Life Sciences; Pandemics; Point of View; Political campaigns; Presidential elections; Social Sciences; United States > US; pandemic COVID-19; D. Trump; U.S. presidential election; U.S. foreign policy; J. Biden; transatlantic relationship; the European Union
• ISSN: 1019-3316; 1555-6492
• DOI: 10.1134/S1019331621060186

In the course of the election campaign, a heated contest between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden revolved around the most acute problems of the United States. However, some foreign policy issues, primarily linked with Russia and China, occasionally emerged in their debates. The outcome of the presidential election of 2020 marked a watershed in the political fight for the White House between Republicans and Democrats, and it will have a tremendous impact on international affairs. The election campaign was unfolding amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Responding to the challenge has revealed a discord between the United States and the European Union on how to tackle the crisis and their opposite perceptions of the WHO’s role. President-elect J. Biden is about to cancel D. Trump’s dubious decisions on U.S. withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal, the Paris accord on climate, the World Health Organization. This reversal may lead to a more alignment between the United States and the European Union, but it can’t prevent ongoing erosion of the U.S. global hegemony. Biden’s election is in no way a guarantor for overcoming of transatlantic disagreements. American presidents come and go but diverging and conflicting interests of the United States and the EU remain.