US President Joe Biden ran his 2020 election campaign as the unabashedly centrist candidate in a field dominated by Democratic primary opponents making broad appeals to the left and a Republican general election opponent leaning further and further to the right.
Throughout his first year in office, Mr Biden has kept most of his foreign policy agenda in line with the traditional centrist ethos that has long dominated much of Washington’s Democratic foreign policy establishment.
Still, he has made some slight adjustments — coupled with one major overhaul in Afghanistan — to his centrist agenda with initiatives favoured by progressive foreign policy advocacy groups that had gained increasing clout among Democrats in Congress under former president Donald Trump.
“Biden has been an interesting mix,” said Greg Treverton, an international relations scholar at the University of Southern California and former chairman of the National Intelligence council.
“On balance, with a couple of exceptions like Afghanistan, I think he’s been a fairly traditional centrist Democrat on foreign policy.”
The notable exception to Mr Biden’s centrist track record was the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, a move lobbied for by an alliance of both progressive and conservative advocacy organisations that occurred despite warnings from the congressionally mandated Afghanistan Study Group.
Mr Biden had opposed US troop surges in Afghanistan under the Obama administration and had pledged to withdraw US combat troops from the country while campaigning for the presidency.
“He long wanted to get out of Afghanistan, however badly that got executed,” said Mr Treverton. “And I still think on balance, it was the right thing to do, but it would have been nice to do it a little more gracefully.”
A Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll from September found that 58 per cent of American voters approved of withdrawing from Afghanistan, even as 59 per cent disapproved of the way Mr Biden did it.
Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, noted that large parts of both the Democratic and Republican electoral bases supported withdrawing from Afghanistan despite widespread resistance to the move among Washington foreign policymakers.
“It’s more whether Biden has pursued the status quo, pro-blob foreign policy or if he has deviated from it,” said Mr Parsi. “I can’t point to a lot of things besides Afghanistan or the early policy on Yemen to indicate that we’re going to shift away from the blob.”
“Blob”, in reference to Washington’s foreign policy establishment, is a concept first coined by Mr Obama’s then-foreign policy adviser Ben Rhodes in response to critiques over the former president’s policies in places such as Iran and Syria.
Upon taking office, Mr Biden announced the end of offensive American support to the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen and revoked Mr Trump’s last-minute designation of the group as a terrorist organisation — an action that had blocked the delivery of US humanitarian aid to areas in Yemen controlled by the Iran-backed rebels.
But the Biden administration has approved a $650 million arms sale to replenish Saudi Arabia's stock of air-to-air missiles depleted by countering Houthi drone attacks and a separate $500m deal to service and maintain attack helicopters that the kingdom already has in its possession.
“Saudi policy, certainly early on, was absolutely a nod to the progressives and their desires to castigate Saudi Arabia,” said Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies.
Still, Mr Schanzer called Mr Biden’s foreign policy “a mixed bag” between the centrist and leftist forces within the Democratic party and framed it as to “an attempt to hearken back to Obama administration policies, which are left but not hard left".
“A prime example of that would be the Gaza war in May of last year,” he said. “For the first nine days, there was a sense that Biden was hewing to that centrist Democrat pro-Israel perspective to let Israel take care of its own business.”
However, Mr Schanzer noted that “the president began to issue harsher statements with regard to Israel” and “specifically to then-prime minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu” before an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire took effect.
At the same time, Mr Biden has resisted growing calls within his party to restrict military aid to Israel and has endorsed a $1 billion increase in Iron Dome missile defence funding for the close US ally.
Nonetheless, an August poll from the Chicago Council survey found that only 22 per cent of Democrats view Israel as an ally while 62 per cent of the party’s voters support restrictions on US military aid to the country.
Iraq and Syria mark another area where Mr Biden has resisted domestic calls to scale back the US military presence in the Middle East.
Mr Biden said during the Democratic primary that it would be a “mistake to pull out the small number of troops” in Syria and Iraq, citing ISIS as a concern.
In addition to maintaining the 2,500 US troops in Iraq and 900 soldiers in Syria, Mr Biden has also launched air strikes against Iran-backed militias in each country after attacks on American forces.
“Pulling out of Iraq would not have led to the chaos of Afghanistan, would not have led to the falling of the Baghdad government, would not have led to people falling [off] planes on to the tarmac,” said Mr Parsi. “In Syria, we don’t even have an authorisation there.”
While Mr Biden has lined up behind Democratic efforts in Congress to revoke the 2002 authorisation that allowed for the invasion of Iraq — a repeal that would not affect the current US force posture there — his White House has balked at efforts to repeal the 2001 authorisation that serves as the basis for American counter-terrorism operations across the globe.
The Biden administration has cited the authorisation as the legal rationale to maintain US troops in Syria as well as continue counter-terrorism operations throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
“He’s snakebitten after Afghanistan,” said Mr Schanzer.
“It’s very hard to do that again in another place and precipitate a collapse of the US-led order after having already done it.
“I think a lesson must have been learnt, and at a minimum, it’s probably prompting the White House to take a beat, if not longer, before considering something like that again.”
In numbers
- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100
- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100
- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India
- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100
- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth
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MATCH INFO
Chelsea 4 (Mount 18',Werner 44', Hudson-Odoi 49', Havertz 85')
Morecambe 0
MATCH INFO
Uefa Nations League
League A, Group 4
Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)
Results
5pm: Wadi Nagab – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Al Falaq, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ahmed Al Shemaili (trainer)
5.30pm: Wadi Sidr – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: AF Fakhama, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash
6.30pm: Wadi Shees – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Mutaqadim, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 – Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Bahar Muscat, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Wadi Tayyibah – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Poster Paint, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
THE DETAILS
Director: Milan Jhaveri
Producer: Emmay Entertainment and T-Series
Cast: John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee
Rating: 2/5
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dubai Women's Tour teams
Agolico BMC
Andy Schleck Cycles-Immo Losch
Aromitalia Basso Bikes Vaiano
Cogeas Mettler Look
Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
Hitec Products – Birk Sport
Kazakhstan National Team
Kuwait Cycling Team
Macogep Tornatech Girondins de Bordeaux
Minsk Cycling Club
Pannonia Regional Team (Fehérvár)
Team Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Team Ciclotel
UAE Women’s Team
Under 23 Kazakhstan Team
Wheel Divas Cycling Team
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Race 3
Produced: Salman Khan Films and Tips Films
Director: Remo D’Souza
Cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Salem
Rating: 2.5 stars
FA CUP FINAL
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
%3Cp%3EHigh%20fever%20(40%C2%B0C%2F104%C2%B0F)%3Cbr%3ESevere%20headache%3Cbr%3EPain%20behind%20the%20eyes%3Cbr%3EMuscle%20and%20joint%20pains%3Cbr%3ENausea%3Cbr%3EVomiting%3Cbr%3ESwollen%20glands%3Cbr%3ERash%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2 (Benzema 13', Kroos 28')
Barcelona 1 (Mingueza 60')
Red card: Casemiro (Real Madrid)
More from our neighbourhood series:
The 12
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
'The%20Alchemist's%20Euphoria'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EArtist%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Kasabian%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELabel%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EColumbia%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh234,000 - Dh329,000
On sale: now
8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan 1 (Martinez 18' pen)
Juventus 2 (Dybala 4', Higuain 80')
Trippier bio
Date of birth September 19, 1990
Place of birth Bury, United Kingdom
Age 26
Height 1.74 metres
Nationality England
Position Right-back
Foot Right
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
All%20We%20Imagine%20as%20Light
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPayal%20Kapadia%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Kani%20Kusruti%2C%20Divya%20Prabha%2C%20Chhaya%20Kadam%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali
Price, base / as tested Dh207,846 / Dh220,000
Engine 6.2L V8
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque 624Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined 13.5L / 100km
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
