If Kamala Harris defeats Donald Trump on November 5, most of America's partners around the world will greet her victory with barely disguised satisfaction, as many countries worry about the instability that a second Trump term could cause .
However, this relief could quickly give way to questions about the world vision that Kamala Harris defends and its differences with that of President Joe Biden. Her supporters are delighted with the fact that as the first president born just after the baby boom, she will be able to bring new thinking, more “modern”on the role of the United States in the concert of nations.
They also underline the fact that she was in a good school: in four years of Joe Biden's mandate, she met 150 heads of state, participated three times in the Munich security conference and participated in strategic conference calls by Joe Biden on geopolitical issues.
Even so, she would arrive in the Oval Office with one of the least articulated views of the world and America's place of any American president in modern history.
“Realistic” and “pragmatic” instincts
Donald Trump tried to portray her as too inexperienced for a world full of turbulence. Kamala Harris' supporters, however, point to the belligerent tone she adopted in August, after accepting the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. “I will ensure that the United States always has the most powerful and lethal armed force in the world,” she declared. The choice of the term “lethal” is not left to chance, since Republicans traditionally criticize Democrats for their “weakness” in matters of defense policy.
Beyond the speeches, the outlines of a foreign policy appear, those close to him describe it as “realistic” or “pragmatic”.
Like Biden – but also Trump – she would be instinctively cautious about deploying troops on the ground and would stick to the role of world policeman that the United States has played since the end of the Second World War. . According to Patrick Gaspard, president of the center-left think tank Center for American Progress, to fully understand Kamala Harris's foreign policy, we must understand how Trump's victory in 2016 disrupted American foreign policy and made the United States on itself. This forced the Democrats to shape a foreign policy closer to the concerns of ordinary citizens, going against what had prevailed since 1945.
“Kamala Harris would put American citizens first, which would affect the way we think about almost everything. From environmental issues to relations with China. But, unlike Trump, it would not be an isolationist policy,” analyse Patrick Gaspard.
Kamala Harris' supporters are convinced that she will not hesitate to use force if the interests of the United States were threatened. “She is aware that we cannot protect the country simply by closing the borders,” explains Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, senior official on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
Change of generation and tone
It would rely in particular on two pillars of Joe Biden's foreign policy, namely, working with allies to consolidate a weakened liberal international order, and maintaining pressure on Beijing, via customs duties. Its goal, however, would be to put an end to these short-term methods in order to free itself for good from the Chinese economy.
Kamala Harris would above all be making a change of tone and course, according to those close to her, who emphasize her age, her origin and her education. Aged [60] years old, she is the daughter of immigrants – her mother was born in India, her father in Jamaica – and was raised in California, a state of which she became attorney general.
“She comes from a different generation and background than Joe Biden
