US President Joe Biden speaks at the State Department in Washington, DC, January 13, 2025 (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty)
EA on Al Jazeera’s Inside Story: The Legacy of Joe Biden
On Monday, US President Joe Biden gave his final address on foreign policy.
I joined the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s RN Breakfast to assess Biden’s record.
Listen to Discussion from 45:25
I speak about the benefit of Biden trying to restore alliances, the “rules of the game”, and action on international issues in the wake of the chaos of the first Trump Administration.
But I also note the damage of his hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, and assess the lasting shadow on his Presidency of Israel’s mass killings in Gaza.
We also discuss reports of an imminent agreement on a ceasefire to end those mass killings.
Last September, as talks were closing on an agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added the condition that Israel’s troops must be allowed to continue occupation of parts of Gaza.
Will Netanyahu — under pressure from hard-right members of his Cabinet objecting to a “surrender”, and facing early elections and a bribery trial once a ceasefire is in place — refrain from doing so this time?