WASHINGTON, Nov 8: Joe Biden will likely have a less confrontational approach toward Russia, China and Iran, Former Virginia State Senator Richard Black told Sputnik.
On Saturday, major US television networks projected that Biden had won the US presidential election. Later, Biden declared his victory and delivered an address to the nation in Wilmington, Delaware.
Trump has argued that the race was not over yet and claimed that the election was fraudulent.
RUSSIA
“I would say the major possibility would be that Joe Biden might be looking for some sort of foreign policy successes and he could conceivably be less hostile towards Russia,” Black told Sputnik.
The former lawmaker also said that he was optimistic that a Biden administration would not be as hostile to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the Trump administration was.
“I think Secretary Pompeo was extremely hostile towards international law and the treaties between the United States and the old Soviet Union,” he said. “They were built over many years with enormous effort to try to diminish the threat of nuclear war. And unfortunately, we have dismantled many of those treaties. And so I would be hopeful, with Biden administration, that they would not have the same hostility toward the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. And I would be hopeful that the new START treaty could succeed.”
During the presidential campaign, Biden has committed to renewing the New START treaty, which is now the only remaining arms control pact between the US and Russia.
CHINA
Black also said that he expects Biden to be less aggressive toward China.
“I think Joe Biden, his administration will be less hostile towards China,” he stated. “Trump never intended to be hostile towards China, but he wanted a trade war, but not a, not so much a military confrontation, but he was sort of driven into that by both circumstances and by personnel. So I’m hoping that if Biden is the president, he will draw back from being so confrontational with China.”
The relations between the United States and China have significantly deteriorated under the administration of US President Donald Trump after Washington accused Beijing of being engaged in unfair trade practices and of making timid efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.
Tensions between the two countries have also soared over China’s activity in the South China Sea. China has accused the US of trying to increase its presence in the South China Sea by sending navy ships to conduct freedom of navigation operations in the area. The US is also undermining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait after a US warship crossed the waterway, China said. But despite Beijing’s accusations, the US insists the strait is part of international waters and its “freedom of navigation” operations are in line with international law.
Recently, the US blacklisted 24 Chinese companies, saying that they are helping the ruling Chinese Communist Party construct artificial islands in the South China Sea, which the US sees as a military provocation.
IRAN
Black also expressed hope for better relations between Iran and the United States under a Biden administration.
The former state senator believes that Biden would likely be less inclined to interfere with the European countries, which still recognize the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and still try to abide by it.
“It’s just that the United States has constantly interfered and prevented them from carrying out their obligations under the treaty that has kept them from doing so,” he said. “So it’s possible that even if Biden feels unable to reinstitute the JCPOA, he may simply quietly have the same effect by dropping his objections to the European countries carrying out their obligations under the treaty.”
Black stressed that that would be a very positive thing for lowering tensions in the Middle East, as well as for restoring the economy of the Middle Eastern countries. “So that young men have an alternative to going to war. They can actually build things,” he explained. “They can make things, they can do productive things. So I’m hoping that relations with Iran will improve.”
Black also believes, however, that the problem for Biden may be the pressure that he gets from Republicans. “Joe Biden will not be able to do what he would like to do with their land, but I wouldn’t be surprised if on the margins, even if he doesn’t reconstitute the Iran nuclear deal,” Black said. “He may sort of gently move a little bit more towards. In other words, he’ll be less aggressive in opposing it.”
In 2015, Iran signed the JCPOA with the United States, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union. It required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal’s adoption. In 2018, the US abandoned its conciliatory stance on Iran, withdrawing from the JCPOA and implementing hard-line policies against Tehran.
Spokesman for the Iranian government Ali Rabiei said in October that Tehran would welcome Washington’s return to the (JCPOA), also known as the Iranian nuclear deal, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election.
(AGENCIES)
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