When big questions about American foreign policy collide with an election, it’s rarely good news for a sitting president.
Like many leaders before him, US President Joe Biden has had some of these questions thrust on him, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some have their origins in past administrations, such as the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Most are a mixture of both, such as Israel’s retaliation against Gaza and the role of Iran.
Many analysts trace the start of Biden’s foreign policy troubles to what is often described as the “botched” American withdrawal from Afghanistan. In isolation, and despite the entirely avoidable tragedy that has unfolded there, Afghanistan alone is unlikely to have made an electoral impact beyond the hand-wringing of some political pundits.
As with Vietnam, today’s Democratic Party is riven by division over the Biden administration’s response to Gaza. In the Michigan state primary in February, more than 100,000 Democrats voted “uncommitted” as part of a co-ordinated campaign to send a message to Biden, demanding he do more to stop the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. In the 2020 election, Biden won Michigan by just over 150,000 votes.
The risk for Biden is that he has not anticipated just how much his own foreign policy might undermine that message and the strength of his personal appeal.
Polling suggests around two-thirds of Americans support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Biden’s political inability and personal unwillingness to distance the United States from Israel, and his administration’s ongoing refusal to put conditions on military aid, is breaking apart the loose voting coalition that brought him to power. He will need this coalition to hold, and to turn out to vote, if he is to win re-election.
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
Can a president's success or failure in foreign policy justify their reelection or removal from office?
@9LQD6KK2wks2W
Yes, foreign policy is one of the most important roles of a president as chief diplomat.
@9LQD3JK2wks2W
Yes. If Biden was against helping Ukraine, I would not vote for him.
@9LQCRXJIndependent2wks2W
Yes it can because some feel strongly towards foreign policies while others do not.
@BoldGiraffeDemocrat2wks2W
If Biden loses the November election, it may be because of Pro-Palestinian protesters at the democratic convention in Chicago this summer, in an echo of the 1968 Chicago protests. And nothing Biden can do at this stage will change their resolve. If Trump wins because of this, so do Iran and Russia.
Just remember that Israel refused to condemn Russia when they invaded Ukraine, yet wants the world's sympathy when Hamas attacked Israel. Remember, Israel is violating the law of war and committing war crimes in Gaza, yet the West refuses to condemn Israel.
@9LQKRXR2wks2W
Biden has decided that support for Netanyahu is more important that international law and human rights. He has jeopardized his election chances as a result as he may now lose Michigan.
@9LQKKVT2wks2W
Biden's unequivocal support for Israel has led to the murder of over 30,000 Palestinians. With billions of dollars sent to aid Israel's genocide, Biden has shown to be an evil leader. Unexpectedly, failure to win the election is entirely because of Biden's foreign policy-showing that diplomatic posturing is far more important than innocent lives.
The fundamental difference between the '60s and today's political divisions is that we now have had a Trump presidency, systematically seeking not simply to do what he, like LBJ, thought was right for the country, but rather to do what he thought would be personally, politically and financially beneficial to himself.
One can argue whether LBJ sought to exploit the nation's divisions, but it's pretty obvious that Trump most certainly did, and continues to do so to this day.
The only thing I know for certain is that our election of President Joe Biden has destabilized the world in a way that I believe even his detractors underestimated.
I was reminded this week that Senator Joe Biden spoke against missile defense some 40 years ago. Today we all should be grateful for the decades of investment made in this technology as these systems keep our forces safe around the globe.
It seems like our President is always on the wrong side of history. What is worse is that nobody understands what our country represents.
I don't even feel like I can disagree with the Presiden… Read more
You don't have to be "pro Palestinian" to be against the murder of Palestinian civilians. The fight between Arabs and Israelis has been going on for over 60 years and will continue for who knows how many more years. But there should be an agreement to avoid inhumane actions. There is not on either side. So the rest of the world is forced to watch. Netanyahu is a large part of he problem but even without him, there doesn't seem to be a solution. Two sides of a terrible fight, many good people at the mercy of the bad ones.
@MonkeyGraceGreen2wks2W
Conflating DEI (generally defined as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and Hamas supporters is a red herring, designed to distract from reality by gross oversimplification.
DEI supporters are not a monolith. They range from moderates to the far left. Most of them support PALESTINIANS, not Hamas. Only a subset of the far left support Hamas, a terrorist organization which most DEI supporters condemn.
The far right often vilifies DEI as a stand-in for the Great Replacement Theory. The US is not Zero Sum. White people (like myself) don't have to lose just because someone from a marginalized community gets an opportunity. Even conservative icon Ronald Reagan saw diversity as a strength of our country.
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
@ISIDEWITH2wks2W
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