In 2023, American leadership on the international stage will be regressive and challenged. Whether on Palestine, Ukraine, China or Iran, Washington does not have a coherent foreign policy that can help resolve international crises. Its obvious weaknesses have led to increased crises and increased human suffering. This trend is likely to get worse in 2024.
The year began with the US seeking to shift its focus away from the Middle East, focusing more on the "Indo-Pacific" and dealing with the Chinese challenge, but by the end of the year the world was in a much worse state than it was then.
In the third month of the Gaza war, more than 20,000 people have been killed, most of them women and children, and almost all of them have been displaced and are now taking refuge in Rafah in southern Gaza, an area no bigger than London's Heathrow Airport.
However, the Biden administration still does not support an immediate cease-fire. Washington has twice blocked U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for a cease-fire.
In addition to Gaza, Iran could also be added to the US list of failures in 2023. The Biden administration has actively sought to isolate Iran and build an anti-Iran alliance by normalizing relations between Israel and Arab states. But as 2023 draws to a close, Iran becomes one of the most influential countries in the Gaza war.
Iran's regional Allies, such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Shiite militias in Iraq, now play a larger role in the region, launching proxy attacks against U.S. forces in the region. So Biden's strategy of encircling and blocking Iran has failed miserably.
At the same time, political polarization and partisanship in the United States played a major role in disrupting a military aid package that the Biden administration submitted to Congress in support of Ukraine. Western voters had lost interest in the war and increasingly wanted a peaceful solution because of its impact on the European economy.
Earlier this year, the president's National security adviser pledged to control the export of advanced technology to Beijing and set restrictions on dealing with Chinese companies. But these policies are harmful even for the US economy.
In 2023, the Western strategy of encircling and containing China is showing many cracks in both the United States and Europe. Despite Western constraints, Beijing has been able to make progress in artificial intelligence and semiconductor production. In 2024, Biden's China policy will come under greater scrutiny. In this election year, Biden may be forced to take a tough line on Beijing again, but the reality is that he doesn't have enough tools to slow China down.
If the U.S. Congress takes new measures against China and forces Beijing to respond with similar measures, it could hurt international trade prospects and lead to a slowdown in the global economy.
As the year drew to a close, Biden's approval ratings were at historic lows even among his own party's voters. The Biden administration seems impotent, neither with new ideas and alternatives, nor with the ability to deal with a fractured international order. The world is undoubtedly poised to move into a multipolar system.
