As Joe Biden works quickly to restore US diplomacy, the world breathes a sigh of relief
- Trump’s assault on the diplomatic service – and on the exercise of US diplomatic finesse across the world – showed crass ignorance of the value of diplomacy and how strongly diplomatic leadership contributed to America’s soft power
Sighs of relief will be palpable among US allies and in other countries, with many praying that the harm done by Donald Trump’s impetuous and erratic unilateralism is repairable. William Burns, one of the most accomplished US diplomats, minced no words in his 2019 book The Back Channel about Trump’s “profoundly self-destructive shock and awe campaign against professional diplomacy”.
Biden’s warp-speed reversal is critically important not just in terms of repairing damaged relations with important allies, but in terms of rescuing one of the oldest and most important professions – diplomacy.
The result was not just a withdrawal from most forms of normal international diplomacy, but a full-on battle to emasculate the diplomatic service. This comprised a hiring freeze, an aborted reform effort, massive funding cuts and a persistent and unprecedented willingness to leave senior diplomatic positions vacant.
