"Maintain the image": why Biden spoke again about US leadership in the world

In the coming years, it will be clear whether the United States will be able to prevail over other countries in the race for leadership.

This was stated by the head of the White House Joe Biden.

“I sincerely believe and give you my word that in 50 years, historians will look back at this moment - the past two years and the next four to five years - and they will determine whether America won the competition for the 21st century or lost it in this time period?

This is where we are now, ”the president said as he spoke in support of his US infrastructure development program in Detroit.

Biden believes the United States is at a critical juncture in this matter and needs to "get back into the game."

“Because if we cannot do this, who else will deal with the crises in the Middle East?

Who else will solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem?

Who else will deal with all these important issues?

Which other country will decide that we need a plan to combat the next pandemic, and will lead the world so that we do not find ourselves in the same situation as now, because there will be others (pandemics. -

), "the politician said.

According to him, we are talking about "a turning point in world history."

“Everything is changing, and not only in the United States, but all over the planet.

The question is: how do we respond to this?

What should we do? ”He remarked.

The head of the White House also stressed that he is "betting" on the United States and the American people.

“We have to focus on what made our country great,” Biden said.

A series of loud statements

Note that this is not the first time that Biden has spoken about the prospects for US leadership in the world.

So, in August, he emphasized that Washington must demonstrate to other countries its ability to solve complex problems.

“We need to make sure we can show the world that we can achieve our goals,” Biden said in an online meeting with local officials.

He also lamented that the world doubts the ability of the United States to meet the tasks assigned to it.

“Do you know what influences the attitude of the rest of the world towards America?

Our ability to achieve our goals.

And it's not a joke.

Not at all.

When I went there (to the G7 summit -

) and during negotiations with seven leaders said: “We are back,” my answer was: “For how long?

You can't solve a single problem, ”Biden explained.

• The White house

• Reuters

• © Joshua Roberts

In addition, the head of the White House added that before his inauguration, the Prime Minister of Ireland expressed his doubts that Washington could still "achieve some results", since it is no longer able to "play the role of leader", not even coping with the struggle against COVID-19.

In October, Biden made another loud statement, noting that Russia, China and the rest of the world were allegedly "aware" that the United States had "the most powerful military forces in history."

“There is no need to worry about whether they will be stronger,” the president said at the time.

"You need to worry about whether they will start engaging in some kind of activity that could put them in a position fraught with a serious mistake."

It is noteworthy that these words sounded after reports of another failure during the tests by the US military of hypersonic weapons.

"Hegemony no longer works"

According to analysts, Biden's statements about the prospects for Washington's leadership in the world are primarily aimed at maintaining his rating, which has been declining recently.

“Words about the role of the United States in international politics are intended more for internal use, since Biden's popularity is falling catastrophically.

In these conditions, he needs to somehow get out of the situation by making such statements, ”Alexander Domrin, professor at the HSE Faculty of Law, said in a conversation with RT.

Vladimir Vasiliev, Chief Researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, adheres to a similar position.

American support for Biden has seriously waned, he said.

“And the situation will only get worse, no loud statements by the American leader, including speeches about the US leadership in the world, will not help him raise his rating.

So far, there are no prerequisites that would speak of the opposite, "Vasiliev stated in an interview with RT.

Recall that Biden's policy is approved by fewer and fewer Americans, as evidenced by the data of the aggregator of opinion polls - the portal RealClearPolitics.

To date, a record 53.2% of respondents are dissatisfied with the course of the current president, while only 41.5% of respondents support him.

For comparison, even in the first half of August, the policy of the head of the White House appealed to 50% of Americans, and then this figure began to decline.

The highest level of approval of the American leader's actions (55.8%) was observed at the end of January, when he just came to power.

In addition, the experts also drew attention to the not entirely appropriate political context for statements about the prospects of Washington's world leadership.

According to Alexander Domrin, such speeches "sound strange" against the background of the fact that under Biden, the United States has not yet observed any achievements in both domestic and foreign policy.

“Take, for example, the disastrous flight of the United States from Afghanistan, after which the situation in the republic was destabilized, and the Taliban received American weapons.

Added to this is the disappointing situation around the spread of the coronavirus, rising prices and other problems.

In such circumstances, Biden needs to somehow distract society, which he does, using propaganda techniques, ”explained Domrin.

As for Biden's claims that there is no one to solve problems in the world, including in the Middle East, except Washington, they sound "too arrogant," analysts say.

• USA congress

• AP

• © Jacquelyn Martin

“The unipolar world that the United States is so accustomed to no longer exists.

We are talking about a multipolar world order with at least two more centers - Russia and China.

American hegemony, obviously, no longer works, since the active role of the Russian Federation and the PRC in international politics is a significant factor that the United States simply cannot ignore.

However, Washington still retains an exaggerated sense of its own greatness, due to which it is trying to somehow maintain the image of the United States as the only great power, although it turns out to be extremely unconvincing, ”says Domrin.

From the point of view of Vladimir Vasiliev, the United States aims to return the model of the world order in which everything was under their control.

The expert also drew attention to the fact that Biden's words about the prospects for the leadership of the United States were not accidentally sounded in his speech in support of his program for the development of the country's infrastructure.

“The head of the White House makes such dramatic statements to demonstrate that the geopolitical future of the United States is at stake.

He wants to turn the domestic political problem concerning the promotion of his initiatives into a foreign policy one, which he translates into the context of the struggle for US leadership in the world.

In this way, Biden broadcasts that the infrastructure development program should become an extremely important step in the competition with Russia and China, "Vasiliev stated.

Analysts also agree that Biden's high-profile speeches about the return of US supremacy look inappropriate against the background not only of his failures in domestic and foreign policy, but also of frequent reservations and incidents.

“The point is that the head of the White House is experiencing certain health problems.

Sometimes journalists and politicians do not know how to interpret some of his statements.

Even in the transcripts of Biden's speeches, administration officials are forced to make corrections, ”Domrin notes.

At the same time, as analysts predict, the hope of Biden and the American establishment that the United States will again be able to become the world hegemon is unlikely to materialize.

“The domino effect that arose after the situation around the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan has now spread not only to the Middle East and Europe, but also to the so-called Indo-Pacific region.

And Washington cannot do anything about it, thinking only about how to regain its former superiority.

But the retreat of the United States along the perimeter of their geopolitical interests will remain a headache for the American authorities, ”Vasiliev summed up.