President Joe Biden’s effort to rally support ahead of a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine is the latest big test of his ability to bridge ideological gaps and balance competing interests to build effective coalitions.
“Starting with the messy end of the war in Afghanistan in the late summer, the upsurge in COVID cases into the fall, overlaid by economic concerns of inflation and labor shortages and his issues with his legislative agenda, Biden's found himself with a weary American public who are seeing a number of unfulfilled promises,” said Christopher Borick, director of the Institute of Public Opinion at Muhlenberg College. “The situation in Ukraine presents another test of his competency.
The president has said repeatedly that he will not send U.S. troops to Ukraine. But he has ordered 8,500 to be on heightened alert for deployment to the Baltic Region. And he warned again on Tuesday of “enormous consequences" and severe sanctions for Russia — as well as Putin personally — if Russia takes military action against Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday it was a “good thing” that the U.S. and Russia have been talking, but he noted he did not see any concrete results. Macron said he planned to speak directly with Putin on Friday Yet the stakes for Biden and the world are potentially much greater as he tries to reassert American leadership after Europe began looking inward during the Trump years.
The United States had long argued that the pipeline project would threaten European energy security by increasing the continent’s reliance on Russian gas and allowing Russia to exert political pressure on vulnerable Eastern and Central European nations, particularly Ukraine.
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