The Biden challenge in foreign policy [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

Nearly two months ago, on 20th January, Joseph Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, at the end of perhaps the most divisive electoral processes in his country’s history. The new President’s supporters and advocates, including many in Europe, are counting on him to set a new course for the US in global politics, moving to firm up and advance the multilateral, rules-based world order and rekindle America’s traditional alliances, notably within the NATO framework. Very high hopes and expectations have been raised about the potential of Washington to make a decisive shift from the assumptions and actions of Trump years.

This note offers links to recent commentaries, studies and reports from international think tanks on President Biden’s early weeks in office and the various expectations regarding his presidency, especially in respect of the place of the United States in the world.

Stepping into the driver’s seat: The EU should double down on US-Iran diplomacy
European Policy Centre, February 2021

Biden Administration and Yemen: Orientations and implications for the conflict parties and political solution path
European Policy Centre, February 2021

For a new NATO-EU bargain
Egmont, February 2021

Transatlantic cooperation on climate change
Clingendael, February 2021

Biden begins Presidency with positive ratings: Trump departs with lowest-ever
Pew Research Center, January 2021

How America changed during Donald Trump’s Presidency
Pew Research Center, January 2021

100 ideas for the first hundred days of the Biden Administration
Atlantic Council, February 2021

After the Khashoggi report: How the US can respond and avoid blowback
Atlantic Council, February 2021

Fast thinking: Biden’s first bombing
Atlantic Council, February 2021

Three possible futures for the Biden presidency
Atlantic Council, February 2021

Biden’s foreign policy takes shape
Council on Foreign Relations, February 2021

How Biden can embrace environmental stewardship
Council on Foreign Relations, February 2021

Biden’s ‘Foreign Policy for the Middle Class’ takes shape
Council on Foreign Relations, February 2021

Breaking down Biden’s immigration actions through abbreviations
Council on Foreign Relations, February 2021

Biden and the Houthis
Council on Foreign Relations, February 2021

Biden fires a warning shot at Iran
Council on Foreign Relations, February 2021

The Singapore Declaration and the Biden Administration’s policy review
Council on Foreign Relations, February 2021

U.S. Troop withdrawal from Afghanistan: What are Biden’s options?
Council on Foreign Relations, February 2021

The Biden-Harris inauguration: A tense tableau
Council on Foreign Relations, January 2021

Biden v. Trump on growth: What the market thinks
Council on Foreign Relations, January 2021

Up in the air: Ten global summits that will test Joe Biden in 2021
Council on Foreign Relations, December 2020

Les républicains et la politique étrangère américaine après TrumpNiedziela2016: Entre néo-isolationnisme et rivalité avec la Chine
Institut français des relations internationales, January 2021

2021: What’s to come?
European Union Institue for Security Studies, January 2021

How the United States can return to credible climate leadership
Brookings Institution, March 2021

Around the halls: Brookings experts analyze President Biden’s first foreign policy speech
Brookings Institution, February 2021

Tracking President Joe Biden’s Cabinet and appointees
Brookings Institution, February 2021

The Biden presidency and Ukraine
Brookings Institution, January 2021

Biden, democracy, and Africa
Brookings Institution, January 2021

Working with the Biden Administration: Opportunities for the EU
Carnegie Europe, January 2021

How Europe can engage with U.S. President Joe Biden
Carnegie Europe, January 2021

Why the EU and the United States should rethink their Turkey policies in 2021
Carnegie Europe, January 2021

Joe Biden’s arms control ambitions are welcome: But delivering on them will not be easy
Stackholm International Peace Research Institute, January 2021

What does the world expect of President Joe Biden?
Woodrow Wilson Center, January 2021

Biden’s unlawful re-entry into climate accord
Hoover Institution, February 2021

EU and China seal a deal behind Biden’s back
Chatham House, February 2021

America must heal itself first
Chatham House, February 2021

Foreign policy priorities for the Biden administration
Chatham House, January 2021

How Europeans see Biden’s America
European Council on Foreign Relations, January 2021

Europe’s China deal: How not to work with the Biden administration
European Council on Foreign Relations, January 2021

The crisis of American power: How Europeans see Biden’s America
European Council on Foreign Relations, January 2021

How Biden can make a big difference in the Western Balkans
European Council on Foreign Relations, January 2021

Cyber defence in NATO countries: comparing models
Istituto Affari Internationali, January 2021

Unlocking European defence: In search of the long overdue paradigm shift
Istituto Affari Internationali, January 2021

Europe and Biden’s America: Making European autonomy and a revamped transatlantic bond two sides of the same coin
Istituto Affari Internationali, December 2020

Strategic autonomy or strategic alliance?
Bruegel, February 2021

The geopolitics of the European Green Deal
Bruegel, February 2021

Getting America back in the game: A multilateral perspective
Bruegel, January 2021

China investment deal: A second look
Bruegel, January 2021

From one master of survival to another: A tardigrade’s plea for NATO2030
Egmong, January 2021

Blinking, biding or bombing?
Clingedeal January 2021

What Iran’s leaders really think about Biden
Clingedal January 2021

No way back: Why the transatlantic future needs a stronger EU
Clingedeal January 2021

The world in 2021: Ten issues that will shape the international agenda
Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, December 2020

Biden doubles down on Trump’s Taiwan policy, but will it last?
Rand Corporation, February 2021

For Joe Biden, an experienced foreign policy team
Rand Corporation, January 2021

Biden’s stimulus should stay the course
Peterson Institute for International Economics, January 2021

Joe Biden understands grief: That’s a valuable skill right now
Aspen Institute, January 2021

US-migrationspolitik unter Joe Biden
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, February 2021

President Joe Biden and the restoration of US global leadership: Turning the tide?
Finnish Institute of International Affairs, December 2020

The Afghan peace process after Trump: What comes next?
Italian Institute for International Political Studies, January 2020

Read this briefing on ‘The Biden challenge in foreign policy‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.