US President Joe Biden potentially outperformed his predecessor overall during his first one hundred days in office yet the administration's aggressive security policies - along with concerns over the commander-in-chief's mental stability - bode ill for America's future, analysts told Sputnik
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2021) US President Joe Biden potentially outperformed his predecessor overall during his first one hundred days in office yet the administration's aggressive security policies - along with concerns over the commander-in-chief's mental stability - bode ill for America's future, analysts told Sputnik.
Thursday marks Biden's "first 100 days" in office - a much-hyped performance benchmark for new US administrations. The tradition began in 1933 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who enacted 76 laws during this symbolic period.
As he hits the 100-day mark, Biden's Gallup job approval rating sits at 57 percent - 16 points higher than Trump's was at this point in 2017, a margin many attribute to progress in the fight against COVID-19 and the economic recovery.
Biden's approach to the pandemic has contrasted sharply with the one embraced by his predecessor, who admitted to downplaying the virus. Trump supporters, however, have argued that Biden is taking credit for the success of the previous administration's vaccine development and COVID-19 relief programs.
"After the disaster of four years of Trump's fascist, racist and incompetent misrule, for the majority of Americans Biden's presidency comes as a relief," historian and anti-nuclear campaigner Joseph Gerson told Sputnik.
Many in the US, Gerson added, are celebrating Biden's commitments and policies to stanch the pandemic, revitalize the economy and implement systemic changes to address painful inequalities.
Historian and political commentator Dan Lazare believes Biden has won praise for reversing many of his predecessor's environmental, nuclear and immigration policies, while following Trump's strategy on Afghanistan and COVID-19 relief.
"Biden's $1.9-trillion economic stimulus package was immensely popular, as were his decisions to end US support for the Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen, re-enter the Paris Climate Agreement, end Trump's Muslim immigration ban, and announce an Afghan pullout by September 11," Lazare told Sputnik.
Since taking over in January, the Biden administration has taken Washington's relationship with Moscow to new lows, just after many thought it bottomed out during the Trump years. The White House has levied new rounds of sanctions against Russia over allegations ranging from election meddling to cyber warfare - accusations Moscow has repeatedly denied.
On the other hand, Biden also agreed to extend the New START treaty which was on the verge of expiring, quite a turnabout from the previous administration that appeared bent on destroying every US-Russian arms control pact.
Meanwhile, Biden has also escalated tensions with Beijing well beyond where they sat under Trump. On Wednesday, during his first joint address to Congress, the president vowed to keep a strong US military presence in the so-called "Indo-Pacific" region to counter China.
Lazare is concerned with Biden's inner circle - including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan - both of whom during the Obama administration supported US involvement in the conflicts in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Relations with China and Russia are also big unknowns, and the Biden foreign policy team, i.e. Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, does not exactly inspire confidence," Lazare said.
Lazare is also worried Biden's few foreign policy achievements could unravel. In Yemen, for example, the Houthis are closing in on the strategic city of Marib. If it falls, he added, US policy will be thrown into crisis since the balance of power could shift toward Iran.
Lazare also suggested the delayed extraction from Afghanistan could resemble the ugly scenes at the end of the Vietnam War.
Other critics have argued that if the Biden administration simply followed Trump's timeline American troops would already be home.
"Similarly, I'll bet Dollars to doughnuts that the exit from Afghanistan will not go smoothly and may well end in a Saigon-style rooftop escape," Lazare said.
Gerson also raised red flags about the Biden administration's foreign and military policies which risk sparking a war with other great powers.
No less important for Lazare is the frightening glimpses into Biden's state of mind during these first 100 days.
Lazare speculated that Biden's gaffes may signal he is suffering from a severe mental disorder.
"Biden is the reincarnation, more or less, of Konstantin Chernenko, the Soviet leader who expired after just 13 months in office in the early 80s. It was plain that poor Konstantin had one foot in the grave from the moment he took office," Lazare explained.
The fact the Politburo chose Chernenko regardless of the situation shows how decrepit the Soviet system had become, Lazare claimed.
"But is Biden any different? Plainly he's suffering from early-onset senile dementia and is not all there either. So there's a hole where a president ought to be, which means that the executive branch at this point is a bit of a leaderless mob. It may not matter for now, but it will soon. So I think mucho trouble is brewing," Lazare concluded.
