By William Mauldin
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden has repeatedly vowed to recommit the U.S. to global alliances and international accords that President Trump has quit or criticized, highlighting a major difference in the two rivals' approaches to foreign policy.
Mr. Trump, citing an unfair burden on the U.S., has withdrawn or moved to exit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris climate accord, the World Health Organization, the international Open Skies Treaty and the leading world powers' nuclear deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Mr. Trump also has criticized and questioned organizations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Group of Seven leading nations, citing the need for an "America First" approach.
"Multilateralism just for the sake of hanging out with each other is a wholly insufficient justification for us to continue to remain in organizations," said Mr. Trump's chief diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a recent virtual chat with members of the Liberty University debate team.
Mr. Biden sees working with traditional U.S. allies and international organizations as a source of strength and a way to show U.S. leadership, even if the pacts and alliances sometimes cause problems.
"If we're not in the game, then it's likely that it's going to get even more problematic," said Tony Blinken, former deputy secretary of state and foreign-policy adviser to Mr. Biden, in an interview. "You're much more likely to be effective if you're actually inside -- you don't have much standing if you're outside, and you've ceded your influence."
U.N. Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is a case in point. Mr. Trump quit the panel in 2018, denouncing it as hypocritical and a forum for other countries to attack the U.S. and its allies, including Israel.
Eleanor Roosevelt led the first human-rights efforts at the U.N., but successive U.S. administrations have had difficulties with shifting iterations of the panel.
Authoritarian regimes with questionable human-rights records work hard to secure seats on the council to insulate themselves from international criticism, according to Hillel C. Neuer, executive director at U.N. Watch, a Geneva-based agency that monitors the world body. This year at the council, more countries voted in support of China's move to undermine Hong Kong's autonomy with a new security law -- a step that the U.S. and its partners in the G-7 sharply criticized -- than voted against China's move in Hong Kong.
Last week, China, Russia and Cuba were among countries chosen by the General Assembly as new members of the council. Mr. Pompeo said their selection "only further validate the U.S. decision to withdraw."
Other members of the council include France and the U.K., which were voted in last week, along with Japan, South Korea, Netherlands, Germany and Italy. Saudi Arabia was narrowly defeated last week in its bid for a seat on the panel.
Under former President Obama, the U.S. sought and won a seat on the council, saying the move was part of its new era of engagement that would advance American national-security interests.
World Health Organization
Mr. Biden, should he win, could move to reverse Mr. Trump's plans to leave the World Health Organization by next summer. Key U.S. allies have expressed interest in changes in the U.N.-affiliated group sought by the U.S., which is at the forefront of global coronavirus pandemic response.
The Trump administration has blamed China for allowing the coronavirus to spread and said the WHO is under the influence of Beijing.
A Biden administration likely would remain in the WHO regardless of the reform process.
"If you think that the Chinese are getting too strong, compete with them inside the WHO," said Nicholas Burns, a Harvard Kennedy School professor and adviser to the Biden campaign. "The United States has a lot more friends around the world than China does."
Trans-Pacific Partnership
Mr. Biden, if elected, may find it difficult to return to the same status the U.S. had in some of the international organizations and pacts curbed or left behind by Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, on his first working day in office, jettisoning a deal completed -- but not congressionally ratified -- under Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden. Mr. Trump called it a horrible deal and said bilateral agreements would better serve the U.S.
The Obama administration saw the TPP as the economic glue for a coalition of Asia-Pacific partners that would put pressure on China, which wasn't included.
The TPP entered into force in slightly modified form without the U.S. Mr. Biden has said he would seek a renegotiation of the deal -- a task that would require concessions to the other partners including Japan, as well as overcoming entrenched opposition among U.S. lawmakers.
Paris Climate Accord
Compared with the TPP, the Paris climate accord, negotiated during the Obama administration, would be relatively easy for the U.S. to re-enter. Mr. Trump set the U.S. exit into motion in 2017, a process that will lead to withdrawal just after the November election. He said the accord didn't demand enough from large emitters such as China and India.
Mr. Biden could rejoin the accord in 30 days as president, according to the World Resources Institute. More difficult would be the task of persuading other countries to improve their commitments under the agreement, an effort Mr. Biden has pledged to pursue.
Iran Nuclear Deal
When Mr. Trump withdrew from the 2015 international Iran nuclear deal, he said it was ineffective and vowed to pursue a tougher agreement, although no talks have begun and Washington's main allies -- the U.K., France and Germany -- have remained committed to the deal, which eased sanctions in exchange for limits on nuclear work.
Mr. Biden has said he would seek to return to a deal to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, but much now will depend on Tehran's attitude after the U.S. election and its willingness to return to commitments made in the original deal.
"If they're not, if they think they want to go off and build up their nuclear program, that is not a place to start," Mr. Burns said.
Mr. Obama's support for the nuclear deal strained U.S. relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it failed to curb Iran's malign influence in the region and would allow Tehran to return to its prior nuclear work. Any move by Mr. Biden to return to an international agreement with Iran likely would affect U.S. ties with Israel, as well as with Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region at odds with Tehran.
Write to William Mauldin at william.mauldin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-19-20 0943ET
