Joe Biden’s inauguration as US president is a time of hope for America and the whole world. After four years of a divisive and extremely damaging Trump administration, America has a chance to restore its global leadership, reassert its faith in democratic norms and principles.
Biden’s task will not be easy. The new president inherits an extremely poisonous legacy from Donald Trump, who leaves behind an America divided by racial and political tensions, which he inflamed, deeply scarred by an attack on the US Capitol that he incited, ravaged by a deadly COVID-19 pandemic he downplayed and isolated globally through a misguided and nationalist ‘America First’ foreign policy.
It is also an America where democratic principles like the rule of law, a fair electoral process and freedom of the press were consistently undermined by Trump, who had told 30,000 lies by the end of his presidency and was twice impeached. He will no doubt go down in history as the worst ever US president.
The fact that Biden is the exact antithesis of Trump is already a good start for the new presidency. Biden is committed to the rule of law and freedom of expression, has vast political experience, relates well to people undergoing hardship, is presidential in nature, strongly believes in multilateralism and the transatlantic partnership and is considered to be a reliable partner by the international community.
Biden will need all his political skills to unite the country, heal divisions and to reach out to the opposition Republican Party, a substantial bloc of which has veered towards the far-right – another sad Trump legacy. The fact that Biden’s Democratic Party now controls both houses of Congress, however, bodes well for the president’s legislative agenda.
While Biden should be bold and ambitious in reforming America, he must also address why so many people voted for Trump and that includes coming to terms with the fact that many people feel abandoned by globalisation.
Biden’s first priority will be to tackle the coronavirus pandemic that has killed 400,000 Americans. His aim is to have 100 million people vaccinated against COVID-19 with at least a first dose in his first 100 days in office. He will also reverse Trump’s irresponsible decision to leave the WHO.
As president-elect, Biden had already announced a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan for the coronavirus-affected US economy and is expected to send his bill to Congress shortly. He has also pledged to get rid of Trump’s tax cuts for the super-rich, which are largely responsible for the national debt increasing by $7 trillion. Biden has promised immigration reform and to tackle racial injustice.
The global fight against climate change is expected to take centre stage of the Biden presidency and this is good news for both America and the world. Biden is expected to rejoin the Paris climate deal, to convene a climate world summit within the first 100 days in office and to reverse much of Trump’s legacy of climate and energy deregulations.
Globally, expectations are extremely high for the new US president. America’s allies and friends are eager for US leadership and partnership once again. Biden is strongly in favour of the European Union and Nato, which he has called the “bulwark of the liberal democratic ideal”, and this augurs well for a more stable world.
Biden’s belief in multilateralism and global engagement should, hopefully, lead to the US becoming an honest broker in the Middle East, for Washington to pursue nuclear arms negotiations, for the US to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal and for a new chapter in China-US ties and Russia-US ties.
We wish President Biden well as he takes on this immense responsibility. The whole world is watching.