Main » News and comments » » Chatham House: Harris to Continue Biden's Foreign Policy Line, But There Are Nuances

Chatham House: Harris to Continue Biden's Foreign Policy Line, But There Are Nuances

01.09.2024
1078

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/08/harris-signalling-continuity-bidenomics-and-now-foreign-policy

In matters of foreign policy, the powers of the US president are considerable. US presidents have access to unprecedented military and economic statecraft, giving them the ability to exert significant influence over other countries through the use or threat of economic sanctions or military force. Even US allies fear that they could be subject to secondary sanctions. The threat to withhold US military or economic aid can also be very powerful in certain situations.

Given this enormous power, and the fact that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have radically different views on foreign policy, the election is of great importance for her future: the rest of the world is on edge.

Harris’s messages at the DNC and during her interview with CNN suggest that her presidency will maintain a significant degree of continuity with the Biden administration’s foreign and economic policies.

Harris has been resolute in her support for both Ukraine and NATO. On China, she made clear at the convention that she would ensure that “the United States, not China, wins the competition” in the 21st century. The one area where Harris might want to take a different approach is Gaza.

Perhaps most stunning was her declaration that “As commander in chief, I will ensure that America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.”

But there is also a difference between Biden and Harris. At the convention, Harris avoided the stark portrayal of international politics as a struggle between autocracies and democracies. On Israel and Palestine, she spoke passionately about the suffering of the Palestinian people, but carefully framed Israel’s right to self-defense and spoke of the suffering of hostages and the October 7 attacks.

 

Read also:

Atlantic Council: Xi Wants to Engage Global South in Anti-American Movement

Political Crisis in France Deepens