What Biden Needs From Europe to Stand Up to China
The transatlantic partnership has to find common ground on military, diplomatic and technology issues.
Ursula von der Leyen, transatlanticist.
Photographer: Martin Bertrand/Bloomberg
Next month, for his first overseas trip since being elected, President Joe Biden is, quite logically, going to Europe. He will seek to smooth U.S.-European relations, which were generally difficult under the administration of President Donald Trump, notably with North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners. Naturally, Biden will want to talk about Covid-19, climate change, Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan.
But the top item on his list should be how the U.S. and Europe can work together to face China — which is a long way from Europe, but at the center of the global agenda.