Biden Needs to Change Selective Globalization Strategy

US President Joe Biden’s “build back better” economic policy and his strategy to regain the US global leadership seems to have necessitated a new kind of globalization: a selective globalization, a revision of capital-driven, all-out, free-style, and unrestrained globalization before the Trump presidency and a rejection of Trump’s wholesale anti-globalization and protectionism.

Given that Biden is putting domestic security and economic security on top of his priority just like his immediate predecessor former President Trump did rhetorically, his globalization strategy seems to be a compromise between the two and aims to serve his domestic agenda, at least to quite an extent.  This explains why Biden calls for Americans to buy America-made products more than consume foreign-made goods while making the US rejoin global institutions such as WHO and UN Human Rights Council.

This also explains why he styles his diplomacy with China as “practical and results-oriented reengagements” from “a position of strength” (Blinken).  His “position of strength” means that his diplomacy is a values-based geopolitical game with the hope of building a global alliance with EU and QUAD against “authoritarian” and “revisionist powers” such as China and Russia.

Biden’s version of globalization is selective in the following aspects:

Firstly, Biden’s selective globalization is problem-solving domestically. Biden’s America is becoming more conscious than in the past in making globalization serve America’s interest, particularly aiming to fulfill America’s immediate needs such as to combat domestic terrorism, create well-paid jobs, and unite the country.  In the interview by an NPR journalist on February 16, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “Our hope is that every single day the work we’re doing is helping to make the American people just a little bit safer, a little bit prosperous, a little bit healthier. And if we’re doing that and we accumulate enough steps, we’ll be in a better place in a few years.”

The kind of work Blinken mentions here refers to all the work done by the Biden administration, both domestic and diplomatic, including the work done at the State Department he leads. With the Biden administration’s immediate goal of combating COVID and reviving the US economy in mind, for example, NYT was able to publish, for the first time, on February 5, 2021, an objective and detailed account on how China and its government had combatted COVID and revived its economy successfully.

Secondly, Biden’s selective globalization centers on self-protection and self-affirmation as the status quo global leader. It is cautious and guarded in that it tries to prevent China from displacing the US as the global superpower and prevent China from emerging as the new global leader.  It also tries to ward off “sharp power” from China and Russia so that the US electorates would still believe in the American myths despite the deep wounds in the US political system. For example, the Biden administration keeps most of the Trump policies intact so far, including decoupling from China, the tariffs on Chinese goods, and the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, New Orleans, US despite their continuing harmful impacts on the American economy.

Thirdly, Biden’s selective globalization is partial as it will not give equal attention to all parts of the world. Regions such as Africa, for example, may not be a primary partner for Biden’s strategy of globalization as Biden may not view Africa as a contributor in the solution of the domestic problems of the US at least in the foreseeable future of his term.

To sum up, Biden’s strategy of selective globalization appears to be lighter, thinner, and partial as a result of more and bigger domestic urgencies. It is also partially protectionist and anti-globalization where globalization hurts America’s immediate interest.  The formulation of this strategy is based on a realistic assessment of its domestic situation as a wounded and bleeding nation both due to COVID and her political disunity, consumed with its historically unprecedented economic crisis and social upheaval.  It is also based on a cautious assessment of the changing global structure which the US has found herself in where the US is no longer viewed as “a shining city on the hill”, and is no longer trusted as a global leader with its “power of example”, at least for a period of foreseeable future.

In the current world where EU has been seeking more autonomy in its global diplomacy and has chosen to strengthen its relationship with China despite Biden’s warning, Biden’s strategy for a global democracy alliance appears to be at least halted or stalked by EU’s cold shoulder against President Biden’s overture.

Influenced by the Chinese concept of all-under-heaven, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s globalization strategy, on the other hand, appears to be non-selective or non-discriminatory, inclusive, and exhaustive, with a focus on win-win goals. Trying to build the community of mankind with a shared future characterized by more common security, common peace, and common prosperity, Xi’s globalization strategy is open to all, driven by all, and appears to be benefiting all.

Consistent with this vision, the Chinese government seems to be ready to establish full reengagements with the Biden administration to build back better the US-China relationship.  It is time President Biden revised and realigned his global diplomacy and selective globalization strategy to resonate and reciprocate with the vision of the community with a shared future for mankind.  This strategy would win enormous sympathies and support from all other parts of the world so that a “built-back-better America” would emerge much faster than originally hoped for.

The article reflects the author’s opinions, and not necessarily the views of China Focus.