When President Joe Biden, 80, met at the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco Nov. 15, the world watched anxiously whether Chinese President Xi Jinping would try to improve relations with the United States. Since Biden took office Jan. 20, 2023, the two superpowers got off on the wrong foot with 61-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken and 45-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan accusing Beijing of genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in Western China. Things went from bad to worse with the White House condemning Beijing for its crackdown in Hong Kong after a Mainland Chinese takeover. Tensions rose again Aug. 4, 2022 when former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Taiwan over Beijing’s objections, prompting a war of words that hasn’t stopped. So, Biden and Xi had a lot riding on their Nov. 15 meeting.
In a meeting between Biden and Xi that lasted four hours covering a range of extraneous issues, like Fentanyl production and AI related to nuclear weapons, Biden asked Xi whether he could help stabilize things in the Middle East where Israel currently battles the Hamas terror group. How ironic, with all the bad blood created by Biden, that he expects China to support U.S. interests in the Middle East. But Biden’s ask underscores the abysmal relations the U.S. has with the Russian Federation. Biden decided shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 24, 2022 Ukraine invasion he would join the war against the Kremlin. Biden’s decision to fund the bankrupt Kiev government and war with the Kremlin wrecked decades of diplomacy, detente and arms control between the two s nuclear superpowers. Putin now makes disparaging comments about U.S. Mideast policy.
What did Biden expect would happen with U.S.-Russian relations funding a proxy war against the Kremlin? “I think that many will agree with me that this is clear example of a failed policy in the Middle East of the United States, which tried to monopolize the settlement process,” Putin told Iraq Mohammed Al-Sudani. If Biden were not at war with the Kremlin, he’d get a very different response, showing how his Ukraine proxy war against the Kremlin has real consequences for U.S. foreign policy and national security. Asking Xi if there’s anything China can do to promote peace shows how Biden has damaged the linkage needed in U.S. foreign policy to keep the world safe. When it comes to Russia, U.S. foreign policy could not be worse. Xi disagrees with Biden’s proxy war against the Kremlin in Ukraine, primarily because the Russian Federation is a close ally of China.
Putin sees the Hamas War a part of Western hegemony, much the same way as the Ukraine War attempts, according to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, to weaken the Russian Federation, or, more specifically, to degrade the Russian military. “Russia understands that the U.S and the EU have fully supported Israel, but the U.S and EU are now the embodiment of evil and cannot be right in any way,” said Sergei Markov, former Kremlin adviser. When it comes to anything related to the U.S., Putin sees everything related to Biden’s proxy war against the Russian Federation. So, because of Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine, Putin know aligns Russia with Arab countries unhappy about the current war in Gaza. If Biden were not at war with Russia, Putin would feel more inclined to take a neutral stance or possibly help with the crisis. But Biden chose to burn bridges with Russia.
Biden has made mess of U.S. foreign policy and national security by funding a proxy war against the Russian Federation to degrade the Russian military. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), before dropping out of the 2024 race, told a Nov. 8 GOP debate audience that the goal of U.S. intervention in Ukraine was to degrade the Russian military. Whether Scott revealed Top Secret information or not, he confirmed what Austin said April 26, 2022 in Ramstein, Germany that the U.S. sought to degrade the Russian military. “My explanation is it’s because the war is becoming the organizing principle of Russian foreign policy and [because of] ties with Iran, which brings military material to the table. The central Russian war effort is more important than, for example, the relationship with Israel,” said Alex Gabev, Director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centers, blaming the Ukraine war for Russian policy.
Biden can’t fathom the damage with the Ukraine War he’s done to U.S.-Russian relation, but, more importantly, to global security. Biden would likely have Putin helping to stabilize the Mideast situation, rather than join other Muslim countries in decrying U.S. policy. Putin’s opposition to the Israeli-Hamas war directly relates to Biden’s proxy war against the Kremlin. Whatever help Biden thinks he’s giving to Ukraine, he’s destabilized the global order by making an enemy of the Russian Federation, but, more importantly, damaged relations with Communist China, a close economic, military and political ally of Moscow. Instead of working with Ukraine and Russia to resolve the conflict, Biden chose to end U.S.-Russian relations, funding a proxy war against the Kremlin. Biden can’t expect to repair damaged relations with China when Moscow and Beijing are closer allies.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
