Joe Biden withdrawal from US presidential race injects greater uncertainty into the world at a time when Western leaders face wars in Ukraine and Gaza, a more assertive China in Asia and the rise of the far right in Europe.
During a five-decade career in politics, Biden has developed extensive personal relationships with several foreign leaders that none of the potential replacements on the Democratic ticket can match. Following his announcement, messages of support and gratitude for his years of service poured in from near and far.
The scale of the foreign policy challenges facing the next US president makes it clear how important what happens in Washington is for the rest of the planet. Here’s a look at some of them.
With Vice President Kamala Harris to be seen as a potential replacement for BidenIsraelis struggled Sunday to understand what his candidacy would mean for their country as it faces increasing global isolation due to its military campaign against Hamas.
Israel’s left-leaning daily newspaper Haaretz published a story examining Harris’ record of support for Israel, pointing to her reputation as Biden’s “bad cop” who openly admonished Israel for its Gaza offensive. by calling for a ceasefire, by denouncing Israel’s invasion of Rafah, and by expressing horror at the number of civilian deaths in Gaza.
“With Biden gone, Israel has lost perhaps the last Zionist president,” said Alon Pinkas, former Israeli consul general in New York. “A new Democratic candidate will change the dynamic.”
Biden’s staunch defense of Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack has its roots in his half-century of support for the country as senator, vice president and then president. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant thanked Biden for his “unwavering support for Israel over the years.”
“Your constant support, especially during the war, was invaluable,” Gallant wrote on the X social media platform.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog praised Biden as a “symbol of the unbreakable bond between our two peoples” and a “true ally of the Jewish people.” There was no immediate reaction from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an ally of former President Donald Trump whose history of cordial relations with Biden has come under strain during the Israel-Hamas war.
Any Democratic candidate would likely stick with Biden legacy of staunch military support for Ukraine. But frustration with the Biden administration has grown in Ukraine and Europe due to the slow pace of U.S. aid and restrictions on the use of Western weapons.
“Most Europeans realize that Ukraine will increasingly be their burden,” said Sudha David-Wilp, director of the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund, a research institute. “Everyone is trying to prepare for every possible outcome.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he respected Biden’s “difficult but strong decision” to abandon the campaign, and thanked Biden for his help “in preventing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin from occupying our country.”
Trump promised to end Russia’s war against Ukraine in one day, if elected – a prospect that has raised fears in Ukraine that Russia could be allowed to keep the territory it occupies.
Trump’s vice presidential pick, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, is among the most vocal congressional opponents of U.S. aid to Ukraine and has raised the stakes for Kiev even further.
Russia, however, rejected the importance of the race, insisting that regardless of what happened, Moscow would remain in Ukraine.
“That’s it for Biden,” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s security council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said on the messaging app Telegram. “The objectives of the special military operation will be achieved,” he added, using the term the Kremlin uses to designate the war in Ukraine.
In recent months, both Biden and Trump have tried to show voters who can best confront Beijing’s growing military strength and belligerence and protect U.S. businesses and workers from low-priced Chinese imports. Biden increased tariffs on China’s electric vehicles and Trump promised to implement 60% tariffs on all Chinese products.
Trump’s “America First” doctrine has exacerbated tensions with Beijing. But disputes with the geopolitical rival and economic colossus over wars, trade, technology and security have continued during Biden’s term.
China’s official reaction to the US presidential race has been cautious.
“US elections are US domestic politics. I have no comment on this,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning.
The official Xinhua news agency treated the story of Biden’s decision as relatively minor. The editor of the party newspaper Global Times, Hu Xijin, downplayed the impact of Biden’s withdrawal.
“Whoever becomes the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee could be the same,” he wrote on X.
With Iran’s proxies across the Middle East increasingly involved in the war between Israel and Hamas, the US is faced with a region in disarray.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis attacked Tel Aviv for the first time last week, triggering Israeli retaliatory strikes in war-torn Yemen. Rising tensions and cross-border attacks between the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Israeli military have raised fears of an all-out regional conflagration.
Hamas, which also receives support from Iran, continues to fight Israel even nine months after the start of a war that killed 38,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 80% of Gaza’s population.
The US and its allies have accused Iran of expanding its nuclear program It is enriching uranium to an unprecedented level of 60%, levels approaching weaponization level.
After then-President Trump withdrew in 2018 from Tehran’s landmark nuclear deal with world powers, Biden said he wanted to reverse his predecessor’s aggressive anti-Iran stance. But the Biden administration has maintained severe economic sanctions against Iran and overseen failed attempts to renegotiate the deal.
The sudden death of Ebrahim Raisi – the hard-line protégé of the supreme leader – in a helicopter crash elevated a new reformist to Iran’s presidency, generating new opportunities and risks. Masoud Pezeshkian said he wants to help Iran open up to the world, but maintained a defiant tone against the U.S.
Many Europeans were happy to see Trump go after years of discrediting the European Union and undermining NATO. Trump’s seemingly dismissive attitude toward European allies in last month’s presidential debate did nothing to assuage those concerns.
Biden, on the other hand, supported close US relations with the bloc’s leaders.
This closeness became evident after Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called his choice “probably the most difficult of his life”. Newly sworn-in British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he respected Biden’s “decision based on what he believes is in the best interests of the American people.”
There was also an outpouring of affection from Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris, who called Biden a “proud American with an Irish soul.”
The question of whether NATO can maintain its momentum in supporting Ukraine and controlling the ambitions of other authoritarian states hangs in the balance of this presidential election, analysts say.
“They don’t want to see Donald Trump as president. So there’s some relief, but also some nervousness” about Biden’s decision to drop out, said Jeremy Shapiro, director of research at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Like many in the United States, but perhaps more so, they They are really quite confused.”
The close relationship between Mexico and the US has been marked in recent years by disagreements over trade, energy and climate change. Since President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took power in 2018, both countries have found common ground on the issue of migration – with Mexico making it more difficult for migrants to cross from its country to the US border and the US not putting pressure on other questions.
The López Obrador administration maintained this policy while Trump was president and continued it during Biden’s term.
On Friday, Mexico’s president called Trump “a friend” and said he would write to him to warn him against promising to close the border or blaming migrants for bringing drugs into the United States.
“I will prove to you that migrants do not transport drugs to the United States,” he said, adding that “closing the border will not solve anything and, in any case, it cannot be done.”
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Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Daria Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, and Josh Goodman in Miami contributed to this report.
