"I think our allies are going to be in a bit of a state of whiplash" following the United States' chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, Emily Harding, a deputy director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told USA Today.
Harding said that President Biden came into the White House emphasizing the United States' desire to reassert leadership in the world and rebuild alliances after four years of the Trump administration's more unilateral approach to foreign policy. But Afghanistan sends a "pretty clear signal ... that we are not necessarily going to stick by those alliances when we decide that it's better to pull out," she added.
Still, Harding clarified that she believes the withdrawal won't have lasting affects on the United States' relationships with other countries, particularly those in Europe. "When the chips are down, we do tend to have each other's backs," she told USA Today.
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Harry Kazianis, a senior director at the Center for National Interest, a think tank founded by former President Richard Nixon, is taking a dimmer view. "What Biden did [in Afghanistan] was simply not rational, and that will make America's allies worry for years to come," he told USA Today, later adding that he senses U.S. adversaries are pondering "what other bad decision we can force [Biden] into." Read more at USA Today.
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