… For the first 70 years after World War II, the president of the United States, no matter his party, had a second, unofficial title: “leader of the free world.” He also had the role of indispensable ally to other democracies around the world.
According to Pew Research Center surveys, by the end of the Trump administration, just 17 percent of the public in 16 foreign nations said they “had confidence in the U.S. president to do the right thing regarding world affairs.” The most recent edition of that survey, released just this week, showed that number had jumped back up to 75 percent. Similarly, as the Trump era closed, just 34 percent of those foreign respondents said they have a favorable view of the U.S. That figure has jumped to 62 percent favorable.
Yet almost every ambassador or diplomat in Washington representing a close U.S. ally believes that it will be some time before their governments and their citizens will fully trust the U.S. as an ally again. That is Biden’s challenge, to restore the role that the U.S. played for 75 years started with the outbreak of World War II. CONTINUED
Charlie Cook