Biden leads America back onto a world stage that is no longer the same

Name: Pfizer coronavirus vaccine more than 90 per cent effective, US drug maker says
Uploaded: 2020-11-15T19:30:09.000Z
Duration: 2 min 30 s
Description: Pfizer coronavirus vaccine more than 90 per cent effective, US drug maker says

America is no longer guaranteed the role of lead actor, nor is capitalism the hero and socialism just a bit player after China’s pandemic and economic success

Biden will need to show humility, convince others the US model is still attractive and seek cooperation with Beijing

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A woman holds a Joe Biden mask as people march in celebration in Los Angeles after he was declared the winner of the presidential election, on November 7. Photo: AFP

Anthony Rowley

Published: 3:30am, 16 Nov 2020Updated: 4:36am, 16 Nov 2020

US president-elect Joe Biden has pledged to reverse many of the “America first” policies of Donald Trump (who in turn overturned the more outward-looking policies of Barack Obama). This implies that globalisation could make a comeback – but it does not mean a return of the status quo ante.

“The message is: America’s back,” Biden declared at a rally in Wilmington, Delaware. That is a welcome change indeed from Trump’s dismal isolationism. But the United States is coming back onto a stage where the actors and props have been moved during the interval, in readiness for a new act.

It is not a stage where America is any longer guaranteed the role of lead actor or where capitalism is the hero and socialism the bit player. It is, rather, one where rival players need to find a new modus vivendi and to cooperate for the benefit of the whole cast, the global community.

Four years have passed since the world came under the baleful influence of Trump as leader of the “free world”. That is not long in political terms (although it feels longer) but, still, a lot has changed since 2016 when Trump first bestrode the world like a destructive colossus.

It is worth pausing to consider just how much has changed. The world has plunged into its worst economic recession since the second world war and faces a long, hard struggle to climb out, even if the Covid-19 trial vaccines prove their worth and become freely available.

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Pfizer coronavirus vaccine more than 90 per cent effective, US drug maker says

Government intervention in economic affairs (not exactly a symbol of doing things the so-called American way) has become very pronounced during the Trump years as governments spend trillions of dollars on propping up economic activity.