Joe Biden’s performance at the CNN presidential debate against Donald Trump has raised concerns with US allies – particularly within NATO and Europe.
Those concerns, to be clear, are not about whether or not Biden is fit to make decisions. They are not worried that he will implement dangerous policies or take dramatic actions internationally – always a factor when talking about the person in charge of the world’s most powerful armed forces, a nuclear arsenal and largest economy.
The common view among US allies is that Biden is a sensible man who surrounds himself with sensible people and whatever happens, they will continue to make rational, reasonable decisions.
Nor is the concern that Biden’s stumbling, at times incomprehensible, performance has ensured a second Trump term. The prospect of a Trump return is a concern, but it has already been baked into allied thinking.
Europe, in particular, has never really moved on from Trump 1.0 and has held the view since 2020: that if it could happen once, it could happen again. That has been at the heart of European strategic thinking since Trump took office in 2016 and has continued through Biden’s presidency.
The concerns that America’s allies have are that the most powerful country on earth cannot provide the one thing they most want: stability.
