History will not be kind to outgoing US President Joe Biden, who last week delivered his final speech at the annual meeting of the UN’s General Assembly; his swan song as the proverbial leader of the “free world”, a term which in recent years has become a contentious one. He reminisced about his track record and that of his country; both had come under scrutiny, especially by the emerging global south.
Biden rambled on, but the weight of his troubled presidency was apparent. He will be remembered for many things inside and outside the United States. The stigma of ending his political career as a one-term president will haunt him. His legacy has been poisoned, having overseen and enabled the most horrific genocide in the 21st century in Gaza — one that is marking its first year with no sign of ending anytime soon.
Leader of world’s only superpower
That’s how the rest of the world will see it. This is in contrast to his first UN speech when he took to the podium to announce that the “US is back,” in reference to four years under his predecessor, Donald Trump. Back then, he promised a more democratic world under the aegis of the United States. He dispersed an optimistic message that was to become the main heading of his presidency as the leader of the world’s only superpower.
But that did not work out as planned. Russia-Ukraine war started with Moscow saying it was key to fend off a menacing Nato expansion. The world was polarised. A new Cold War was back: The West was lining up against Russia. Biden’s approach to China was not much different than that of Trump.
The emerging global south did not want to be sucked into the vortex of a new global face-off. Europe became divided as well. The European far-right won at the polls for the first time since the 1930s. It had a different perspective on the Ukraine war.
Biden adopted a hard-line approach. Russia was portrayed as an ominous threat to Europe and its brittle unity. Support for Ukraine exhausted European coffers. Biden and the deep state wanted to weaken Russia and offset any plans Putin had for a Russian rise as a military and economic power.
But then 7 October happened. It took the world by surprise. It was an attack by Hamas on Israel that claimed hundreds of lives and hit Israel where it hurts the most: its fundamental premise that it was immune to threat through deterrence. Biden and the pro-Israel West were quick to sympathise and condone Israel’s right to self-defence. Money and munitions flooded the injured Israeli state.
Killing fields of Gaza
However, the revenge scenario was not what Biden and the Western allies had imagined. An embattled Benjamin Netanyahu portrayed 7 October as an existential threat to Israel’s survival. He hit hard, so hard that social media was flooded with images of butchered Gaza children and women almost from day one after Israel declared war on Gaza.
Looking back, Biden now realises that a shrewd Netanyahu played and manipulated him. This was not about decapitating Hamas but about nipping any notion of lawful resistance in the bud. The horrors unfolding in Gaza resonated across the world, leading to an unprecedented popular backlash across the globe.
Biden, a self-proclaimed Zionist, was tethered to his pro-Israel past. But this was not what he had bargained for. Netanyahu betrayed Biden’s Zionist history. He played Democrats and Republicans against each other. He knew the innermost workings of US politics — and this was a crucial election year!
For the first time, the Palestinian cause had become a domestic political issue for US voters. Biden had failed to realise that voters: Young Democrats, Muslims, and Arabs could now influence the outcome of primaries and even the November elections.
In short, Netanyahu took Biden for a ride. It’s a well-known fact that Israel could have secured the return of its hostages if Netanyahu had honoured the July ceasefire agreement under Biden’s three-phase plan. But Netanyahu reneged, adding new conditions to derail a deal.
More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children. Gaza has become hell on earth. Medics, journalists, and academics have lost their lives. The carnage has not stopped. Netanyahu has gambled Israel’s standing among nations. Israel is now a pariah state, and its leader is a war criminal.
Biden’s vision for a more equitable world under his reign has been quashed. Instead, his legacy has been linked to the worst massacre in modern history — one that is still ongoing.
The war in Ukraine pales in comparison to the killing fields of Gaza. Yes, Netanyahu has no qualms about being named as a war criminal, and he will do his utmost to escape punishment. But Biden’s presidency has been tainted by a gross failure to prevent an ongoing genocide.
In the US, Biden will be remembered for many things: as the oldest presidential candidate, his senility and disastrous performance in the only debate with Trump, and his yielding to his much younger vice president. He is already a one-term president.
But for the rest of the world, he will be seen as the US president who oversaw what can only be described as genocide; for failing the Palestinian people, and for enabling Netanyahu.
Osama Al Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.
