Daily Times

The outgoing US president Donald Trump is going to leave a legacy of US’unilateral approaches toward global affairs, thereby denting the rule of global law, justice and human rights.  US President-Elect Joe Biden has vowed to restore America’s leadership role in the world by weaving global partnership— pragmatic revivalism of the longstanding international alliances. True, a proactive US role in the global affairs would be positive in several sectors and certainly would be welcomed by other international actors as multilateral diplomacy is a key to aprosperous and peaceful co-existence.Though Biden’s resolve to revive the JCPOA with Iran and the Paris Climate Accord are worth mentioning in this regard, a justice-based approach toward the Kashmir and the Palestinian crisis should also be adopted in the US foreign policy.

Since January 2017, when Trump officially took office, the dents/ruptures in American diplomatic engagement globally have been mounting. Among the components of the UN system or related institutions stripped of US membership and financial contributions are the Population Fund, the UN Human Rights Council(UNHCR), Unesco, the Universal Postal Union(UPU), an open skies treaty, agreements on climate change and an international deal for forestalling or limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions and ability.Biden says his administration will elevate diplomacy and lead by the power of example, rather than the example of power.  The incoming Biden-Harris administration could undertake several, quick U.N. policy and funding steps that will help the U.S. restore “good will with other leaders,” according to Richard Gowan, U.N. director of the International Crisis Group.

The President–elect Biden earlier announced that he plans to reverse the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from WHO, which would have taken effect from July 2021, and to rejoin the Paris Agreement. Trump announced his decision to exit WHO following allegations of its allegiance to China, and its poor response to COVID-19. The U.S. also said that the Paris Agreement went against its economic interests. The UNFPA, which the U.S. defunded shortly after Trump took office, has been largely averting the funding losses that could have come with splitting from its third-largest country donor.

Some analysts, quoting both Biden and Harris, have argued that India will come under increased pressure from the Biden administration on issues such as secularism, human rights and Jammu & Kashmir

Yet, two important developments that are expected to be taken place under the Biden administration are:Washington’s rejoining of the Paris Climate Accord and reviving the JCPOA, the Iranian nuclear deal that was concluded during the tenure of the Obama administration.Trump regularly denounced the JCPOA, more commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, as “one of the worst deals in history” and pulled the US out of the accord on May 8, 2018. He penalized Iran via reinstating sanctions against it  Iran’s nuclear deals-signed with China, France, Russia, the UK, Germany and Iran by the Obama administration in 2015—had given a diplomatic passage to monitor Iranian nuclear programmein return for economic relief.

The world according to Joe Biden is a much more traditional take on America’s role and interests, grounded in international institutions established after World War II, and based on shared western democratic values. Joe Biden says he’s prepared to rejoin another international accord abandoned by President Trump – the deal that gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for scaling down its nuclear programme.As for the Climate Change Accord, the U.S. is the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. President-elect Joe Biden will revive the Paris Climate Agreement via Washington’s poise entry into it.  The Paris Climate Pact—was forged five years ago among nearly 200 nations to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Consequent upon rejoining, the US would be expected to provide a climate target that is updated from the Obama administration’s goal and a plan to reduce domestic emissions from the power and energy sector.

Unfortunately, Trump’s single term cemented someunilateral orientations within US foreign policy: (a) a pronounced preference for alternative normative instruments in lieu of multilateral treaties requiring approval by either or both houses of Congress; (b) a more hostile approach towards China; (c) deep skepticism of the world trading system; (d) reliance on punishing bad actors through trade sanctions; (e) circumspection towards UN system organizations;(f)) avoidance of most international courts and tribunals; (g) aversion to never-ending wars and resistance to humanitarian use of force (RIP for R2P); and (i) ever more prompt and glaring commitments to Israel’s security. And yet objectively and pragmatically, a Biden’s administration could be expected to transform these trends, and adopts a more measured diplomatic tone with respect to all of them,  it is likely that all these perceived factors will get resettled via US actions in international law space since  respect for legitimacy and human rights are the hallmarks of democracy.

Understandably, the global defense of human rights is only possible when the United States joins with others to promote and protect them. Although US policymakers often espouse human rights and humanitarian values, the United States has been inconsistent in defending human rights abroad and has been complicit in or has committed serious abuses in its foreign policies and engagement. Needless to say, as for the Trump administration legacy in terms of international law, the Trump presidency has had a consequential—and generally negative—impact on international law and US compliance with it that will last for years to come.

Nonetheless, Biden’s resolve to make a multilateral world order cannot be completed without addressing the two biggest global conflicts—the issue of the Palestinian and the Kashmir freedomPromotion of peace cannot be done without peaceful settlement of international disputes. While President-elect Joe Biden, looks set to take the official charge at the White House next month, there is a rising optimism that he would pragmatically reverse his predecessor Donald Trump’s approach towards the Mideast region, particularly in Palestine. Pragmatically, Biden’s presidency offers the hope that the US will turn to traditional diplomacy, where the embassies and official emissaries take center stage, unlike the personalized or WhatsApp diplomacy driven by Trump. But this also means the return of rivalries between US agencies over foreign policy issues, particularly related to the Middle East.

In all likelihood, it appears that anera ofpragmatic optimism-a reflection on benign globalism- is returning under the Biden rule. The only way is to adopt a people-centric approach and find ways to settle the Palestinian and the Kashmir issues as these conflicts are at the heart of global and regional instability.Some analysts, quoting both Biden and Harris, have argued that India will come under increased pressure from the Biden administration on issues such as secularism, human rights and Jammu & Kashmir. The fact that Biden had fleetingly referred to each of these in another campaign document titled ‘Joe Biden’s agenda for Muslim – American communities’ has been quoted as proof. Official statements on the Biden–Harris Transition Website refer to both Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act protests.  Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been strongly critical of the Modi government’s human rights record in India and Kashmir.