As a politician with a view to the mid-term congressional elections, “Biden will focus in his first year as a laser on the pandemic, on the reopening of the economy, on unemployment, on infrastructure, on health care, on an economic stimulus, “said Mr. Kupchan said. “There will be much less time, energy and money for foreign policy.”
Sophia Besch and Luigi Scazzieri of the Center for European Reform argue in a new article that “many Europeans want to forget Trump’s presidency ever.” But they add: “Europe cannot continue to look to the US to answer key questions about what its interests are and how it should pursue them.”
This is especially true for defense, on which most European leaders agree that more needs to be spent.
German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer claims that Europeans cannot replace America as a security provider, just like leaders in Central and Eastern Europe. But others, notably President Emmanuel Macron of France and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell Fontelles, argue that Europeans cannot be sure of America’s credibility.
Mr. Biden’s victory should not distract Europeans or discourage them from pursuing a more independent defense and more strategic autonomy, they say, not even in the context of NATO.
There are certain issues, such as terrorism, instability in North Africa and migration, where Europeans feel they need to be able to act more effectively on their own.
“Where we Europeans need to be careful with the expectation of the Americans is in our environment,” said Nathalie Tocci, director of the Italian Institute of International Affairs. On issues such as Belarus, Ukraine and the Balkans, “coordination with the US is important, but we cannot expect the US to step up their involvement”, she said.