U.S. Foreign and Security Policy in the First Half of the Biden Administration Prečítať

U.S. FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

Antonín Novotný – Adam Potočňák

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Politické vedy, Volume 26, Number 2/2023, pages 32-53

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24040/politickevedy.2023.26.2.32-53

Recommended form for quotation of the article / Odporúčaná forma citácie článku:

NOVOTNÝ, A. – POTOČŇÁK, A. 2023. U.S. Foreign and Security Policy in the First Half of the Biden Administration. In Politické Vedy. Vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 32-53. ISSN 1335 – 2741. Available at:https://doi.org/10.24040/politickevedy.2023.26.2.32-53

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ABSTRACT

In an era of ongoing strategic confrontation between the world's major powers, the security and foreign policy of the United States, the still dominant global superpower, is also undergoing constant and turbulent changes personified particularly by the arrival of new presidential administrations. In this regard, the ascension of the administration of current President Joe Biden in January 2021 is another milestone for the analysis of U.S. security policy. The presented article thus analyses the foreign and security policy of the United States of America in the January 2021-January 2023 period, that is, in the first half of the Joe Biden administration's term. The authors use the foreign policy analysis method to critically analyse Biden's foreign and security policy in three distinctive geopolitical regions: the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. The authors utilise Biden's policy in these regions as a case study to test Pavel Hlaváček's theory from 2018, according to which the national mood of the U.S. foreign currently finds itself in an introverted phase. The authors conclude that the theory remains valid by analysing Biden's foreign and security policy. Based on the 2022 midterm elections result, they also support Hlaváček's assumption that another alteration in the national mood in the U.S. foreign policy should not be expected sooner than in the mid-2030s. Nonetheless, the validity of the applied theory and the conclusions we have drawn from it will be conclusively tested by all upcoming presidential or midterm elections, with the nearest ones as early as November 2024.

Key words: Foreign Policy, Security Policy, USA, Joe Biden, Indo-Pacific, Europe, Middle East