Special to USAfricaonline.com and USAfrica multimedia networks, Houston. Follow Twitter.com/Chido247 Facebook.com/USAfricaChido
By Chido Nwangwu
On Tuesday, November 24, 2020, the president-elect of the United States Joseph Biden left substantial indications regarding what could be the direction of his national security and foreign policy engagement with the rest of the world.
Thankfully, after four years of what I would politely characterize as Mr. Trump’s quixotic indiscretions and crass impunity on the world stage, I believe that members of Biden’s team will follow a different national security outlook and a more collaborative agenda, away from the nativist insularity and supremacist arrogations of Trumpism..
First, I’ll like to make a special emphasis that in the 21st-century, the battle over technological superiority and health security have become critical drivers of the diplomatic and international security chess moves, artfully known as the “games nations play.”
As a matter of fact, there is a 596-page book of the same name that was first published in 1975 by John W. Spanier and Robert L. Wendzel on global power play and the shifting dynamics of the perception of power.
Second, in political science and diplomacy, I do know that the critical element to look at in order to understand the likely direction and interests of most democratic governments could be drawn from their consistent pattern and pursuit of their fundamental and core national interests, especially economic advantages.
Third, the worldview — known as weltanschauung in the German language — of the leader is very important in terms of operationalizing those “vital” national interests. This explains why two Republicans namely former/late president George H Bush and the outgoing president Donald Trump saw and engaged the world differently; even though they are from the same political party. The character and nuance and priorities of every president are. They are usually different; just have their circumstances in context.
Fourth, credibility, strength and purposes of the principal instruments and institutions implementing the national security interests draw from the composition and outlook of the key personnel directing the implementation of the government’s interest, or shall we say the national interests.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield who’s picked as ambassador to the United Nations said, joyfully: “My fellow career diplomats and public servants around the world, I want to say to you: America is back. Multilateralism is back. Diplomacy is back.”
This is where the instrumentality and power of the occupant of the White House become very critical and potent. Simply stated:; all eyes are on Joe!
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*Dr. Chido Nwangwu, the author of the January 2021 book, MLK, Mandela & Achebe: Power, Leadership and Identity, serves as Founder & Publisher of the first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper on the internet, USAfricaonline.com, and established USAfrica in 1992 in Houston. He is recipient of several public policy and journalism excellence honors, civic engagement and community empowerment awards and has appeared as an analyst on CNN and SKYnews. He served as an adviser on Africa business to Houston’s former Mayor Lee Brown. @Chido247
