Recent behavioral developments within the Biden administration have caused concern and require personal introspection. Was I wrong in not only voting for Joe Biden but actively advocating his candidacy? To set aside any delusions by Trumsheviks, the alternative was egregiously historically awful, but an introspective and informed voter should take stock of his decision-making after the smoke and hoopla of victory have cleared and the new president has had an opportunity to prove himself.
Biden has disappointed in several ways including by spending like a drunken sailor. However, since the national debt is by many accounts simply a scare tactic for future generations (every president in recent history except Bill Clinton has driven up the national debt), the overwhelming deficiency in Biden’s decisions has been in foreign policy.
Most of them concern me and the average American little but for me his wavering on Russia and Ukraine is baffling. Russian aggression against the United States has not diminished so there appears no manifest justification for Biden’s warming up to Russia. In fact, only the very naive believe that the Colonial pipeline hacking fiasco was a product of some independent Russian criminal gang. The godfather of the Russian mafia is Vladimir Putin. Biden acknowledged that Putin is a killer.
Biden’s ambiguity on Ukraine’s accession to NATO membership has been more than troubling since NATO Membership Action Plan is a sine qua non for Ukraine’s security. President Biden’s complete 180 on Nord Stream 2 has been appalling. He has opposed Nord Stream 2 yet the recent sanction waiver explained by Biden apologists as a token of friendship to Angela Merkel, not Vladimir Putin, is quite simply irrational. What exactly have the United States received or hope to receive from Merkel who is most certainly designated for retirement in September?
I believe that the main problem herein lies with Biden’s character and his lack of principles. He is a good and decent man like many presidents before him except his immediate predecessor, but one who tries to avoid any meaningful change or conflict. Thus he supports the status quo which means a tremendous Russian influence over Europe, Russian-German continued friendship, human rights of concern only as long as their defense does not involve interference in the internal affairs of superpowers like Russia and China.
Biden resembles very much the late President George H.W. Bush who was the subject of much ridicule for his lack of principles and resistance to change. I am reminded of the Chicken Kyiv speech, admonishing suicidal Ukrainian separatism only three weeks prior to Ukraine’s declaration of independence. It took Bush four months to recognize Ukraine as a country and only after his friend Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned. Clearly Bush was taking his cues from Gorbachev. Biden appears to be taking his from Putin and Merkel, two erstwhile allies from East Germany perhaps working together many years ago.
This is not good for Ukraine, America, or the rest of the world who look to the United States for leadership. Principles, unfortunately, cannot be developed, especially in an almost octogenarian. They are character traits honed over many years. However political pressure is an available and suitable option. For politicians, it is an overwhelming tool. Those who voted for Biden, Democrats, and Republicans need to send a message that this will not stand. Support for a politician is an ephemeral commodity. Today we support you, tomorrow we may oppose you. No, we are not bringing back his irksome and probably criminal predecessor. There are plenty of options.
The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America has sent a message to the president voicing its disaffection. Others, including Ukrainians for Biden, should send their own communication of disapproval and insistence that the president reconsiders his position and rescind the waiver immediately. Nord Stream 2 may be a done deal irrespective of U.S. sanctions but Biden should not go down in history as an appeaser.
For Ukraine, an even more important issue is Ukraine’s accession to NATO membership. NATO Membership Action Plan for Ukraine must be on the June 14 agenda in Brussels. Pressure must be applied. Candidate Biden criticized his predecessor for relinquishing the mantle of global leadership due to his arrogance and lack of political sophistication. President Biden dare not fail to assume that mantle due to his lack of principles or for the sake of some misunderstood political expediency. He must bring the appeasers like Germany, France, and Hungary along with him.
Askold S. Lozynskyj is a New York attorney and president of the Ukrainian Free University Foundation. He was president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America between 1992-2000 and president of the Ukrainian World Congress between 1998-2008.
