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US president’s geostrategic weaknesses apparent from Biden’s cancelled trip
Joe Biden’s aim of creating a strategic trade alliance counterweight to China has consistently struggled against his domestic imperatives.
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Mr Joe Biden’s coalition-building instincts are genuine, as is his commitment to slowing climate change.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
Alan Beattie
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It is not the first time a White House pivot to Asia has fallen victim to events. Mr Barack Obama tried to end the habit of US presidents spending all their foreign policy energy in the Middle East, only to be swamped by the spread of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militant group and the civil war in Syria. This week, Mr Joe Biden has been distracted by events even closer to home, specifically that troubled enclave of partisan strife known as Capitol Hill. He cancelled a trip to Australia
Mr Biden’s return to Washington is apparently required to fix the debt ceiling stand-off in Congress,
