“Diplomacy is back” and “multilateralism is back.” This is what Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in her remarks after her nomination as U.N. Ambassador. Lisa Helling, a former student of mine, and 30-year veteran just retired from the U.S. Foreign Service, said after hearing about these nominations and that of Jake Sullivan as National Security Adviser, “They can breathe again at Foggy Bottom.”
Helling, an alumna of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, said the nominations “send an unambiguous message to the world, to Americans, and importantly, to the State Department, that the new administration intends to restore relationships with allies, to adhere to the values and principles that at one time made us a reliable partner, to place high priority on addressing urgent policy challenges, and to earn back our position as a world leader.”
Many of my former students also in the Foreign Service must be similarly relieved after four years of being ignored and belittled as White House foreign policy was dictated by the White House and National Security Council.
The shift is promising and welcome, but Biden’s foreign policy team, experienced and seasoned as they are, face enormous challenges, all needing international cooperation. First on the agenda will be COVID-19 and distribution of vaccines when available, along with the teetering economy.
Trump has been highly critical of NATO and U.S. allies. He has considered the U.N. irrelevant. During his four years in power, he withdrew from so many international agreements and organizations and threatened to withdraw from others – the Iran Nuclear Deal, the Paris Accord, WHO and UNESCO, the Open Skies Agreement and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, Human Rights Council, and compacts on migration and refugees, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, among others. He has conducted a transactional rather than strategic foreign policy, relying on his purported negotiating skills, as with North Korea, Turkey, and Russia; and the Trans-Atlantic Alliance, a prized U.S. partnership with European countries since World War II, which has been a foreign policy treasure, is meeting stiff competition with the U.S. pivot to Asia, aimed primarily at addressing China’s hegemonic policies and adventurous gamesmanship.
To repair the damage and to repair trust will take not simply words but action. Biden has clearly indicated his plan and his foreign policy team is able and willing to implement it.
Antony Blinken is one of Biden’s closest foreign policy advisers and confidants, whose relationship with Biden goes back two decades. He is widely respected as a decent and thoughtful person and experienced strategic thinker. As Secretary of State, he will pay special attention to Latin America. He is fluent in French, and not widely known, he plays in a band. He took a leading role in 2017 in supporting an increase in the number of refugees accepted by the U.S. each year to 110,000, which currently stands at 15,000
Linda Thomas-Greenfield tweeted after her appointment was announced, “My mother taught me to lead with the power of kindness and compassion to make the world a better place. I’ve carried that lesson with me throughout my career in foreign service – and, if confirmed, will do the same as Ambassador to the United Nations.” Called “a diplomatic powerhouse,” she is highly respected throughout the world. Her elevation as a Black woman to this pivotal position will raise the morale of the Foreign Service. Her presence at the U.N. will certainly be helpful in rebuilding and restoring trust within multilateral institutions.
Biden’s foreign policy team will face criticism from the left for supporting invasions of Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, and support for the coup in Honduras, among other situations, under their watch.
Depending on the result of the Georgia Senatorial run-off election, confirmation of Biden’s nominees should not be a cause for concern, although Sen. Marco Rubio’s clash with Blinken during his role as Deputy Secretary of State over the issue of Obama’s unilaterally lifting sanctions against Cuba lingers.
In President-Elect Biden’s words, “America is back.” It is critical to restore American leadership and reinvigorate American diplomacy with the State Department playing a central role in U.S. foreign policy.
Ved Nanda is a distinguished University Professor and director of the Ved Nanda Center for International Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He welcomes comments at vnanda@ law.du.edu.
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