American foreign policy faced critical challenges in 2023, achieving partial success but struggling overall and encountering failures in certain areas. While Washington made a strong start in supporting Ukraine, showcasing success in keeping the Western alliance intact, it couldn’t generate a global momentum to isolate Russia. The Biden administration, which began the year with tough measures against China, shifted towards exploring ways to collaborate with the country in the second half of the year. However, after the Hamas attacks on October 7th, it completely fell short, opting to focus on Israel’s security rather than peace and stability in the region. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that American foreign policy in 2023 started positively but ended in disappointment.
Ukraine:
Washington began the year with robust support for Ukraine, witnessing key military changes in both Russia and Ukraine in January, the peak month for American aid. Despite some initial difficulties in reaching an agreement, the U.S. and Germany eventually compromised on providing tanks and Patriot air defense systems to Kiev. The Biden administration, hopeful for Ukraine’s planned counteroffensive in the spring, concentrated on supporting it with arms and equipment for a successful military operation. Despite reported disagreements between Ukraine and the Pentagon on how to break Russia’s defense line, Washington, coordinating with European capitals and NATO, took the lead in providing assistance to Ukraine, announcing aid packages totaling over $110 billion throughout the year.
However, the expectation that Ukraine’s counteroffensive would be swift and decisive diminished as it spread over time. Kiev argued that delays in providing critical weapons gave Russia time and strengthened its defense line. The slow and inconclusive results of the counteroffensive reduced the American public’s appetite for aiding Ukraine. The strong criticism from the Trump faction of the Republicans, who had initially supported Biden on this issue, weakened the White House’s position both in Congress and in the public eye. The conservative Republicans, who constantly brought up the immigration crisis on the Mexican border, found traction with the argument that the U.S. was sending so much aid to protect Ukraine’s border while failing to secure its own. Despite the Biden administration continually announcing new aid packages throughout the year, it couldn’t prevent a pause in this aid due to the impatience of the American public.
China Relations:
Beginning the year with heightened tensions due to a spying crisis, the Biden administration attempted to repair relations with China through a new diplomatic initiative in the summer. Crises such as espionage and issues like Taiwan, which led to the postponement of Secretary of State Blinken’s planned trip to China at the beginning of the year, resulted in the direct communication between the U.S. and Chinese militaries being cut off. The crises, along with China’s growing closeness to Russia, unsettled the administration. While the Biden administration’s steps to limit advanced technology transfer to China and intensify relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions heightened China’s rhetoric, the economic challenges faced by China, such as economic slowdown and unemployment, provided a strong reason to maintain rational relations with the U.S. Starting from the summer, visits to China by figures managing the American economy and the Biden-Xi summit indicated that conflict was not the preferred option. The year 2023, which began with Washington pressuring China, ended with efforts to normalize relations, showing that the U.S. did not want to bring China closer to Russia and was taking precautions against a new crisis, especially in Taiwan.
Middle East:
While the Biden administration claimed to pursue competition, confrontation, and cooperation simultaneously in its relations with China, it was evident that it was uneasy about developments such as China’s cooperation with Russia and the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran. In this context, the Gaza crisis revealed a new weakness in American foreign policy in its relations with Russia and China. Supporting Israel’s military operations involving war crimes in the face of global support for Palestine alongside Russia and China, Washington found itself isolated in global politics. Successfully shelving the nuclear crisis with Iran and taking steps like a prisoner exchange, Washington seemed to be approaching its goal of shifting focus from the Middle East to China. However, the Gaza crisis underscored that achieving this was not possible without securing lasting peace in Palestine. Furthermore, avoiding leadership in the Middle East and giving room to Russia and China posed a risk for the U.S.
Concerning the Palestine issue, Washington made a U-turn from all the moral and ethical values emphasized regarding Ukraine. The Biden administration struggled to explain its policy on Israel to both domestic and international public opinion. The Gaza war’s failure in 2023, which became the biggest foreign policy test for the Biden administration, not only shattered its diplomatic reputation but also opened up space for powerful forces like Russia and China. The strong start Washington displayed in supporting Ukraine and pressuring China on the domestic political front faltered when faced with budget crises. Following the Gaza crisis, the diplomatic isolation and inability to address internal party dissatisfaction demonstrated that the Biden administration’s performance succumbed to ideological perspectives and strategic blindness.
