Joe Biden came to the presidency promising to end the wars in which the United States is involved. And for the first two years of his presidency, he even succeeded, The Wall Street Journal reports. But then he decided to provide aid to Ukraine, and now he is proposing to allocate weapons for Israel. To the author of the article, the current situation reminds of the situation after the attacks of 11 September.
President Biden came to the White House calling for an end to the “perpetual wars” that have occupied America for two decades, The Wall Street Journal reports. Instead, he wanted to focus on U.S. domestic priorities. But the war in Palestine is capable of thwarting those plans, the author of the article writes.
After the Hamas attack, Biden strongly supported Israel. Thus, he even travelled to Tel Aviv, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. To prevent the international community from thinking that the U.S. supports only Israel, Biden announced a $100 million humanitarian aid package for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In addition, Biden arranged for the first 20 truckloads of humanitarian supplies to be allowed into Gaza. True, this convoy was delayed because of road repairs after the Israeli bombings. And the WHO called this US aid “a drop in the ocean”.
This is the second conflict during Biden’s presidential term, in which the States have invested their power and prestige, writes the author of the article. Foreign conflicts demand the administration’s attention, can overshadow Biden’s re-election campaign, which he had hoped to focus on his economic and domestic performance, and divert resources away from countering China.
Biden already has to contend with an American public that is sceptical of American support for Ukraine and long involvement in conflicts abroad. U.S. congressmen cannot pass a package supporting Ukraine, Israel and other allies because they cannot agree on who will be speaker.
Although Americans for the most part support Israel, Biden’s behaviour has done nothing to boost his low ratings. If the conflict escalates into a wider confrontation in the Middle East, it could damage the global economy by pushing up energy prices. They have already risen recently, leading to the inflation that U.S. consumers blame Biden for.
Two polls released this week showed that 85 per cent of respondents are concerned about the widening war in the Middle East. Less than half of Americans support the idea of sending arms and ammunition to Israel.
And Biden, in his speech, addressed the fatigue of Americans who believe the U.S. should not spend its resources on other countries’ wars. He described Ukraine and Israel as democracies threatened by aggressors. The author of the article notes that the idea of democratic and authoritarian states fighting was the driving force behind the Biden administration.
Biden’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan after 20 years of war was partly aimed at refocusing priorities inward. And in his first two years in office, Biden was able to allocate hundreds of billions of dollars to modernise US infrastructure, develop semiconductor and clean energy production, and revitalise manufacturing to make the US more competitive with China. And the expectation was that investment within the US would be a major campaign theme.
Now, though, Biden’s aides want to tailor an international agenda for that, showing Biden as a “steady leader in turbulent times.” The struggle between democracies and autocracies is expected to remain part of his 2024 programme.
The Middle East now finds itself at the centre of the administration’s attention. It has to deal with all aspects around the clock: supporting Israel, containing the conflict and mobilising support at home and abroad. And within it, divisions are emerging. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken even sent a letter to State Department and Foreign Service officials urging calm and saying that while Israel has the right to defend itself, “what matters is how it does so.”
A number of U.S. officials believe that the states are unlikely to succeed in deterring other countries from entering the conflict. As a result, the State Department has even issued a call for American citizens to exercise caution abroad. The author of the article in The Wall Street Journal writes that this situation is reminiscent of the events after the attacks of 11 September 2001.