America is back, diplomacy is back, so spoke US President Joe Biden in his first foreign policy statement the other day to emphasise the reinvigoration of diplomacy with a view to securing peace, security and prosperity and reclaiming his country’s position of world leadership to defend freedom and democracy the world over.
Clearly, he was referring to the relative absence of the US from the world stage for the past several years when some new players seized the opportunity to set new trends in international relations. Biden signalled that gone are those days and America will again lead the world to secure human rights and democracy everywhere.
How the US president is going to achieve this in the present multi-polar world is to be seen because the new actors in international relations are backed by strong economic and military muscles as well as huge advancements in science and technology. Being the leader of the free world however America has a natural advantage to continue to be champion of human rights and democracy that nobody can disapprove.
Joe Biden has said, to secure peace his country will not hesitate to engage with adversaries and made mention of the signing of the strategic arms reduction treaty (START) with Russia. His predecessor Donald Trump did not agree to extend the treaty. At the same time, he told Moscow that the days of cyber attacks and poisoning people are over, and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny should be released unconditionally.
In the same vein, he expressed his readiness to work with China to secure peace but said its ‘economic abuse,’ coercive actions and attacks on human rights should be done away with. With a huge economic base China, according to many, is destined to economically lead the world in the days to come. It has huge investments in the African continent. In governance however Beijing remains far away from democratic dispensation.
Against this backdrop, Joe Biden’s options to champion freedom everywhere for the greater good to most people should revolve around the promotion of human rights and democracy. In this area Russia or China cannot compete.
Despite the aberrations of the past several years, the US is backed by its rich tradition of democratic governance promoting civil liberties of its people. Democracy needs outside help while dictatorship can establish itself internally with the help of internal powers.
