TFIGlobal
TFIGlobal
TFIPOST English
TFIPOST हिन्दी
No Result
View All Result
  • Indo-Pacific
  • Americas
  • Canada
  • Indian Subcontinent
  • West Asia
  • Europe
  • Africa
  • The Caribbean
TFIGlobal
  • Indo-Pacific
  • Americas
  • Canada
  • Indian Subcontinent
  • West Asia
  • Europe
  • Africa
  • The Caribbean
No Result
View All Result
TFIGlobal
TFIGlobal
No Result
View All Result
  • Indo-Pacific
  • Americas
  • Canada
  • Indian Subcontinent
  • West Asia
  • Europe
  • Africa
  • The Caribbean

Think Biden will restore EU-US ties? Well, Obama had tapped Merkel’s phone and Biden won’t do any better

Akshay Narang by Akshay Narang
November 9, 2020
in Europe
us eu biden
Share on FacebookShare on X

The liberal European world is celebrating Joe Biden’s victory in the US Presidential polls. For four years, the European Union leadership almost had a bitter fallout with Donald Trump who was quite clearly undermining the Transatlantic ties between the US and the EU. But will Biden’s rise to power suddenly make the EU and NATO relevant? We dug a little into the past and found that even Biden can do little to salvage the US-EU relationship. 

The EU expects Biden, a Democrat, to help restore the US-EU alliance, given the strong ideological bond between the Democrats and the EU. But in 2013, Barack Obama, a Democrat President, had a bit of a fallout with German Chancellor Angela Merkel herself. There were reports that Obama had got Merkel’s phone bugged. Merkel was believed to be “livid” but did not make a huge issue out of the entire incident. 

Also Read

Zelensky’s Shocking Military Move: Butcher or Savior? Meet Ukraine’s New Commander-in-Chief!

Jamaica’s one Trillion Dollar Budget: Is Holness Planning to Colonize Mars?

St. Lucia to become the Taiwan of the West

Obama bugging Merkel’s phone was quite an incident. Both Obama and Merkel were leaders of the liberal world, and the two certainly enjoyed a good diplomatic relationship. But as the President of the US, Barack Obama could not trust Merkel, the German Chancellor and the de facto EU leader. 

Despite the ideological bonding between the EU and the US, Obama couldn’t have ignored the fact that the Transatlantic relationship is becoming irrelevant, and that the EU’s own significance is declining with China’s meteoric rise and Russia’s declining strength. Such geostrategic changes in the world are causing cracks in the US-EU relationship that started becoming visible during Obama’s Presidential term itself. 

Now, if Biden comes to power, he will have to live with the same realities. This is not to say that Biden doesn’t share a close ideological bond towards the liberal European leaders. He definitely does. But as the US President, he cannot afford to gloss over the rising Chinese threat in the Indo-Pacific and the need to shift American focus from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific. 

As for Trump, he never had an ideological bias towards the EU. So, he could easily cut the number of American troops in Germany, a key NATO member, by 25 per cent. The Trump administration could as well question Germany about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, an ambitious project to supply natural gas from Russia to Germany. Trump could argue why Germany and the EU were making Russia rich while also getting the US to provide protection to the EU from Moscow. 

Moreover, Merkel was refusing to accept Trump’s leadership of the democratic world against China. This was again causing a rift in the US-EU relationship, as much of Trump’s fury got directed at Berlin and Brussels. 

Biden isn’t going to be as harsh on the EU as Donald Trump. Throughout his election campaign, the EU was rooting for him and Biden won’t go out of his way to publicly banish the EU or NATO. But any US President, including Biden, will not be able to reverse or undo the damage that Trump inflicted upon the Transatlantic relationship for some very natural reasons. 

So, if Trump pulled out 25 per cent of American troops from Germany, Biden will not redeploy them because even he knows that the EU and NATO are irrelevant bodies. 

We won’t be surprised however if Biden’s rise to power translates into optics and soft power display of the ideological bonding between Democrats and the liberal EU led by the German Chancellor Merkel or her successors. But even such soft power display won’t really herald a golden era in US-EU ties, as the Brussels-based intergovernmental bloc will remain anachronistic and irrelevant in the Indo-Pacific dominated world order. 

Tags: Short takes
ShareTweetSend
Akshay Narang

Akshay Narang

Patriot, Political Analyst, International Relations expert

Also Read

Poland’s upcoming Presidential elections will swing towards EU or Russia?

Poland’s upcoming Presidential elections will swing towards EU or Russia?

May 9, 2025
Merz failed to win win the majority vote in the German parliament

Germany political turmoil continues, as Merz failed to win win the majority vote in the German parliament

May 6, 2025
Germany Spy Agency BfV Labels AfD as 'Right-Wing Extremist'

Germany labels AfD as ‘Right-Wing Extremist’ party, German politics in complete turmoil

May 3, 2025
Hungary and Slovakia Push for Ceasefire Talks on Ukraine War

Fico and Orban join up to take on EU over Ukraine

May 1, 2025
Russian Cyberattack? France accuses Putin of disrupting elections, Olympics, and national interests

Russian Cyberattack? France accuses Putin of disrupting elections, Olympics, and national interests

April 30, 2025
EU dictator Ursula Von Der Leyen faces mutiny at home

EU dictator Ursula Von Der Leyen faces mutiny at home

April 30, 2025
Youtube Twitter Facebook
TFIGlobalTFIGlobal
Right Arm. Round the World. FAST.
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • TFIPOST – English
  • TFIPOST हिन्दी
  • Careers
  • Brand Partnerships
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy

©2025 - TFI MEDIA PRIVATE LIMITED

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Indo-Pacific
  • Americas
  • Canada
  • Indian Subcontinent
  • West Asia
  • Europe
  • Africa
  • The Caribbean
TFIPOST English
TFIPOST हिन्दी

©2025 - TFI MEDIA PRIVATE LIMITED

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. View our Privacy and Cookie Policy.