(Photo : Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with members of his Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in the South Court Auditorium at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on January 20, 2022 in Washington, DC. Three members of the council met with Biden in person while a majority joined the meeting via video link due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In his first year of foreign policy, United States President Joe Biden has garnered mixed reactions from local and international officials, with House conservatives criticizing him and ambassadors somewhat applauding some of his decisions.
On Thursday, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) issued a report card that gave the Democratic leader straight "F's" for his foreign policy during his first year in office. The committee graded Biden on China, Russia, Iran, and Afghanistan, all of which have been issues the U.S. president has struggled to address.
Biden's First Year
The RSC awarded Biden with failing grades on all fronts and one F- for his decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan that resulted in the nation quickly becoming overwhelmed by the Taliban insurrection group. In the report, the committee said that the world was left in a far more chaotic and dangerous situation compared to a year ago when former United States President Donald Trump was in charge.
The committee's report is the latest effort of Republicans to focus criticism on Biden's one-year anniversary in office and to scrutinize what they claim are a series of foreign policy blunders. They argued that the decisions have empowered adversaries and abandoned U.S. interests and security, Fox News reported.
On the other hand, America's allies were deeply critical of former President Trump's administration's foreign policies. The biggest advantage they had was the freewheeling White House giving them wide-ranging access to top officials.
After a year in office, Biden's leadership has received praise from some friendly nations that said they were now much happier with U.S. foreign policy. However, they shared disappointment with the lack of high-level access and plodding decision-making.
International officials especially feel shut out of the national security policy process but expressed hopes that efforts to deter Russia's alleged planned invasion of Ukraine could be a changing point. In nearly unanimous fashion, 19 ambassadors and senior embassy staff serving in Washington, D.C., described Biden's administration as being more organized and process-driven compared to Trump's time, Politico reported.
America's Foreign Policy
The international officials hailed from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Pacific. While there are fewer diplomats now who have tweet notifications set for White House accounts, they have expressed their feelings that they were being left out by an administration that claims it is deliberate and consultative.
One ambassador from a European Union country said that at the end of the day, they only wanted around 10 minutes of Biden's administration's time. The official added that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be traveling to his country and will talk with officials for about an hour to an hour and a half.
While the ambassador said that they were not believing everything that Lavrov was going to say, the fact he was willing to give an hour of his time made officials willing to listen. Many large European countries have seen a noticeable improvement in the Biden administration's engagement since the Afghanistan issue. They said that the U.S. now coordinated quite closely and that it has been quite successful, Politico reported.
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