Trump's presidency not just a blip in US foreign policy

President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to scrap President Donald Trump’s vision of “America First” in favor of “diplomacy first” will depend on wher he's able to regain trust of allies and convince m that Trumpism is just a blip in annals of U.S. foreign policy.

It could be a hard sell. From Europe to Middle East and Asia, Trump’s brand of transactional diplomacy has alienated friends and foes alike, leaving Biden with a particularly contentious set of national security issues.

Biden, who said last month that “America's back, ready to lead world, t retreat from it,” might strive to be antisis of Trump on world st and reverse some, if t many, of his predecessor’s actions. But Trump’s imprint on America’s place in world — viewed as good or bad — will t be easily erased.

U.S. allies aren’t blind to large constituency of American voters who continue to support Trump’s nationalist tendencies and his belief that United States should stay out of world conflicts. If Biden’s goal is to restore America’s place in world, he’ll t only need to gain trust of foreign allies but also convince voters at home that international diplomacy works better than unilateral tough talk.

Trump has insisted that he's t against multilateralism, only global institutions that are ineffective. He has pulled out of more than half a dozen international agreements, withdrawn from multiple U.N. groups and trash talked allies and partners.

Biden, on or hand, says global alliances need to be rebuilt to combat climate change, address COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future epidemics and confront growing threat posed by China. national security and foreign policy staff that he has named so far are champions of multilateralism.

His choices for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and foreign aid chief Samantha Power — all veterans of Obama administration — underscore his intent to return to a foreign policy that y believe was abandoned by Trump.

“Right w, re’s an ermous vacuum," Biden said. “We’re going to have to regain trust and confidence of a world that has begun to find ways to work around us or without us.”

Biden intends to rejoin Paris climate agreement and cooperate again with World Health Organization. He plans to smooth relations with Europeans and or friends and refrain from blasting fellow members of NATO, and he may return United States to Iran nuclear agreement. Still, many Americans will continue to espouse Trump's “America First” nda, especially with U.S. ecomy struggling to recover from coronavirus pandemic, civil strife in American streets over racism and absence of civil political discourse.

“Wher people liked it or t, Trump was elected by Americans in 2016,” said Fiona Hill, who worked in Trump White House’s National Security Council and w is at liberal-leaning Brookings Institution.

Trump’s election in 2016 and tens of millions of votes he garnered in 2020 reflect a very divided nation, she says.

“We have to accept that electoral outcome in 2016 was t a fluke," Hill said.

Steven Blockmans, research director at Centre for European Policy Studies in Belgium, said Europeans should t kid mselves into believing transatlantic relations will return to way y were before Trump.

“In all but name, rallying cry of ‘America First’ is here to stay,” he said. “Biden has vowed to prioritize investment in U.S. green energy, child care, education and infrastructure over any new trade deals. He has also called for expanded 'Buy American' provisions in federal procurement, which has long been an irritant in trade relations with European Union.”

Each part of world holds a different challenge for Biden.

CHINA

Fear of China’s quest for world dominance started to mount before Trump came to office. Early on, Trump sidled up to China’s authoritarian president, Xi Jinping. But after efforts to get more than a first-phase trade deal failed, president turned up heat on China and repeatedly blamed Beijing for coronavirus pandemic.

He sanctioned Chinese, and in speech after speech, top Trump officials warned about China stealing American techlogy, conducting cyberattacks, taking aggressive actions in South China Sea, cracking down on democracy in Hong Kong and abusing Muslim Uighurs in western China.

Increasingly, Republicans and Democrats alike are worried about a rising ecomic and geopolitical threat from China, and that concern won't end when Trump leaves office.

RTH KOREA

Resetting U.S. relations with Asia allies is instrumental in confronting t only China but also rth Korea.

Trump broke new ground on nuclear standoff with rth Korea with his three face-to-face meetings with rth Korea's Kim Jong Un. But Trump's efforts yielded deal to persuade Kim to give up his nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief and security assurances. In fact, rth Korea has continued to develop its nuclear capabilities.

Biden might be forced to deal with rth Korea sooner than later as experts say Pyongyang has a history of conducting tests and firing missiles to garner Washington’s attention around U.S. presidential elections.

AFGHANISTAN

Nearly 20 years after a U.S.-led international coalition toppled Taliban government that supported al-Qaida, Afghan civilians are still being killed by thousands. Afghan security forces, in lead on battlefield, continue to tally high casualties. Taliban attacks are up outside cities, and Islamic State group has orchestrated bombings in capital, Kabul, including one in vember at Kabul University that killed more than 20 people, mostly students.

U.S. and Taliban sat down at negotiation table in 2018. Those talks, led by Trump envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, eventually led to U.S.-Taliban deal that was signed in February 2020, providing for withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan.

Set on making good on his campaign promise to withdraw U.S. troops from “endless wars,” Trump cut troops from 8,600 to 4,500, n ordered troop levels to fall to 2,500 by Inauguration Day. United States has pledged to pull all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by May 1, just months after Biden takes office, but it's unclear if he will.

MIDDLE EAST

Trump opted to think outside box when it came to Israeli-Palestinian conflict and relations with Arab nations.

Palestinians rejected Trump administration's Mideast peace plan, but n Trump coaxed two Arab nations — United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — to recognize Israel. This was historic because Arab nations had for decades said y wouldn't recognize Israel until Palestinians' struggle for an independent state was resolved.

Warming ties between Israel and Arab states that share opposition to Iran helped seal deal. Morocco and Sudan also later recognized Israel.

IRAN

In 2018, Trump pulled United States out of Iran nuclear deal, in which world powers agreed to lift sanctions on Tehran if it curbed its nuclear program.

Trump said deal was one-sided, didn't prevent Iran from eventually getting a nuclear weapon and allowed it to receive billions of dollars in frozen assets that it has been accused of using to bankroll terror proxies destabilizing Mideast. Biden says exiting deal was reckless and complains that Iran w has stockpiled more enriched uranium than is allowed under deal, which is still in force between Iran and Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany.