The US in transition (Part 1)

Dear Editor,
The United States is in a state of transition, which will be formalised on January 20, 2021.
Even though President Donald Trump is still putting up some rear-guard resistance and continuing to claim that the elections were rigged, the writing is on the wall, he will go on January 20, 2021.
In previous changeovers not much in the way of policies were changed. There was various emphasis in one direction or the other, but generally they were all continuation from one to the other.

This time there will be some noticeable changes. For whatever else you may say about Trump, no one could be indifferent to him and his administration. Most people either dislike him so much that they cannot see anything good in what he did or tried to do. On the other hand, there are some who so appreciate him that they would hear nothing negative about him. To them he was/is a real hero.
Those extremes would never capture the true nature of his administration.

The change therefore, promises both positive and negative developments in the Biden-Harris era.
The first positive aspect of Joe Biden’s presidency would be on how he handles the pandemic that has taken almost 300,000 American lives. In this area he will score big since his line of taking the advice of the scientists is the only correct one.

Biden has also signalled that he would re-engage the international community and fight the COVID with a united front. That is, of course, the most sensible thing to do. Afterall, as has been said before, an international issue needs an international response. The President-elect has already assured the WHO of the re-engagement and re-instating of US contributions to that organisation.

The new administration will give the Climate Change phenomena the urgency and attention that it needs. This is the most important issue in our world today. No rational human being doubts the fact that our world’s climate is changing very fast. Sea ice at the poles of the world is melting, sea levels are rising and the weather is extremely erratic.

Natural disasters are multiplying and becoming more intense. Forest fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes are happening almost every day in our world.
The Trump administration has set us back a very far way because of his own refusal to believe that it is real. Biden will be better for the world on this score. The question though will he be able to solve it if he continues to put profit before planet. That is the issue.
Another important area where I believe that Joe Biden will be a breath of fresh air would be on the Trade issues with China.

The view is that the next President of the US will appreciate more the harm that is being done to the international economy by the unfortunate hostility that Trump generated against China. He has blamed the PRC for almost everything that is wrong with the world. His attitude to China would impact negatively on International Trade and on all of us. The old saying when two elephants fight the grass suffers. Biden may meet resistance in normalising relations with China from hawks in the state apparatus that wants to make China another enemy.

There are other issues that are more difficult to make changes, but I think that the incoming administration would do a better job. Whether it could reverse all the negatives is debatable, maybe they don’t have the political will to do so.
For instance, the harm that the Trump government has done to the Palestinian cause by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem may not be so easy to reverse. Moreover, the attempts to isolate the Palestinian resistance by using its enormous influence to get Arab states to recognise Israel would be very hard to turn back. Indeed Biden may be pressured to continue on that course.

The Trump government viciousness against the Palestinian people has no precedence that could be thought of. Under Trump, the US became Israel’s battering ram. Israel has become a real rogue apartheid state, but it has the support of the US and a cloak of decency.
The Trump regime’s withdrawal from the Iran deal, and its reimposed sanctions pose another thorny issue that will confront the Biden government. It is clear that this was not only Trump’s position but many high in the US administration agreed with him. This, therefore may cause some problems for Biden. However, he would get counter pressure from US European allies that, if strong enough may enable him to return to the agreement that was reached during Obama’s tenure.

While there are many other burning international problems, I would only mention one more here, Cuba.
The Obama-Biden administration had adopted a new approach to Cuba. This was to engage the Cuban government and as far as possible to normalise relations.
This was a new approach to fighting Cuba. Obama was looking to influence mass consciousness in Cuba. However, the easing of tensions it did bring relief to the people of that country who had endured tremendous hardships caused by the US blockade.

Unfortunately, the Trump regime had returned to the old, crude ways of attacking Cuba. The blockade was re-introduced with a vengeance. Once more the Cuban people are hurting.
The hope is that Biden would reverse these measures and allow the Caribbean to be a zone of peace. Obama was moving to remove the US as what he feels, the excuse, which the Cubans used to explain the hardships in that country.

Sincerely,
Donald Ramotar
Former President