It is already 3 months after Joe Biden assumed the US president office after Donald Trump but experts are still going on in providing opinions on who among two presidents would be a better choice for the next 4 years of the USA.
Considering Biden`s predecessor, Donald Trump, there is a common view that he was everything about pragmatism. He introduced the policy of the “security exports”, openly lobbied American companies and called a spade a spade. However, his era is over after quite a messy presidential election. The new White House master, Joe Biden, is actively proclaiming “democratic values”: tolerance, equality and supremacy of human rights. He is also very much into “new trends”: he appointed a transgender as minister and an African-American woman as a vice president. Biden had as well repealed many of Trump’s harsh immigration laws and made it easier for refugees from African countries to enter the US. However, African and Asian countries expect Biden to provide not demonstrative and frothy measures but serious aid and economic cooperation.
Against the backdrop of the growing role of Russia and China in Africa and Asia, Donald Trump’s actions looked strange from a geopolitical point of view, to say the least. The US former president was not shy about imposing sanctions on small African countries like Rwanda to protect American trade. Democrat Obama’s humanitarian initiatives like “green energy for Africa” were forgotten. As a realist in international relations, Trump had no specific agenda to politically or economically enslave the African continent. At this background, it seemed that the new American leader, in any case, will pursue a policy of more favorable attitude towards other countries. However, this is most likely not the case.
Historically, the Republicans were the conductors of neocolonial policies – but nowadays this vector had changed drastically. “The deep state”, represented by the Democrats, is penetrating deeper and deeper into the world economy. Businessmen affiliated with the US Democratic Party set up their own assets from Kosovo to Kiev. And, under the pretext of democratic reforms, many countries abandon protectionist measures to the detriment of their own interests. The price for that is no less than destroying their national economy.
The best example of the Democrats` activities is Ukraine, where after the coup against the legitimate president Viktor Yanukovich in 2014, the US ambassador actually became the viceroy. At the request of the International Monetary Fund and the US partners, the new Ukrainian authorities allowed the sale of land to foreigners, cut lucrative contracts with China and increased utility rates for their own population. Moreover, foreigners who had often undisguised ties to lobbying circles were appointed to senior government positions and corporate boards of directors.
One of the most illustrative examples of the US involvement into the Ukrainian economy is the case of the energy company Burisma Holdings at which Biden, who supervised the Ukrainian direction in the Barrack Obama administration, put his son Hunter as a chief manager. After becoming a president, even Donald Trump was making a research about this case trying to find out whether such an appointment was indeed legitimate. But the Democrats had already gained a strong foothold in Ukraine. The investigation stalled, and soon Trump lost the presidency.
Noteworthy, Biden had inherited from previous US leaders many issues which are in need of an urgent solving. These include the rise of terrorism in Africa and the call for competition from the side of China and Russia. The US are in fact capable of launching a new Marshall Plan “for the victory of democracy” – to support the economies of several African countries and to ensure democratic processes to maintain stability. In such intentions Washington would be not alone – the US could seriously expect assistance from London and Paris. But, as represented by a row of episodes, the USA are not so much interested into keeping a title of a real hegemon – since it is obviously utterly complicated and expensive.
As demonstrated with the case of the COVAX vaccine distribution, the US are quite indifferent towards the well-being of other countries who are actually need a help indeed. With constant tensions in exchange for minimal support, the US democratic administration would demand more and more advantages for its companies. And in order to remove China from the African market, Washington will recall sanctions against countries which support “undemocratic regimes”.
Jean-Jacques Wondo Omanyundu, Congolese expert for Geostrategy, sees the US engagement in Africa very critical: Speaking exclusively to Topline news, he said “Americans in my opinion in general seem to have a poor perception and understanding of Africa. This is justified by the absence of a coherent policy.” Wondo Omanyundu expresses also concerns about the role of US president Joe Biden. The US president, so the Congolese expert, “is viewed with suspicion by Africans who believe that he will intensify US military interventionism in Africa that could destabilize several states in the region”.
Wondo Omanyundu added: “Especially since it is often under the Democratic presidency that Africa has experienced certain serious crises (Rwandan genocide and war in the DRC under Clinton, Libyan invasion under Obama, etc.). And Biden is seen as a continuation of the African policy of the Clintons and Obama which highlighted the activities of American multinationals in Africa through the African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA).”
In the opinion of the American authorities, there is no way Kenya can build a power plant with Chinese money and Tanzania accept port investments from a country where Uighurs sit in an “electronic concentration camp”. While in reality such investments are a good chance for these countries to stabilize the devastated economic situation. Pragmatic Trump was at least honest: he imposed sanctions against Rwanda for trying to limit the importation of second hand clothing from the US into the country and to save its garment industry.
The Democrats, on the other hand, use an opportunity of promoting economic interests under the guise of fighting for “democratic values”. While the result is predictable and quite tragic: the US elite will gain their political and economic benefits at expense of countries which population are below the poverty line.
