ALLIANCES AS A SOURCE OF NATIONAL STRENGTH

January 2024

 

American global leadership is not a virtue – it is a strategic necessity.

The United States’ alliances and partnerships have been our greatest international advantage. We derive strength through our alliances and protect our interests.

That’s why President Biden has spent the past 3+ years rebuilding trust in American leadership to better protect U.S. interests in an era of increased competition with China.

Donald Trump believes that alliances are a form of geopolitical welfare. He retreated from the world and damaged our alliances, undermining a major source of U.S. strength. The only relationships he seems to value are those of dictators like Putin and Kim Jong Un - not realizing that they don’t care about him, they care about defeating America.

China and Russia are waiting for Trump’s return so they can once again fill the void he will leave. 

TALKING POINTS:

  • President Biden’s leadership and experience throughout his career has been dedicated to strengthening international relationships and alliances that keep America safe, advance our prosperity, and protect our way of life.

  • Donald Trump came along and upended all of this, making a mockery of our leadership role and inviting adversaries to take our place. The steps he took to damage our alliances were celebrated by Beijing and Moscow, which correctly saw U.S. alliances as a source of American strength rather than as a liability.

  • Rather than lead the free world, Trump fashions himself as a cheerleader for the world’s dictators. He routinely praises autocrats responsible for grave human rights violations and who attack democracy, including North Korea’s Kim Jung-Un, with whom he “fell in love”; Russia’s invader-in-chief Vladimir Putin, and China’s Xi Jinping, whose position as President for life Trump thinks is “great”.

  • From Europe to Asia, Trump has insulted our allies and caused them to question whether they could count on the U.S. in times of crisis. Over objections of his advisors, Trump withdrew from international bodies and shredded America’s commitment to our friends and allies. Showcasing his disdain for historical alliances, Trump even told key European partners that "NATO is dead” and that he would quit the alliance. It’s no wonder Russia and China - whose leaders Trump so naively adores - are so eager for him to be reelected.

  • President Biden has spent the past three years rebuilding trust in American leadership and updating and energizing our alliances and partnerships so that we are best positioned to protect our interests in an era of increased competition with China. For example:

    • Ukraine: The Biden Administration mobilized a global coalition of countries to support Ukraine’s fight for freedom and impose costs on Russia.

    • Fentanyl Trafficking: The Biden Administration has gone after illegal fentanyl trafficking, including through launching a global coalition of over 100 countries to address the threat of synthetic drugs, as well as working with Canada and Mexico to combat the drug trade across U.S. borders. President Biden has also recognized the fentanyl threat stemming from China’s production of precursors and resumed bilateral cooperation to stop these key ingredients from flowing into the United States or our neighbors.

    • Cybersecurity and Technology: The Biden Administration has worked with the UN and like-minded partners to protect our nation’s cybersecurity and shape the future of the internet to be democratic, rather than be shaped by the authoritarian model favored by countries like China.

    • Trade: President Biden has worked with partners around the world to ensure that U.S. trade grows our economy while also ensuring real gains and good jobs for workers and families.  He has prioritized supply chain resilience, the clean energy economy, and anticorruption and tax cooperation.

    • Clean Energy: President Biden, recognizing that the climate crisis represents one of the top threats to the U.S., has worked with partners across the globe to accelerate the clean energy transition, cut emissions, and support developing countries to wean off fossil fuels.

    • Semiconductors & Critical Minerals: The Biden administration has worked with a large set of partners – on semiconductors and critical minerals and rechargeable batteries – to recognize and remedy disruptions to critical supply chains.

    • NATO: The Biden Administration worked to expand NATO to include Finland, soon to be followed by Sweden—two historically nonaligned nations - which bolsters NATO’s collective defenses in northern Europe.

  • The coming era of competition will be unlike anything experienced before. The world is becoming more contested, and the United States must actively work to protect its interests. The outcome of this phase will be decided by whether America continues to lead or not.