In November 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron visited Chinese President Xi Jinping to push for broader opening of Chinese markets. On this trip, however, Macron wasn’t just representing France—he was representing the entire European Union. And as the two men sipped French wine (recently subjected to US tariffs), they sent a not so subtle signal: that Europe and China could shape world affairs without the presence or consent of the United States.
As the two great powers met for the third time in two years, their discussion seemed to highlight the absence of the other great power. They discussed trade (both had been hit with US tariffs); how to rebuild the World Trade Organization (from which the US would later pull-out); the climate change accord (from which the US had already pulled out); and how to salvage the Iran nuclear accord (from which the US had also pulled-out). When asked about US disengagement from world affairs, Macron replied: “One country’s isolated choice can’t change the course of the world. It only leads to marginalization.”
Foreign reach is the ability of one society to insert itself, peaceably, into another society’s affairs. It is the leadership power that requires engaging directly with other societies. When the Trump Administration unilaterally pulled-out of multinational treaties, it did so at the expense of US foreign reach. After three years of opting-out, US influence around the world has eroded and other power centers, namely the EU and China, have begun to fill the void.
A new administration may change the US position on many issues, but the US will still have a hard time restoring its status. The US appears more fragmented and vulnerable than it once did—less stable—and not someone whose leadership should go unquestioned. Certainly, the US still carries weight, but the world has moved on. How well the Biden Administration can restore US prestige and influence may be its greatest foreign policy challenge.
References:
Sylvie Corbet, “Europeans cozy up to China, shun Trump’s US,” Associated Press, 7 November 2020.