The US chief executive began his administration’s foreign policy journey in 2021 with a speech from the State Department, and so it ended at the same venue. On Jan. 13, 2025, President Joe Biden took his place behind the podium with a backdrop of American flags and fenced on both sides by teleprompters at Foggy Bottom to recount the foreign policy successes of his administration. The commander-in-chief’s rosy recap of his geopolitical challenges tested the limits of credulity. He attempted to impress his fawning State Department audience with his stalwart leadership, suggesting he is leaving the world better than he had found it. Reality was the louder voice in the auditorium.
Biden and His Failed Foreign Policy Legacy
Every departing president wants to look back on achievements that inspire pride, yet this one’s legacy is at best a mixed bag. Nonetheless, Biden attempted to put a happy face on his four years. Talking for slightly less than 30 minutes, Biden simply told his audience what he wished had been true. The outgoing president made the aspirational observation: “The future of the global economy, technology, human values, and so much else. Right now, in my view, thanks to our administration, the United States is winning the worldwide competition. Compared to four years ago, America is stronger. Our alliances are stronger. Our adversaries and competitors are weaker.”
From a different perspective came the voice of retired US Army Vice Chief of Staff Jack Keane on Fox News:
“The national security and foreign policy part was absolutely stunning. It’s amazing to me how some politicians and national leaders can absolutely take the facts and turn them all around and present something that is completely different. When it comes to foreign policy and national security, I don’t say this lightly: the President has a failed presidency. That’s the reality of it.”
The president’s narrative journey stopped at each global hot spot to explain how successful his administration has been. He tried to take credit for pulling NATO together to face Russia. “Our alliances are stronger than they’ve been in decades. NATO is more capable than it’s ever been. And many more of our allies are paying their fair share. Before I took office, nine NATO allies were spending 2% of their GDP on defense. Now 23 are spending 2%,” he boasted. But truth be told, after Russia invaded Ukraine, there was much more motivation to strengthen NATO as the Kremlin menaced many of the alliance nations’ borders. Furthermore, the lion’s share of the credit for aligning NATO in a common cause should be given to Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes.
Biden foot-stomped the point regarding Ukraine: “I had two jobs. One to rally the world to defend Ukraine. And the other is to avoid war between two nuclear powers.” Biden failed to point out that there is ample evidence that if he had possessed the influence of his predecessor, he might not have had to participate in defending Ukraine at all. “The facts speak for themselves. President Trump provided lethal aid to help the Ukrainians when he was in the presidency, and he told Putin there would be severe consequences – he told him personally – if he invaded Ukraine. And he [Putin] never budged to do it,” Keane explained.
When Biden turned to the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle, rather than saying something as benign as “we wished it could have gone more smoothly,” he crowed as if the messy US retreat was a victory. He made a statement that boggles even the most level-headed cranium. “There is nothing I can tell you from my conversations with both Xi and Putin. Nothing our adversaries and competitors like Russia and China would have liked more [than see us] continue to be tied down in Afghanistan for another decade,” he said with a straight face. That’s why the Chinese now occupy Bagram Air Base, and Russia and Iran are exploiting Afghan natural resources they never had access to when the United States was in the country. And, of course, there is the inventory of US weaponry left behind that China, Russia, and Iran have the opportunity to reverse engineer. The US departure from Afghanistan was an indelible stain on America’s credibility.
The Middle East Is Worse
When Biden moved the topic to the Middle East, he described the situation with Hamas as being on the brink of an agreement for the return of hostages. “The proposal that I laid out in detail months ago finally coming to fruition,” he proudly told the audience. If there is an agreement, it will more likely be because of the message the incoming commander-in-chief, Trump, announced forcefully and clearly that there will be “hell to pay” if the hostages are not returned. Adversaries believe Trump when he speaks. Biden touted how he had brought together a coalition to confront the persistent anti-ship missile, drone, and ballistic missile attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. The operative word is “persistent” as they continue despite whatever efforts Biden has implemented.
When Biden concluded his remarks, stalwart followers applauded with admiration. But the unforgettable freeze-framed images from Afghanistan — a baby being passed from one soldier to another over a tall concrete barrier amid a crush of desperate people, hundreds of Afghanis running alongside and hanging on landing gear doors of a taxiing C-17 cargo aircraft — are emblematic of the disastrous withdrawal.
In spite of the lame duck’s rhetoric, US foreign policy has not flourished under his leadership. All the problems the United States faces today — including in Ukraine, the Middle East, Iran, North Korea, and China — were not in conflict regions when Biden took office in January 2021. What has happened since then is his legacy.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.
