“America is back”: Biden promises renewal of US-Europe ties at Munich Security Conference
The last time Joe Biden spoke at the Munich Security Conference – the key event for US and European security and foreign policy elites to meet – he made a promise: “We will be back.”
Today, two years later, Biden strode onto the conference stage and declared, “I’m a man of my word, America is back. The trans-Atlantic alliance is back.” He went on to praise the importance of the European-American partnership, declare his commitment to America’s alliances, and propose cooperation on the key challenges of the day from the pandemic to climate change. For Europeans bruised by four years of Donald Trump threatening to withdraw from NATO, sinking the Iran deal and pulling out of the Paris climate agreement – Biden’s words were reassuring.
The President’s promise to commit $4 billion to Covax – the World Health Organisation’s global vaccination programme mainly aimed at developing countries – will be welcome. Just yesterday Emmanuel Macron said more had to be done to help poorer countries vaccinate and proposed that Europe send five per cent of its vaccines to these nations. Calls for a new summit on climate change to push top emitters to further reduce their carbon footprint was also exactly the sort of thing the European Union likes to hear. And Biden’s promise to re-engage with Iran and seek a new nuclear deal will have gone down well.
Yet tensions lurk under the surface.
The crux of Biden’s speech was that today’s world, and the one to come, was one defined by a growing competition between democracy and autocracy. As he put it: “We are in the midst of a fundamental debate about the future and direction of our world. We’re at an inflection point between those who argue that given all the challenges we face […] autocracy is the best way forward, and those who understand that democracy is essential to meeting these challenges.”
The autocracies in question were China – which was, according to Biden, undermining US and European prosperity with unfair economic competition and attempts to shape future technology to authoritarian ends – and Russia – which was spreading fake news, trying to undermine NATO and the European Union, and engaging in reckless hacking.
While firmly declaring that this wasn’t the start of a new Cold War, and that cooperation with these powers would be necessary to combat the pandemic and climate change, Biden was also firm in his aims. “I believe with every ounce of my being democracy will and must prevail… I hope our fellow democracies are going to join us in this vital work,” he said.
The only problem is that most European democracies don’t seem very keen on the idea.
In December the EU signed a trade deal with China – making it all too clear that it had no interest in joining the Sino-American trade war that the Biden administration seems set to continue pursuing. The move was a pointed declaration of the EU’s independence from America on this point. Meanwhile, Angela Merkel continues to push through the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline that would leave Germany heavily dependent on Russia for its energy supplies.
Indeed, when it comes to pushing back against Russia and China, Biden will find a closer ally in Britain, regardless of the general antipathy towards Brexit found in the US security establishment. The idea of a new alignment of democracies aimed at containing China – involving the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, and India – is a distinct possibility.
As Biden closed his speech he spoke of the Perseverance Rover – its successful touchdown a joint product of American and European effort – as proof of what the partnership between the US and Europe could achieve. Yet the project – inspiring as it is – is hardly a joint projection of hard power. When it comes to standing shoulder to shoulder on earthbound matters Biden may find that many countries in Europe – and the EU in particular – aren’t quite so keen.