President-elect Biden

For many Americans, at the end of the day Election 2020 was a battle between basic ‘decency’ and outright bullying – and the decent man won. In what can be easily described a cliff-hanger of an election, Americans have chosen Joe Biden as their 46th president. The 78-year-old will be the oldest president in American history when he takes oath. Accompanying him as his vice president is Kamala Harris, the US’s first woman, first Black American and first South-Asian American to become vice president.

Now that the battle for the ‘soul of the American nation’ is over, there is much both Biden and Harris need to focus on. The most obvious issue at hand is the domestic Covid-19 challenge, and there are hopes a more mature leadership will help stem the unbelievably high rate of infection and death in the US. The economy of course figures next, followed by global concerns regarding America’s role in trivialising the climate change question during Trump’s years. The largest and probably most complicated challenge for the Biden presidency is how to help the US heal and bridge some of the very wide differences and polarisation that has taken over a country that would once pride itself on its diversity, unity and acceptance. President-elect Biden has signalled he would like to be a president-for-all, and said that it’s time ‘to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation’. Of course, working across the aisle is something that will in any case have to happen since it is quite probable that the Senate may remain with a Republican majority.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, in President-elect Biden there is a familiar face in the White House. What that means remains a mystery, despite all the optimism, since American policies are hardly decided on relationships cultivated years back. That said, Biden has had history with Pakistan, during his tenure as vice president in the Obama years, and as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), where he promulgated the Enhanced Partnership Act with Pakistan 2008. This leads to some optimism in there being an understanding of the nuances of Pakistan’s domestic and foreign policy challenges. The US and Pakistan have the Afghan peace process as a common agenda, and this is something that Pakistan will be looking at keenly. If there’s to be a change in tack, what would that mean for Pakistan and the region on the whole. Then there’s India. It is highly unlikely that a Biden Administration will in any way reduce US interest in India. But there is an expected increase in a stronger voice for human rights, which is what people in Occupied Kashmir and even in mainstream India may be looking at. For now, the people of America have a strong reason to rejoice. We hope that once the celebrations are over, instead of ignoring the glaring polarisation within, America begins the slow process of healing and introspection.