Commentary

I have frequently mocked President Biden for repeating tales of his upbringing and the sage advice of his father.

Surely you recall Biden quoting his father on the dignity of working. He tells the tale of his father saying, “Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck.  It’s about your dignity. It’s about respect.  It’s about your place in the community.”

Coincidentally, during Russian President Putin’s post summit meeting with the press, he noted that Biden had “recalled his family and conversations he had with his mother,” remarking that “these things don’t have directly something to do with our business.”

It’s all about Biden’s view of the importance of diplomacy.  In the early days of his presidency, he declared, “American diplomacy is back.”

While noting Biden’s belief that foreign policy is an extension of personal relationships, Norah O’Donnell, on CBS Evening News, saw the meeting as “a test, perhaps a legacy-defining moment” for the president.  O’Donnell wondered if his personal relationship theory would enable him to make the case for America’s greatest export – diplomacy, dialog and democracy.  Oh, my. 

With little optimism, the New York Times’ Peter Baker wrote that the two emerged from three hours of meetings “without a hint of resolution” to a laundry lists of disputes, and “no sign of a personal bond that could bridge the gulf that has opened between the two nations.”

During the days leading up to the meeting of the two presidents, there were the reminders of the not-so-diplomatic meeting between Putin and former President Trump in Helsinki. While there was reporting of Trump’s “fawning behavior toward Putin,” it was the Trump administration that was tougher on Russia than Biden has been so far.

While drafting my thoughts on Biden’s belief that foreign policy is an extension of  personal relationships, I considered his years of experience on the Senate foreign relations committee, his previous meetings with world leaders as vice president, and, of course, Robert Gates’ view of his foreign policy failures.

Unexpectedly, while perusing Friday’s Wall Street Journal, in an op-ed, “Biden’s Personal Touch Doesn’t Amount to a Foreign Policy,” Mike Watson of the Hudson Institute, challenged Biden’s view.

Good rapport with other world leaders is helpful,” wrote Watson, “but successful leaders make decisions based on national interest, not bonhomie.”

“Mr. Biden has more pleasant conversations with his counterparts than Mr. Trump did at this point in his presidency, but has little to show for it so far.  Partners in Asia turned him down on Burma sanctions; allies in Europe are keeping their options open with Russia and China,” wrote Watson.  Adding that “The recent Group of 7 and NATO summits have yielded aspirational statements but little else.”

While Biden claims that personal relationships lead to success internationally, Watson suggests, “He will achieve more if he remembers at the next summit that in foreign policy, it isn’t personal.  It’s strictly business.”

In another week or so, the Biden-Putin meeting will no longer be in the news.

I don’t expect any foolish tests of Biden by Putin, but with China and Iran issues in play, I wonder, if the G-7 coalition will be in Biden’s camp in negotiations with Iran on a new nuclear deal, or if he decides to go after China on the virus leak.

We’ll see if his “I’m not Trump” relationship positioning pays off, and how America fares in a unilateral world, where America first is replaced and we foot the bill for his build back better world.

Now, more than ever … may God continue to bless the United States of America.