Pragmatism is alien to Joseph Biden. Realism is hard to find in his actions. Again and again, the 79-year-old Biden is dead determined to prove he is a non-performing president of the United States. Surely, Potus Biden will not end his term in glory. Nothing could save him now from this predicament. At home and abroad, the Biden-created mess is leaving massive piles of undesirable debris.
Thoughtless Middle East Trip
As a result, initial murmurs over Biden’s mismanagement are transforming into loud protestations. The latest in a litany of complaints is Biden’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia. This aimless trip has pushed the promise vs performance debate to centre stage in America. Inevitably, this debate is rolling over to global media. Biden is all set to reserve for himself a prominent place in the hall of infamous American presidents.
The logic is simple. Biden had threatened once to consign Saudi Arabia to the pariah-dump. But, today he is justifying his Islamic kingdom visit for resolving ‘larger issues’, without spelling out what they were. The informed guess is these larger issues are neither about oil nor about human rights. Viewed through this realistic prism, Biden’s failure to achieve anything major in the Middle East is not surprising. At the end, America has a Saudi Arabia which is neither an ally nor a reliable fuel-supplier https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2022-05-31/ty-article/.highlight/bidens-dilemma-is-saudi-arabia-really-a-u-s-ally/00000181-1a5a-dd8a-a9f9-bffb91e40000.
Naturally, Americans are disheartened by Biden’s uncanny ability to allow the Saudi Arabian crown prince to make America dance to the kingdom’s drumbeat. Rising oil prices in America will soon prove this. Thus, Biden’s thoughtless trip to the Middle East has neither achieved the desired objectives nor raised America’s stature as a leader among nations. Moreover, in Yemen, Biden’s efforts have been largely unproductive.
Failing to Assess Iran Risks
Biden’s foreign tragedy doesn’t end there. His ‘pressure’ strategy in Iran to enthrone a hard-line Ebrahim Raisi was neither powerful nor productive. Raisi is proving to be tougher to negotiate with. This debacle landed a volley of eggs on America’s face. Iran did not abandon its nuclear plan as desired by America, though a few sanctions were lifted https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-administration-lifts-sanctions-on-more-than-dozen-former-iranian-officials-energy-firms-11623347091. Clearly, Biden’s decision to lift sanctions before Iran scrapped its nuclear programme totally was foolhardy.
This demonstrates Biden’s inability to do due diligence and make a sharp assessment in Iran. Add to this, Biden’s procrastination over declaring Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Group as a terrorist entity was quite characteristic of Biden’s pussyfooting. The talks continue to drag on and a solution is nowhere in sight.
Thus, Biden’s bungling has left Democrats too disgruntled. They accuse Biden for messing up with the Middle East and Iran, leading to America’s whittled role in the region. The Middle East changed, but Biden didn’t and his strategies didn’t. Therein lies an unmitigated disaster called America’s Middle East policy.
Miscalculated Manoeuvres
In the human rights domain too, Biden has put his black stamp. His decision to slash military aid to Egypt https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/02/11/us-aid-to-egypt-and-the-wider-failures-of-american-security-assistance/ has not ended either human right abuses or suspected arms sales with Russia. Again, Biden’s miscalculated manoeuvres have left more Democrats agitated. This could lead to many of them shedding loyalty to Biden, weakening him further.
Apart from this mess in the Middle East, Iran and Egypt, not far back, Biden had hastily withdrawn from turbulent Afghanistan. This hare-brained idea exposed a sensitive Afghanistan to the resurgence of Taliban in Afghanistan. Plus, Biden’s failure to foil Russia’s designs on Ukraine is a major blot on his presidential record. Undoubtedly, the global media, which is seeing a good story in Biden now, is merrily lampooning and lambasting him to heart’s content.
Woes on the Home Turf
At home too, Biden’s penchant for non-performance is evident across American economy. Inflation is rising without let. Biden’s spending spree continues unabated. Supplies are woefully short. Gas prices are hitting the roof. This poor economic show is forcing Americans ask themselves again how they made a mistake in assessing Biden.
Biden’s role in signing of the gun safety bill too is under attack. Reason: the gun safety law fails to enforce universal background checks and impose a ban on assault and high-capacity arms-ammunition. As Biden himself admitted later, much work is left to be done.
In the midst of these disasters, a non-introspecting Biden has taken refuge in populism and not in performance, in rhetoric and not in reworked strategies, in criticism and not in cooperation. This is Republicanesque, Americans feel. As a democrat, how is he different from Republicans, they ask.
In Conclusion
The end result of these missteps will not be to Biden’s liking. He is becoming unpopular among American voters, particularly the young. As Biden’s approval rating dips to a disappointing low of 36 per cent, an eighty-nudging Biden is too old to get approved by young Americans as president tomorrow. This will reserve a place for Biden among dud American presidents. Worse, Biden’s loss could become Trump’s gain. Such a possibility will leave right-minded Americans in the lurch. A sorry ending to the Biden story it will be!
