President Biden’s first year in office is not one cited as a success when it comes to foreign policy. Experts of military and foreign policy largely agree that Biden’s Presidency has harmed the United States on the world stage. He has indeed projected weakness to our allies and adversaries through several avoidable but crucial failures that will certainly impact foreign policy around the world for decades to come. There are still successes to Biden’s foreign policy, but those successes do not measure to amount to an overall achievement in making the United States more powerful in the eyes of our allies and adversaries.
The first ever foreign head-of-state to meet with President Biden at the White House was the then-Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
On February 11th, 2021, President Biden had a phone call with Xi Jinping.
During the Burma coup, Biden issued several orders that sanctioned those responsible for a takeover of government in the country of Burma. He blocked property, froze bank accounts, and used his sanction powers effectively to punish those who were responsible for the coup.
Biden talked with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeu on February 23rd, 2021.
In March, Biden sanctioned various U.S assets owned by Vladimir Putin's allies. Biden has also issued sanctions on Russian properties and energy exporters. The President’s stance on Russia has been largely negative for Vladimir Putin, but there are some questionable actions that the Administration has taken. During Trump's Presidency, he issued sanctions on Russia's NordStream 2 Pipeline. In May of 2021, the Biden Administration rescinded these sanctions. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that it would be a "long-shot" to sanction the pipeline. However, the sanctions were already in place. Undoing this sanction contradicted the stance the United States had taken several years ago on blocking Russia's access to Germany through NordStream 2. Now, Germany and Russia are open to doing direct business when it comes to sourcing their fuel. This decision undermined U.S foreign policy to try to control Russia's influence over the oil industry in Europe. It also led to a divide between Germany and other NATO allies, in that Germany blocked the United Kingdom’s access to German airspace when they tried to move critical military equipment to Ukraine to allow the nation to defend itself against a Russian invasion.
In May, tensions rose between the nations of Israel and Hamas. Rocket missiles were being sent by the two sides. Israel’s Iron Dome Defense System destroyed much of the Hamas’ rockets but some landed in Israel, killing several citizens. Palestine suffered much damage in the areas Israel hit back. On May 20th, Israel and Hamas reached a cease-fire.
On May 21st, South Korean President Moon Jae-In met with President Biden at the White House where they held a Press Conference together. In the conference, Biden announced he would be giving South Korean military service members who serve alongside U.S troops, 550,000 coronavirus vaccines. Biden named a Special Envoy to North Korea and the Administration set forth a goal to de-nuclearize the Korean peninsula, setting the goal as a top foreign policy priority. However, relations between North Korea and South Korea have taken damage under Biden's Administration. North Korea has resumed its nuclear missile test launches and refuses to meet with U.S officials for discussions and diplomatic talks.
President Biden signed an order that revised a Trump Executive Order aimed at addressing threats from securities investments related to the People's Republic of China.
Biden revised an order that issued sanctions on properties and suspended entry into the United States of individuals responsible to contributing to a destabilization of the Western Balkans.
President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met together in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16th, 2021.
On June 28th, Biden ordered airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq and Syria. Two facilities in Syria were destroyed and one facility in Iraq. The next day, President Biden said that he would not let the Iranian government obtain a nuclear weapon. Iran is an Islamic extremist nation that supports terrorism. Iran has been working for years to try to create nuclear weapons. President Obama tried to address the situation in 2015 when he signed the JCPOA which created oversight over Iran nuclear facilities. However, Iran was not fully co-operative under the agreement and all the JCPOA did was give back all the resources the U.S had sanctioned with regards to Iran, without any conditions. Iran therefore gave misleading information and used the money that they reobtained to support terrorism and work on their nuclear program. Obama's policy was a failure so President Trump ended it and reinstated sanctions on Iran. Trump took a more militaristic approach to Iran but could not stop them from working on their nuclear weapons. Trump ordered the killing of Qasem Soleimani who was responsible for many military functions in Iran and terrorist attacks. The Biden Administration has expressed interest in adjusting the JCPOA and reinstating the agreement. Iran and the U.S are in diplomatic talks to find a solution to Iran’s nuclear engagement. Iran continues to get closer and closer to creating a functioning nuclear weapon. There is a significant danger a nuclear weapon-wielding Iran would pose on the United States. Remember, Iran does financially support terrorism and has engaged in terror itself. If they cannot be responsible to even their own citizens, how can they be trusted with a nuclear weapon? On October 12th, Biden rescinded several sanctions on Iran.
A hack of 200 U.S companies' data systems occurred in July. Biden said he was looking into whether Russia had anything to do with the hacks. The situation has since been resolved but shows the potential national security risk cyberwarfare could impose on the United States.
Joe Biden issued sanctions against individuals contributing to a situation in Belarus. He also extended a national emergency with regards to Belarus.
President Biden met with the newly elected Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennet at the White House. However, this meeting was cancelled until the next day because of a terrorist attack on the Kabul airport used to evacuate Afghanistan and American evacuees. Biden met with Naftali Bennet the next day.
In September, Biden signed an Executive Order recognizing a human rights crisis in Ethiopia and issued sanctions on individuals responsible for the issue.
Joe Biden addressed the United Nations in September.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson visited with President Biden on September 21st, 2021.
On October 2nd, tensions between China and Taiwan had reached a height when China sent 77 warplanes into Taiwan's Defense Identification Zone. Over the rest of 2021 and into 2022, China continues to deploy warplanes into Taiwanese airspace and conduct military operations across Taiwanese waters. Several Chinese warships and even two nuclear submarines are currently present along Taiwanese waters. China actively threatens Taiwan with "re-unification." China wants Taiwan to surrender itself or face a military invasion. President Biden has had months of time to send U.S troops into Taiwan to prevent China from invading the country, however, he has not sent them nor any U.S warships into Taiwanese waters. Instead, he let China build a perimeter around Taiwan which would make it hard to send ships and troops to the country if the President suddenly decided to do so.
President Biden participated in a CNN Town Hall with Anderson Cooper on October 21st. At this event, he said that he would be open to defending Taiwan militarily. On November 16th, a day after President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a virtual summit, Biden said that Taiwan would have to defend itself, contradicting his previous comments at a CNN Town Hall. He also said that Taiwan would have to decide for itself whether it wants to fight for independence from China or not, and that he does not want the U.S to incur into international waters with regards to getting involved in a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The President also spoke about a "One-China" policy. However, there is no policy between Taiwan and the United States mentioning a "One-China." Actually, the idea of a "One China" comes from Chinese propaganda and is a slogan of the Communist Chinese Party. It took one meeting with Xi Jinping for Biden to completely change his stance on Taiwan and for him to also follow along with Chinese propaganda. The next day, the White House said that the Administration was not encouraging Taiwanese independence from China. Taiwan is already independent of China and has been for decades. Suddenly, everything changes once Biden comes in office and now, China is saying that Taiwan is actually their land.
The Trump Administration’s attempts to issue tariffs on Chinese goods have not continued under Biden. Instead, Joe Biden has purchased Chinese surveillance drone for government use and has not addressed key issues regarding Chinese abuses of the U.S economy.
On October 18th, it was confirmed that China had successfully tested hypersonic missiles with nuclear capability a few months earlier. These missiles were not detected on any surveillance system in the United States. This new technology allows China to send a nuclear missile anywhere in the world at much faster speeds than modern nuclear missiles with a small deviation from targets. These missiles are undetectable on modern surveilancing and threat detection systems. This technology poses a severe risk to America's national security. U.S military officials have said that they were taken off guard by the successful tests. The Chinese government says that these missiles were actually "spacecraft."
A missionary group in Haiti was kidnapped by a gang. They were being held by a group called the 400 Mowozo. The group demanded millions of dollars of ransom money. In the end, the missionary group escaped.
On November 13th, Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of a U.S Embassy in Sana'a, Yemen. The situation was resolved shortly after the incident.
Biden terminated an emergency declaration with regards to a situation in Burundi and revoked sanctions put in place by former President Barrack Hussein Obama. He also suspended the blocking of immigrants from Burundi.
On November 16th, Russia reportedly sent 100,000 military units to the border of Ukraine and began training operations along the Ukrainian border. It was confirmed by December and became a foreign policy crisis by January of 2022. Amid the crisis in Ukraine, President Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 7th. Biden told Putin that the military would respond to secure other countries threatened by Russia. Biden called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky two days later. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan gave a press conference on the Biden-Putin call. Sullivan said that he does not think Putin will invade Ukraine and that if they do, the Biden Administration will not repeat the same strategy that President Obama employed during the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. He also said that sanctions would be set on Russia if they invade Ukraine.
On December 8th, Biden said that Russia would face severe consequences if they invaded Ukraine. Biden was asked about sending troops to Ukraine, and he responded saying that it was "not on the table." Of course, U.S intel knew about the possibility for invasion months before the news came out. Biden could have sent troops before Russia amassed 100,000 units along Ukraine's border which would have stopped Russia from continuing its efforts to invade. However, Biden said that if NATO sent troops into Ukraine that the U.S would follow their footsteps. Biden then cited Article 5 of the NATO treaty which he says does not extend to Ukraine. Biden has based the possibility of defending Ukraine on NATO rules. Because Ukraine is not a member of NATO, Biden uses Article 5 of the NATO treaty as an excuse to not defend Ukraine. He says that the United States "does not have an obligation" to defend Ukraine. Ukraine is an ally of the United States and needs our help to survive a Russian invasion or to deter it. Biden could have sent troops to Ukraine two months ago to deter the Russians from building up offense at Ukraine’s borders. Rather, he decided to not send troops and instead is committed to defending NATO allies only. These excuses have projected weakness in the eyes of the Russian government. Thus, his lack of defense of Ukraine has only encouraged the Russians to invade. On December 30th, Biden and Putin held another phone call to address rising tensions in Ukraine. From this time on, not much has come of diplomatic talks with Russia.
On December 9th, President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken held the first of several events of the Summit for Democracy. The summit went on for several days and was attended by various heads-of-states and officials from various countries. The event had little substance and was really just an opportunity for leaders from different countries to give long, scripted speeches. Very little actual discussion was held and the media panned the summit for being ineffective and of little substance.