Russia Program Deputy Director

Trend Overview

Edited by John Hardie

Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines of very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative for the areas they watch.

After over two years in office, the administration still wants for a clear strategy toward China, as lack of direction from the Oval Office has resulted in poor interagency coordination and logjam. Inefficiency also plagues U.S. efforts to deter Chinese military aggression against Taiwan: The U.S. Navy in April finally awarded a contract for 400 sorely needed anti-ship missiles for Taiwan — over two years after the Pentagon approved the potential sale. In better news, the United States last month made progress in strengthening ties with key Indo-Pacific allies and partners, such as the Philippines, India, and South Korea.

In Europe, Washington hopes Ukraine can leverage Western military aid to liberate additional territory in a counteroffensive expected to begin in the coming weeks. However, the administration continues to withhold key weapons that could bolster Kyiv’s chances. The administration also still refuses to address critical flaws in the Western coalition’s sanctions targeting Russian oil exports, although the Biden team deserves credit for its efforts to improve enforcement of Western sanctions and export controls.

China and Russia continue to score diplomatic victories in the Middle East and Latin America. Arab normalization with Syria’s Assad regime is accelerating thanks to quiet encouragement from the Biden administration.

Check back next month to see whether the administration manages to correct course.