Biden-Putin rivalry to shape US’ Asia-Pacific policy
April 17, 2021The foreseen face-to-face between U.S. President Biden and his Russian counterpart expected to be a significant determinant in Washington's upcoming Asia-Pacific moves.
The foreseen face-to-face between U.S. President Biden and his Russian counterpart expected to be a significant determinant in Washington's upcoming Asia-Pacific moves
The Biden administration, from day one, has asserted the military, technological, economic and political threat posed by China to the United States. Both the Interim National Security Strategy document of the National Security Council and the Worldwide Threat Assessment Report of the Director of National Intelligence stated China is the only global threat to the U.S. In multiple different instances, the members of the administration argued that the U.S. should stay away from any issue that would distract its attention away from the China file. Most of the first phone conversations President Joe Biden had were with Asian leaders and the first visits the secretary of state and the secretary of defense made were to Asian countries. Most of the foreign policy experts in Washington interpreted this new orientation of U.S. foreign policy as something not only necessary but also irreversible. For many of them, the conflicts and unending wars in the Middle East were a major source of distraction for the U.S. and it was time for it to focus on the actors that pose real threats to the country. At the end of the day, it is another era of great power rivalry.
Although U.S. foreign policy toward China was more or less obvious, there were a lot of questions raised in regard to its policy toward Russia. In the last decade, Russia was named the most significant rival to the U.S. alongside China. Many experts were expecting a different approach from the Biden administration. The administration demonstrated the first signs of thi