The Middle East, Russia and the Allies | Joe Biden cuts off Donald Trump’s diplomacy

Jerome Cartier and Francesco Fontimage
France Media

In his first foreign policy speech to the State Department, the President of the United States said, “We are strengthening our diplomatic efforts to end the war in Yemen,” which has caused a humanitarian and strategic disaster.

He stressed that “this war must end,” confirming the appointment of veteran diplomat Timothy Lenderking as Yemen’s envoy.

Concretely, Washington will cancel Riyadh’s controversial sale of “precision munitions” decided at the end of the term of the former Republican president, who has always supported, against all odds, the Saudi kingdom with Israel in its anti-Iran policy. .

Consequently, questioning this support for Saudi Arabia upsets regional alliances and reshapes the US strategy in the Middle East.

Riyadh leads a military coalition accused of committing many serious mistakes towards civilians in its interference with the Yemeni government against the Houthi rebels supported by Iran.

Without indicating the end of US support for the Saudi-led coalition, the Saudi government agency said on Thursday that Riyadh had renewed its support for a “comprehensive political solution” in Yemen and welcomed “the US focus on the importance of diplomatic efforts.” To solve the crisis.

Silence on Iran

The Houthis praised the cessation of the American intervention. “We hope that this will be the beginning of the decision to end the war in Yemen,” Hamid Assem, the political leader of the militants in Sanaa, told AFP.

This decision can also be interpreted as a goodwill gesture on the part of Iran, which is preparing to enter into complex negotiations with Washington to salvage the Iran nuclear deal that Donald Trump closed the door to.

Is the United States prepared to cut the hundreds of billions of dollars in arms it sells in our region? Are they ready to end the massacre of children in Yemen? Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif asked CNN International earlier this week.

Although returning to the 2015 agreement was considered a “critical priority” by the White House, Joe Biden did not mention it in his speech.

46^H The President of the United States confirmed that he would “stop” the partial withdrawal of American forces from Germany, at the time of a “global review of the position” of the forces deployed abroad entrusted to Defense Minister Lloyd Austin.

‘Diplomacy is back’

Donald Trump announced in June that he wanted to drastically reduce US forces in Germany to 25,000. This decision sparked an uproar within the American political class as well as in Europe, where Washington’s allies, Berlin in particular, were mistreated during the four years of billionaire New York.

Joe Biden said: “America is back, and diplomacy is back.” “We will rebuild our alliances.”

He defended the classic values ​​of US diplomacy – promoting democracy and human rights – that Donald Trump has neglected, he says. To illustrate this “return” of “moral leadership” on the international stage, he announced that the United States will receive 125,000 refugees from next year as part of the resettlement program, an eight-fold increase compared to the 15,000 acceptable this year, a historic low.

President Biden has finally shown his determination to confront China and Russia, accusing his predecessor of being particularly vulnerable regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He said the United States should “be present in the face of the advancement of tyranny, especially the increasing ambitions of China and Russia’s desire to weaken our democracy.”

However, he has remained silent about the concrete measures his National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan promised to hold Moscow “accountable.” It said almost nothing about its strategy against Beijing, but it was unanimously considered the number one strategic opponent of the world’s leading power.