• Last week, Australia broke a € 56 billion contract for the supply of 12 submarines by France, preferring American aircraft.

    This decision angered Paris, which recalled its ambassador to Washington.

  • At the end of August, it was the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, deemed "brutal" and "disorderly", which had been criticized.

  • Joe Biden, whose election had been greeted with relief in Europe, is he missing his first diplomatic steps?

After the withdrawal from Afghanistan, deemed brutal, would Joe Biden have taken the wrong step too?

Since his arrival at the White House, Joe Biden has repeatedly repeated in all tones his intention to reconnect with America's traditional allies, after the wounds inflicted by Donald Trump on the transatlantic relationship and multilateralism.

But the diplomatic debut of the American president seems decidedly less easy than expected.

Diplomatic hiccups

By forcing the breach of the mega-contract for submarines signed with Australia and taking the place of France, the United States caused an unprecedented diplomatic crisis last week. A sign of its anger, Paris recalled its ambassador to Washington, unheard of vis-à-vis this historic ally. "This unilateral, brutal, unpredictable decision looks a lot like what Mr. Trump was doing," even said Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, on September 16 on Franceinfo. And the criticism began much earlier, with the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

Scheduled for September, the departure of the Americans has been the subject of strong criticism in the United States and internationally, especially because of the speed with which the Taliban have regained power in Kabul. Would Joe Biden pay the bill for twenty years of American policy in Afghanistan? “He simply finished what had been undertaken by the last two presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. There is a certain continuity ”, analyzes Denis Lacorne, emeritus research director at Sciences Po, specialist in the United States and author of the books

Limits of tolerance

(Gallimard) and

Tous billionaires, the French dream of Silicon Valley.

(Fayard).

The departure of soldiers from Afghan soil, Barack Obama had envisaged at the end of 2014. His successor Donald Trump had continued the movement, postponing the withdrawal to May 1, 2021.

"Joe Biden finished the job"

"I was not going to prolong this eternal war and I was not going to prolong the eternal withdrawal", justified Joe Biden a week after the withdrawal of the American troops.

“The reorientation of foreign policy began on the first day of Barack Obama's mandate.

Somehow, Joe Biden just finished the job, ”explains Jean-Eric Branaa,

senior lecturer, specialist in the United States at Sorbonne Paris II University, author of

Kamala Harris

,

America of the future

, (New World edition), who considers it very important for Americans to leave Afghanistan .

"It is the end of a twenty-year war, it was necessary to end it" whatever it costs ", as Emmanuel Macron would say", adds the specialist.

Whether for Afghanistan or for the submarine crisis, American interests come first, explains Olivier Richomme, lecturer at Lumière Lyon 2 University and specialist in the United States: "Even if" America First "was Donald Trump's slogan, it's actually the credo of all American presidents.

None of them disagree with that.

"

The "Asian Pivot"

To justify leaving Afghanistan despite criticism, Joe Biden announced his intention to meet with diplomacy on the major challenges of the 21st century: rivalry with China, tensions with Russia, cyber attacks and nuclear proliferation. If he did not question the principle laid down by Donald Trump of the standoff with China, Joe Biden intends to approach it in a very different way. To do this, the American president is counting on an Indo-Pacific alliance. He will receive the Prime Ministers of India, Japan and Australia on September 24 in Washington.

“The submarine affair or the September 24 meeting is a very clear reorientation of US foreign policy on the Asian pivot.

It is now a question of being even stronger in the Indo-Pacific zone, which concentrates two thirds of the world economy.

He is refocusing his foreign policy.

Obviously that causes frustrations, especially among Europeans ”, analyzes Jean-Eric Branaa.

"It is clear that the United States is now turning to Asia, suggesting that Europeans should focus a little more on Europe," continues Olivier Richomme.

Long experience

And if there is a diplomacy specialist, it is Joe Biden.

Between his post as vice-president under Barack Obama and his two terms as chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Joe Bien knows the inner workings inside out.

“During his campaign, he presented himself as a very good diplomat.

It is true that there are no more experts in foreign policy than he, he knows perfectly well what the state of the world is like, ”observes Jean-Eric Branaa.

Next step, for Joe Biden, his own "summit for democracy" in early December.

It will be a question of offending any allied country of the United States, without undermining the great ambitions of Joe Biden, for whom America must lead the world by "the power of example".

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