Biden’s Difficult Mission at the G-7 Summit: To Strengthen Ties with Allies

America’s allies are pleased that U.S. policy in the Biden administration will be fairly predictable and balanced. Yet, choosing Europe for his first foreign trip does not mean that the “Old Continent” is Biden’s current main interest.

The leaders of the Western bloc economic powers — the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan — will meet in Britain on Friday and Saturday. The Group of Seven major industrial nations summit is expected to strengthen the trans-Atlantic ties weakened during Donald Trump’s presidency. At previous meetings of the exclusive G-7 club, Trump attacked NATO leaders for insufficient military spending, engaged in trade conflicts with the EU and refused to cooperate on issues such as climate change.

Democracies Better at Managing Crises

Joe Biden, who arrived in Britain on Wednesday and met with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday, said his main goal is to prove that dictatorships, such as China and Russia, are much less effective than democracies in managing crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of catastrophic climate change. The U.S. president shifted the emphasis from moral condemnation of human rights violations to pragmatics — he emphasized that democracies can manage crises better than autocracies.

What added credibility to Biden’s words was the U.S. return to the Paris agreement and the recent purchase of 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for donation to needy countries that cannot afford them. Biden also intends to rebuild ties with the EU, which were broken by Trump. His plans are supported by the envisioned restoration of the U.S. to its traditional foreign policy, which promotes a liberal-democratic international order.

Biden also hopes for support from his acquaintances among the G-7 leaders. Since President George H. W. Bush, Biden is the president with the most experience in international affairs as a long-time member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as vice president under Barack Obama. He is also the first president since Jimmy Carter to choose Europe for his first foreign trip after taking office.

The odds of success on the international stage seem to increase in light of the latest Pew Research Center survey results. It showed that the confidence in the U.S. and its popularity, which had dropped to a long-unreached level during Trump’s tenure, increased significantly after Biden took office in Washington. Under Trump, the political cost of cooperation with the U.S. for many foreign leaders was high and risky, considering that the democratic leaders needed to take into account public opinion in their countries. Now, the cost is much lower. America’s allies are also pleased that U.S. policy in the Biden administration will be fairly balanced and predictable.

Can Biden Counter China?

Choosing Europe for his first foreign trip does not mean that the “Old Continent” is Biden’s main interest. After the G-7 summit Biden will meet with Putin in Geneva, but Russia — as emphasized by American commentators — is mainly a short-term problem for the U.S., due to its aggressive actions, such as attacks on American computer systems or attempts to interfere in elections. China’s growing economic and military strength is the real challenge in the long run. Looming over the world is a conflict, possibly an armed one, against the backdrop of Taiwan and competition for strategic control in the Western Pacific.

Therefore, Biden, starting with the G-7 summit, will try to urge America’s allies to create a unified front to counter China. It may prove difficult, considering that the EU continues to deepen economic relations with China. In December 2020, the EU concluded an agreement on investments with China, which the European Parliament has not ratified, but individual countries already have bilateral agreements of that kind with Beijing.

Europe is reluctant to start a cold war with China. It already resisted pressure from Washington under Trump on many occasions. For instance, Europe refused to ban the tech giant Huawei, accused of espionage. Hence, it is not expected that there will be a mention of China in the final report after the summit.

Why Does Europe Resent the US?

China is not the only potential area for conflict between the U.S. and Europe. The allies are not impressed with the fact that Biden has yet to reverse Trump’s increased tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum. They also resent him for not consulting them on his sudden decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, where NATO troops have been fighting alongside them for almost 20 years. In fact, the decision was in line with Trump’s politics, which aimed to end “unnecessary wars.”

The cooperation of Biden’s team with Europe is also likely to be hindered by the internal situation in the U.S., namely extreme political polarization, antagonism between the Democrats and the Republicans and the slight advantage of the former in Congress. As noted by the American commentators, European diplomats offstage are concerned that the Democrats’ power in Washington is temporary. Also, if the Republican Party wins the 2022 midterm elections, in 2024 Trump might claim power once again, or the politicians who profess his ideology of right-wing populism and “America First” could do so; in other words, nationalism hostile to international cooperation.

This undesirable prospect is reinforced by the amendments to the electoral laws passed by Republicans in many states, on top of Trump’s peculiar coup attempt on Jan. 6, and raises concerns about the future of American democracy. All doubts in this matter give the U.S.’s enemies more arguments in the propaganda competition between the systems. The fate of the trans-Atlantic ties will depend to a large extent on Biden’s success in pushing his ambitious reform agenda and ensuring the continuation of his party in power.