A resurfaced video from 1997 shows then Senator Joe Biden laughing at the idea that American foreign policy decisions might drive Russia and China into an alliance. As the United States has now gone beyond that and committed to a potential cold war with Russia and China, this video hasn’t aged well. Biden was not the only one laughing off these concerns in the 1990s, but even then there were hints that any competent leader should have taken to avoid this disaster.
Shortsighted foreign policy ruins a great opportunity
The United States exploited the rivalry between China and the Soviet Union during the Cold War to establish a relationship with the Chinese that weakened Moscow.
When the Soviet Union collapsed the United States had a similar foreign policy opportunity. Our leaders were presented with a choice; we could befriend Russia and establish a powerful partnership, or we could treat them like a has-been nation and loot the country dry.
America chose the latter, and the Russians did not appreciate that decision. One Russian in particular, a man named Vladimir Putin, decided that the West could never be trusted to treat Russia fairly.
Putin would come to power only two years after the 1997 video. In that footage Biden describes, to laughter from the audience, a discussion regarding Russian concerns about the expansion of NATO.
Told by the Russians that they would look to China if the United States ignored these concerns, Biden says that he responded with a sarcastic “good luck” and explained that Russia would always need the West.
Moscow accepted Biden’s challenge and pursued a relationship with China that has now grown into a strong political and economic alliance.
When Russians told Biden in 1997 that relentless NATO expansion will force Russia to look to China, Biden joked "Good Luck"
Well, well…pic.twitter.com/2alii4aMkL
— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) March 7, 2022
He isn’t laughing now
The anti-Russia hysteria embraced by the Democrats since 2016 made it almost impossible to salvage relations by the time Biden took office; China and Russia are now united against the USA.
When Biden was laughing off this threat in 1997 the situation was very different; the United States was the unquestionable superpower and Russia was still in disarray.
Now the USA faces unprecedented internal divisions and general stagnation while China and Russia feel increasingly free to ignore chastisement from Washington D.C.
All three countries face severe challenges that will have to be overcome if they intend to survive the 21st century, but the end of the Pax Americana means that some opportunities lost to the USA will be open to China and Russia.
Biden and other American politicians who maintained their antagonistic stance towards Russia after the Cold War ensured through their bad diplomacy that we will face future challenges without the powerful friend we might have had in Moscow.
The kind of shortsighted thinking and arrogance which led Biden to laugh at Russian concerns in 1997 still rules in Washington D.C. How many more unnecessary foreign policy disasters will Biden give us before he leaves the White House?