{"id":65717,"date":"2024-06-04T18:19:14","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T18:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/04\/traveling-to-europe-biden-will-find-both-solidarity-and-isolation\/"},"modified":"2024-06-04T18:19:14","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T18:19:14","slug":"traveling-to-europe-biden-will-find-both-solidarity-and-isolation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/04\/traveling-to-europe-biden-will-find-both-solidarity-and-isolation\/","title":{"rendered":"Traveling to Europe, Biden Will Find Both Solidarity and Isolation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/04\/multimedia\/04DC-BIDEN-FRANCE-mbhz\/04DC-BIDEN-FRANCE-mbhz-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Traveling to Europe, Biden Will Find Both Solidarity and Isolation\" title=\"Traveling to Europe, Biden Will Find Both Solidarity and Isolation\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When President Biden <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/02\/world\/europe\/dday-nato-summits-western-alliance.html\" title=\"\">lands in France on Wednesday<\/a>, he will be rallying European leaders to his side and showcasing the resolve he has helped to foster on behalf of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But he will also be defying the very same leaders and standing virtually alone among Western democracies still firmly in support of Israel as it wages war in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When Mr. Biden arrives in France for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, it will be his first time in Europe since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack led by Hamas, which killed 1,200 people in Israel and triggered a military retaliation that has killed about 36,000 people in Gaza. Next week he will return to Europe for a summit in Italy with the leaders of the Group of 7 nations, and three weeks after that he will host the 75th anniversary summit of NATO nations in Washington.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The series of meetings will put Mr. Biden in a position he has not experienced since becoming president: He will be embraced and isolated at the same time by the same group of allies he has courted for nearly four years. For a president who has emphasized his support for America\u2019s traditional alliances, it represents a challenge that will test his diplomatic skills in unfamiliar ways.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cGaza undermines the moral clarity of the argument they want to make about Ukraine,\u201d said Peter Beinart, a professor of journalism and politics at the City University of New York and a longtime analyst of Middle East affairs who has been critical of Israel\u2019s government. \u201cThe Gaza war makes that story a lot less compelling to a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ivo Daalder, who was an ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama, acknowledged the tension in Mr. Biden\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cYes, it seems to be slightly contradictory to be making one argument on Russia and another argument on Israel,\u201d said Mr. Daalder, who now serves as president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. \u201cBut the situations are different. One was attacked, and the other did the attacking. It\u2019s pretty big.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The European allies, with a couple of notable exceptions, have been strongly aligned with Washington for more than two years in the multinational campaign to defeat Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, broadly matching American investments in the war with their own commitments to Kyiv. But the Europeans have grown increasingly critical of how Israel is conducting its operation in Gaza over the past nine months, even as the Biden administration has rejected efforts by the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/20\/world\/middleeast\/icc-hamas-netanyahu.html\" title=\"\">seek arrest warrants for Israeli leaders<\/a> on war crime charges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The disparate priorities will play out at an event meant to showcase Western unity and resolve. The D-Day landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944, will be celebrated as a high-water mark of the alliance that defeated Nazi Germany. President Emmanuel Macron of France will host leaders of the World War II partner countries, including King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, representing the two nations that joined the United States in staging the climactic amphibious invasion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, representing the vanquished enemy, will also attend in a show of Europe\u2019s reconciliation. Not present, however, will be President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, despite the Soviet Union\u2019s alliance with the West during the war. Mr. Macron\u2019s government initially invited lower-level Russian representatives to participate but rescinded the offer after objections stemming from Moscow\u2019s aggression in Ukraine. By contrast, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine will attend the ceremony, an opportunity for him to press Western leaders for more aid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, said President Biden knew that not every nation agrees with his policies. \u201cDisagreements with allies and partners is not something new to President Biden,\u201d Mr. Kirby said, \u201cany more than unity and in cooperation and collaboration, which he also fosters across a range of issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The meetings between Mr. Biden and the allies come at a critical moment in both Europe and the Middle East. Ukraine is trying to fend off an escalating Russian offensive that threatens to break through its eastern defenses in a decisive way after two years of grinding combat. Hundreds of miles away, Israel and Hamas are both under pressure to agree to a cease-fire deal that could be the final chance for a path toward a more sustainable peace in the region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Biden on Friday <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/31\/us\/politics\/biden-israel-remarks-speech.html\" title=\"\">outlined such a cease-fire agreement<\/a> that would eventually lead to the release of all hostages held by Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a \u201cpermanent\u201d end to the war. By advancing a deal that Europeans can support, the president may have found a way to minimize differences when he arrives in Paris.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Group of 7 nations, including the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, issued a statement on Monday endorsing the deal that Mr. Biden outlined and calling on Hamas to accept it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At the same time, Mr. Biden addressed another difficult issue before the trip by authorizing Ukraine for the first time to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/30\/us\/politics\/biden-ukraine-russia-weapons.html\" title=\"\">use U.S.-provided weapons against targets inside Russia<\/a> for self-defense in limited circumstances, something <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/30\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-weapons-strike.html\" title=\"\">France, Britain, Germany, Poland and other allies had already embraced<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe only way out of such a dilemma is to push ahead on both problems \u2014 help Ukraine do better or win and get Israel on a path to peace,\u201d said Dan Fried, a retired diplomat now at the Atlantic Council in Washington. \u201cHence the decision to lift some restrictions on Ukraine\u2019s use of U.S. arms and to push a complex and ambitious peace plan\u201d in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, the differences remain real and stark. Spain, Ireland and Norway <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/28\/world\/middleeast\/spain-norway-ireland-palestinian-statehood.html\" title=\"\">formally recognized an independent Palestinian state<\/a> last week, just days after the International Court of Justice <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/24\/world\/middleeast\/icj-israel-gaza-rafah-ruling.html\" title=\"\">ordered Israel to halt its military offensive<\/a> in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. Most European governments have endorsed the war crimes action against Israel at the International Criminal Court. \u201cFrance supports the International Criminal Court, its independence and the fight against impunity in all situations,\u201d the country\u2019s foreign ministry <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.diplomatie.gouv.fr\/fr\/politique-etrangere-de-la-france\/justice-internationale\/evenements\/article\/cour-penale-internationale-demande-de-mandats-d-arrets-par-le-procureur-aupres\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">France has not acted to recognize a Palestinian state but did vote in the United Nations in May to support including Palestine as a full member of the organization. Britain, which is no longer a part of the European Union, abstained from that vote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Critics of Mr. Biden said he has no one to blame for his diplomatic challenges in Europe but himself for an inconsistent approach to international crises.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe contradiction, I think, is in American policy,\u201d said Peter Rough, the director of the Center on Europe and Eurasia at the Hudson Institute and a former aide to President George W. Bush. \u201cIn Ukraine, he\u2019s backing Ukraine against the Russian-Iranian alliance, while in Gaza he is managing Israel, even limiting it, as it confronts an Iranian proxy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">From the other side of the spectrum, some foreign policy veterans said Mr. Biden has brought troubles upon himself by being too supportive of Israel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI am not at all sure that Biden has made the right choices on Israel-Gaza, although I acknowledge that he\u2019s in a tough spot, as is our country,\u201d said Eric Rubin, a longtime U.S. diplomat and the former president of the American Foreign Service Association. \u201cIsrael has lost the sympathy of most other countries and their citizens, and we won\u2019t see it get it back in our lifetimes, I fear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But at the end of the day, some diplomats said, France and the other allies ultimately defer to the United States when it comes to such issues. And even though he will find them on different pages, Mr. Biden enjoys a constructive relationship with his peers, unlike his predecessor, and possible successor, Donald J. Trump, who berated European allies over their disagreements and left them dreading his potential return to office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe United States still plays the indispensable role,\u201d said Mr. Daalder. \u201cEverybody is looking to us to figure out how do we deal with Russia, how do we deal with China, and frankly even how do we deal with Israel. We\u2019re still looked at by our friends and by our adversaries as the ones who will determine the outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/04\/us\/politics\/biden-europe-israel-ukraine.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When President Biden lands in France on Wednesday, he will be rallying European leaders to his side and showcasing the resolve he has helped to foster on behalf of Ukraine. But he will also be defying the very same leaders and standing virtually alone among Western democracies still firmly in support of Israel as it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/04\/multimedia\/04DC-BIDEN-FRANCE-mbhz\/04DC-BIDEN-FRANCE-mbhz-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[45,896,3402,43881,19154,62398],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65717"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65719,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65717\/revisions\/65719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}