Current Affairs

It was sad to see Biden stumble about on stage and lose his train of thought. Neither candidate seemed that well-informed and if the free world rests on the inconsistencies of Trump or the frailty of Biden, the world is in trouble. There was an element of sadness that the frailties of Biden were on display, even though the Democrats had a chance to challenge Biden and say “enough is enough.” The rumours of Biden’s frailty were true and on full display in the CNN hustings, and his failure to challenge Trump and the inconsistencies of Trump’s arguments leads the viewer to wonder about whether Biden has been unwell for some time.

Jon Sopel, in a twitter feed pointed out that Biden could read the Autocue last night, but that did not necessarily mean that he was functioning as a fully competent eighty one year old who could run for another term in office. Americans have set a two-term limit as a means to manage their presidency, but Biden seemed so frail that two term limit looks out of reach for him to complete. There was such a shortage of coherency to the way that he tried to challenge the energy and narcissism of an extremely underprepared Trump, that it was surprising that America has only these two options for the presidency. Both candidates were short of answers’, Biden wandering off into another sphere of argument left the viewer feeling sorry for an old man being bullied by an ebullient Trump, who neither had the where with all to manage his own inconsistencies or the lies he told.

Either way, world statesmen will have a field day with these two, however well they are briefed. Biden’s next meeting is with NATO and how well that goes is dependent on how well Biden has been prepared and whether he can look like a statesman who is fully briefed and able to manage that brief with ease, is dependent on his ability to take facts in. It is important Biden manages the arguments’ that NATO has now, because the United States is moving into a critical period, which would take a young dynamic statesman a lot of soul searching before he comes to any conclusions where the organisation is heading in the next year.

There are so many danger spots in the world, but the most concerning are in countries such as France, which is in danger of moving to the furthest right since Vichy was a government in the 1940s. It is such a critical time for NATO, that there are questions whether Ukraine has the stability to manage the continued Russian offensive. Mikhail Zygar, writing in Foreign Affairs believes that Putin will challenge NATO sooner or later and push on into either Estonia or Latvia. Whether this happens or not is worrying for NATO, which is undergoing a change in its leadership, and with the the uncertainties politically in both Europe and America, there is a need for strong international leadership to counter Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and the possibility of war in the Baltic… There needs to be strong leadership.

Further afield, there are geopolitical concerns in the Middle East as well as the Far East. The next five years will be critical and will require deft handling and if the White House is being managed by either someone who is unpredictable or physically challenged by their age, there are questions that have to be asked whether the worlds security and America’s, will be undermined by the incumbent in the Presidency. Further arguments are dependent on the organisations that will take up the slack and whether that is ASEAN or the European Union, the power gulf that is being felt today, will be compounded by the unpredictability of the international stage.

Premier Xi, has argued that Taiwan will be part of China by 2028, he believes China will supersede the United States as a world power, and Taiwan will naturally fall into China’s sphere of influence, either politically or militarily by 2028. If the United States is to keep its place as the most important power, then they need a younger leader who is more worldly and physically able to be in this position. Those that could move forward will be hamstrung by international powers with nuclear weapons who will be calling out the leadership of the West and how it reacts to international pressure points.

These pressure points are likely to be testing for any world power, but realising how to manage these events, will be challenging for anyone in public office. The arguments for replacing Joe Biden have already started, with an article in the New York Times, which is calling for him to step down. Other articles can be found in the Atlantic magazine and other outlets, where they worry about the Presidents cognitive abilities and whether he will be able to stand for a whole four year term. There are also worries about Kamala Harris, who has very low ratings in the polls, and the commentators have very little faith that she will be able to grip the intricacies of the presidential position if she were to take over the presidency.     

Tom Nichols in an article in The Atlantic was a staunch supporter of Biden until the CNN debate with Donald Trump. He argues that it is obvious that Biden now cannot do the job and that as a supporter of Biden, he was shocked by the inability of Biden to challenge the inconsistencies and lies of Trump. Though saddened, he thinks it is time Biden realised that it was time to go. The arguments surrounding Biden will have weakened his ability to challenge Trump and in all likelihood Biden will weaken further as the Presidential race continues into the winter. Tom Nichol’s argued that “Biden didn’t only have a bad night, but American democracy is in danger.”

Even with Congressmen like Ro Khanna arguing that “We have a great team of people that will help govern. That is what I’m going to continue to make the case for,” is also worrying for the international partners of the United States. The uncertainty of Biden continuing to be challenged by his cognitive ability, will only grow. The arguments that are already taking place in places like the Middle East are challenging for anyone, not just for an eighty one year old man. Netanyahu, is already challenging Biden on the world stage and what he will do when speaking in Congress in July will be very challenging for a US presidency trying to find peace in the Middle East, where tough decisions need to be taken.

Tom Nichols worries about American democracy, but the world worries about the outcome of the US presidency. It is a finite period in world affairs and whether the international world will accept a presidency that has been challenged for either the cognitive well being of the presidency or an unpredictable presidency, challenges the International organizations that will be looking to Washington for leadership. What comes next is worrying for the world as the next four years are going to be critical in International affairs and the geopolitics that arrive on the desk of a President will be consequential and difficult.