Joe Biden: The return to Obamaism?

The new president-elect Joe Biden together with Kamala Harris, proposes a new direction for US foreign policy. Given his history within the government environment, it is important to remember Biden's participation before, since in 2009 he obtained the vice presidency in the first term of Barack Obama, president from whom he obtained much of his approaches in the political agenda that he proposed over the years. throughout his candidacy and that he proposes a return to Obamaism.

The complicated situation in the United States caused by the polarization of North American society and the influence of Donald Trump through social networks such as Twitter, has led to the scenario in which Joe Biden rises to power, the product of a period that generated the loss of US legitimacy on the international stage, an issue that arose during the George W. Bush period. Like Barack Obama, Biden has a great challenge ahead of him that represents the return of the world hegemon to his position within the international dynamics.

After a period of instability within the North American country that resulted in a change in US foreign and domestic policy in relation to the actions committed by then-President Donald Trump and the hard power policy that characterized his government, produced the current situation within the country in which Biden takes office with challenges in immigration, national security and environmental concerns that have an impact on the main approaches of the current administration, which intends to maintain a smart power policy.

Among Joe Biden's proposals is a return to a multilateralist foreign policy since relations with Latin American, Asian and Middle Eastern countries became tense after the Trump administration. The speech implemented by the Democrat when he affirms “America is back; you can count on us ”demonstrates the soft power that he wields to respond to threats not only within the country, but in any nation that needs support. [1]

The return to Obamaism in Biden's politics lies in the perspectives that are analyzed as the environmental concern that was a key point during the mandates of Barack Obama, which was made explicit with the [Paris Agreement](https://cemeri.org /art/joe-biden-y-estados-united-accord-paris/) in the United Nations Convention on Climate Change from which Trump withdrew the North American country in 2017 and which the current president seeks to return to. In this regard, said agreement was not the only body from which the United States withdrew during the previous four-year period, since it also decided not to form part of the World Health Organization.

Stormy Past

The unilateralism that was obtained from the United States First by Trump caused great havoc in US foreign policy, due to the fact that relations with China were tense in various aspects, among the first is the withdrawal of the United States from the trans-Pacific partnership , which according to ECLAC represents the most important regional agreement in terms of world agricultural trade. [2]

Within this framework, another issue to be addressed is the relationship he maintained with Mexico, while the construction of the wall that emerged as one of his campaign promises when seeking a separation between Central America and the North American country, in order to reduce migration mainly exercised from Latin American countries, since it occupies 21.22% of the immigrant population within the country and specifically from Mexico with 11.71%, therefore the development of a physical border between the two nations was analyzed as a strategy to curb the migratory phenomenon. [3]

Latin American migrants in the United States, 2010. Source: North America [4]

In this regard, Joe Biden, like Barack Obama during his candidacy, exposes through speeches favorable to immigrants, an apparent immigration policy with greater tolerance towards people who decide to leave their country of origin. Among the proposals of the current president are to resume assistance programs for dreamers, stop family separation, expand political asylum and abolish the impediment to access to Muslims.

In this regard, the political promises that Barack Obama had made, largely related to those of the current president, remained only in the candidacy speech since throughout his administrations more undocumented immigrants were deported than even in the government of his predecessor. – George W. Bush – showing the anti-immigrant policy through the implementation of programs such as “Frontera Sur” or “Comunidades Seguras”.

International positioning: The end of the game?

The delegitimization of the United States is part of its contemporary stage since it began with former President Bush when he reduced his foreign policy to isolationism and the country's participation in international arenas after the attacks of September 11, 2001 by the terrorist group Al Qaeda. . –

It is inevitable that, with the weakening of one power, there will be others on the rise fighting to occupy the place left by the old power [5]. In this sense, it is possible to understand the existence of the dispute for world leadership between actors such as China and Russia that remain on the margins of the line in the disputes for areas of influence in the world that can be seen present in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and even some Latin American regions.

China's expansion was gradually allowed since the Obama period, since the points of tension that existed in the rest of the world began to be curbed, an example of this is the case of Iraq. However, he did not conceive of the magnitude of the force with which Xi Jinping would develop and gain influence in historically important areas that took place in [Taiwan](https://cemeri.org/art/taiwan-conflict-united-states- china/), as well as pursuing agendas to threaten US influence through the Belt and Road Initiative that are currently increasing Chinese power in other parts of the Western Hemisphere. [6]

Xi Jinping and Barack Obama, at the White House. Sources: The Country, Erik S. Lesser [7]

The smart power that characterized Obama's stage, the result of soft power as an ideological policy in foreign relations and hard power only in necessary situations, is that doctrine that Biden intends to choose during his presidency since it is projected to leader mode that unlike the previous president, does not intend to seek to settle conflicts through warfare but through mechanisms that allow conflict resolution through dialogue.

Another of the actors to mention is Russia since it is located with the role of one of the possible emerging powers. Relations with the nation during the Obama era increased in contrast to the Bush period, since one of the initiatives that the US president pointed to was a return to multilateralism and cooperation between nations to satisfy mutual needs based on a diplomatic side.

In the case of Barack Obama, it was generally decided to use diplomacy, on the other hand, hard power was expressed through other situations, especially in Afghanistan where the area of influence between the United States and Russia was disputed. Despite this, the relationship that was maintained with Russia during the mandate focused on nuclear aspects, including the signing of agreements, exemplified by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

All the nuclear agreements held by the US were threatened during the Trump administration. In contrast, Biden has affirmed the desire to return to multilateralism and re-enter the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan - abandoned in 2018 - to ensure or avoid the possible development of an aggressive policy that could trigger a nuclear conflict. The similarity with the Obama government or administration becomes undeniable if we consider these factors, in short, to the makeup of Biden's cabinet, which is largely made up of former Obama administration officials. [8]

Despite the international cooperation aimed at in Biden's policies, a point of focus remains in Russia, which the Democratic president places special emphasis on because it is considered that both during the Barack Obama period and the Donald Trump kept his distance regarding the decisions taken by Russia that were a threat to global stability such as the annexation of Crimea, the invasion of Ukraine or the influence exercised in Syria.

Environmental concern: a threat to the world

Climate change has become a latent concern in the sense that humanity itself is a source of pollution. In this context, the United States has proven to be one of the most polluting countries with a high level of industrialization caused by the use of fossil fuels that, although they occupy an important place within their political relations, as in the case of the Treaty of Mexico, the United States United States and Canada, which was fundamentally based on the production and exchange of fossil fuels. [9]

In climate matters, the public agenda that Barack Obama maintained during his presidency contained a series of initiatives. Among those that were carried out, is the Climate Action Plan, since the president recognized the role that his country plays in the emission of pollutants, so in 2015 an executive order was signed in order to present all the efforts strategies of the Pentagon in the search for improvement in the environmental situation.

However, in relation to Biden, unlike his predecessor -Donald Trump- he plans a political agenda similar to that of Obama, referring to the fact that within his proposals there is a plan of two trillion dollars in order to address the climate phenomenon. In short, to renew the national infrastructure and the commitment to a clean economy that promotes renewable energies and cooperation around sustainability. From this perspective, Obamaism gradually returns with the regulation of the energy economy in accordance with the energy industry.

Within this framework, the return to the Paris climate agreement has become a fundamental issue for the democrat's public agenda and he seeks to align proposals to meet the objectives of the 2050 agenda in energy matters, in addition to implementing political-environmental restrictions, one of them was the limitation in the exhaust pipes of automobiles. [10]

Future Obamaism: What can we expect?

The new administration of Joe Biden undoubtedly represents a certain similarity with the mandate of Barack Obama starting from the point that they belong to the Democratic party and share certain aspects in terms of the objectives in their respective policies.

Regarding the international arena, relations with the emerging powers that are currently Russia and China have sustained disagreements due to the conflict or clash between the current leader in decline and those rising countries that seek to obtain the role that the United States maintains as world hegemon. Therefore, this link is usually represented by the tensions that are managed depending on the government in charge.

For his part, during the Obama administration, relations with the powers were maintained through diplomacy; however, when Donal Trump seized power, he configured these relations with greater hostility. In contrast, Biden takes up fundamental questions about Obama's foreign policy used with smart power, creating a new connection in the search for stability on the international scene for a peaceful coexistence among nations.

Finally, it is possible to reconsider the Biden government as a third Obama term despite the statements he has made to delegitimize the above, by virtue of rescuing a large number of proposals that were made during his administration and even some of the officials who lent their services previously, they return to the charges they held then.

The challenge lies in asking about the future of the United States on the international stage, because as the first world power with which we share a continent and geographic proximity, the geopolitical actions that impact it will inevitably have repercussions for Mexico, Latin America, and the rest of the world. global way by creating a new world order.