Since Afghanistan,the administration has been confronted with two new newly emboldened rivals in Russia and China
Perhaps in recognition of that, the administration has adopted a much tougher stance in the two international crises that presented themselves in the wake of the Afghanistan withdrawal — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China’s intimidation of Taiwan — and in some quarters, at least, Washington has restored some of the lost respect.
The harrowing photos from the Kabul airport of thousands of US-allied Afghans trying to block planes on the runway in the hopes of getting aboard created a host of negative impressions. Aside from betraying the administration’s negligence in bugging out before a self-imposed September 11 deadline, allowing the Taliban to march on Kabul with only token resistance, Biden’s own intransigence in stiffly defending the withdrawal only created an image in Americans’ minds of a president in disconnect. Almost instantly, his polls began a yearlong collapse, falling from 52 percent approval on August 30, 2021, to 44 percent only a month later.
The withdrawal also sent a clear message that the administration was interested in backing away from the Middle East, setting off alarm bells in Jerusalem and the Gulf states, which fear Iran and need America’s back.
But since then, the administration has been confronted with two new newly emboldened rivals in Russia and China: Russian armor rumbled into Ukraine, and Chinese fighter jets began roaring through Taiwanese airspace. This time, Biden’s response has been very different. The United States led the West in sending massive economic and logistical aid to Ukraine on the one hand, while applying crippling sanctions on Russia on the other. And now, half a year after the outbreak of a war no one thought they could win, the Ukrainians have not only succeeded in containing the Russian offensive, but are launching counteroffensives of their own.
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