Ukraine-Russia: Critical Moment for Biden

The current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which could be the gravest crisis in Europe since World War II, might appear to be too much for President Joe Biden, who already had plenty of problems.

The U.S. president’s plans for are completely stalled. His popularity is falling in spite of a booming economy, and time is already getting short for Congress to approve his agenda before the November elections. It is feared that Republicans could regain control of the House and even the Senate in the midterms.

Even so, the White House is doing everything possible to find a diplomatic solution and slow down Vladimir Putin by threatening him with economic sanctions. Biden does not want a war. And the experts say there is no possibility whatsoever that the United States will send troops into combat with the Russians, because that risks sparking a conflict of unpredictable dimensions.

For the man in the Oval Office, who frequently says that democracy must triumph over autocratic and dictatorial governments, Russia’s current aggression opens the door to be the leader of the “free world” that he has always aspired to be.

Up to now, Biden has concentrated on domestic issues like the pandemic, repairing the country’s infrastructure and his unsuccessful attempt to overhaul the election system. But these issues have been overridden by foreign policy concerns. This could be the moment that defines not only his presidency but his long political career.

Putin and Russia are two subjects that Biden knows well. He presided over the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when the Kremlin leader came to power. It is said that for his part, the Russian president prefers dealing with Biden rather than his predecessor, because even though they had a very close relationship, Putin despaired of Donald Trump’s ignorance of world history and geography.

Also in Biden’s favor is the fact that people in the United States, beyond all doubt, see the possible Russian invasion of Ukraine as a battle of good versus evil,* raising it to the level of the days when Ronald Reagan famously demanded that Russia tear down the Berlin Wall, or even when George H.W. Bush targeted Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Biden is being urged to leave last August’s disastrous, violent and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan behind. The world saw then how after two decades of promoting development and peace, the United States abandoned the Afghans, primarily women and children, to their fate, handing power over to the Taliban.

Politically, Biden has been unable to recover from the way his administration brought that occupation to a close, in spite of the fact that the public was in favor of leaving that costly war behind. Biden is now face-to-face with an opportunity to change his place in history.

*Editor’s note: Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, shortly after this article was originally published.