Macron, Biden and multilateralism

Audio 02:32

French President Emmanuel Macron on the phone with Joe Biden to congratulate him on his victory in the presidential election of the United States.

AFP / Pool / Ian Langsdon

By: Valérie Gas Follow

6 min

With Joe Biden, the United States will make a comeback in multilateral forums, in any case the hope of many international leaders, Emmanuel Macron in the lead.

The French president who wants to change the international situation at all costs, with or without the help of the new American president.

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More than ever Emmanuel Macron wants to be the promoter of a new multilateralism.

This has been his goal since he arrived at the Élysée.

From his first speech to the UN General Assembly to that of this year where he reiterated that it was not necessary to be satisfied with " 

multilateralism of words

 ", the French Head of State has positioned himself as a defender of collective action.

And the recent crises, first and foremost the covid epidemic, have reinforced his conviction that it is necessary, as those around him say, to work to " 

lay the foundations for the world after

 ".

Will Joe Biden's election help Emmanuel Macron

?

This can only improve things compared to the diplomacy carried out by Donald Trump for four years.

The former US president has repeatedly criticized international organizations.

Joe Biden is not on the same line and that is necessarily good news.

Moreover, at the Élysée Palace, we are “ 

delighted with this election which will allow the United States to return to multilateralism

 ”.

But we understand that Emmanuel Macron intends to play his own score when we hear at the Élysée Palace that " 

Europe did not wait for this election to move forward

 " ... and that " 

the idea is not to return to the previous era

 ”.

What does the French president want to do?

According to his advisers, the President of the Republic believes that the time has come to "

 rethink the software of international collective action

 ".

Emmanuel Macron wants to initiate a reflection to clarify the mandates of international organizations, in particular that of the World Trade Organization, and to ensure that the expectations of the populations in terms of protection and equity are at the heart of their action.

This is the meaning of the meeting he organized this week in Paris on the sidelines of the Peace Forum.

Emmanuel Macron wants to push leaders to change the world.

Can Emmanuel Macron benefit from it domestically?

It is often said that we do not win a presidential election with international politics and it is certain that Emmanuel Macron will rather be judged on his management of the Covid epidemic.

But by combining the defense of multilateralism with the fight, for example, for the vaccine against the Covid to become a " 

global public good 

", Emmanuel Macron wants to convince that everything is linked and that he defends above all the interests of the French.

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  • French politics

  • France

  • Emmanuel Macron

  • Joe biden