Have a Good Vacation, Mr. President
The erosion of America’s global dominance is an emerging theme of the Biden presidency.

As President Biden takes a trip abroad to discover his Irish roots, America’s global dominance is slipping away. That’s an emerging theme of the Biden presidency. World leaders are increasingly aligning with our adversaries in Russia and China. Meanwhile isolationists at home are in a mood for cocooning, while our ailing economy and collapsing dollar undercut our sway abroad, even when we seek to use it.
Can allies trust America? That question arises as the Pentagon leaks expose an embarrassing trove of top secret intelligence nuggets. The documents reportedly reflect intelligence gathered about allies from South Korea to Great Britain and every Mideast ally. That’s fine. The leaks are not. As American intelligence assets in Russia and elsewhere get burned, the documents expose foreign policy details that paint Mr. Biden’s team in unfavorable colors.
While the administration strives to minimize the damage, it far exceeds what can be gleaned from a bunch of leaked documents. When President Obama erased his own red line in Syria, he signaled that America is no longer willing to back florid rhetoric with muscular action. President Trump did act on the Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. After Afghanistan, though, who thinks that Mr. Biden’s America could preside over a rules-based world order?
The president and his team seek to talk their way out of problems through diplomacy only. As the case of reviving the Iran nuclear deal shows, such palaver leads nowhere. The communist Chinese party boss, Xi Jinping, is making strides to occlude America’s global leadership. And to unseat the mighty dollar’s dominance in world markets. It invests in its military to overmatch ours. It’s making new friends of America’s traditional allies.
On a recent Beijing visit President Macron called on Europe to reduce dependence on the U.S. and become a “third pole” alongside America and Communist China. President da Silva will follow him this weekend. Our Clara Preve-Durrieu compares the Brazilian Marxist’s recent low-key White House visit to his four-day China tour, accompanied by more than 240 executives and politicians seeking business and development opportunities.
The Mideast, where Mr. Trump made exceptional gains, is also slipping away as leaders forge alliances with Moscow and Beijing. Leaked documents detail Egypt’s intent to manufacture 40,000 rockets for Russia’s use even as Cairo receives more than $1 billion a year in American aid. The UAE is said to cooperate with Russ spies against America and Britain. Chaperoned by Beijing, Saudi Arabia is repairing relations with its top foe, Iran.
Our Benny Avni reports that the Saudis, spiritual and financial leaders of the Arab world, have a reason to turn their back on the eight-decade alliance with America: Mr. Biden, from the start of his presidency, has portrayed the kingdom as an epitome of evil, and vowed to make Riyadh a global pariah. Now the world’s top oil producer is ignoring Washington’s pleas, cutting production, and helping Russia evade Western sanctions.
No wonder that despite some easing in inflationary pressures, oil-related prices, from the gas pump to the grocery, remain stubbornly high. Errors in foreign policy judgment are never too far divorced from trouble at home. “America is back,” was Mr. Biden’s rallying cry when he assumed the presidency. This week he is back in his ancestral homeland, as America slides further behind our competitors and enemies.