The emerging contours of President Biden's foreign policy

In mid-June 2021, United States (US) President Joe Biden is due to visit Europe for his first overseas trip since taking office in January. He will attend the Group of Seven (G7) summit from 11 to 13 June in Cornwall (United Kingdom), a NATO leaders' summit in Brussels on 14 June, followed by an EU-US summit on 15 June, and, on 16 June, a summit in Geneva (Switzerland) with Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Biden's arrival in Europe will mark almost five months in office, providing an opportunity to take stock of his foreign policy record thus far. As the Democratic candidate in the November 2020 US presidential election, Biden promised that if elected he would pursue a 'foreign policy for the middle class'. He argued that strengthening the majority of citizens' financial security, investing in US industrial capacity, and countering destabilising inequities at home, would allow a more socially and economically cohesive US to compete with and confront rivals on the world stage. He also argued that his administration's most pressing domestic challenges – including overcoming the coronavirus pandemic, and adapting to and mitigating the impact of climate change on the US – would require international cooperation. The Biden Administration's policy papers, positions and statements identify two broad priorities that guide its foreign policy: first, 'building back better' on a global scale, in pursuit of the same imperative at home. Second, working with allies to counter the threats to US interests posed by authoritarian rivals such as China and Russia, while working tactically with those same rivals where theirs and US interests overlap. Biden's early foreign policy moves have fulfilled promises to reverse Trump Administration policies in key areas, such as by re-entering the Paris Agreement, re-affirming the importance of the transatlantic partnership and other traditional alliances, and engaging diplomatically with rivals. However, elements of the previous administration's policies remain, in particular some of its trade policy priorities.