Analysis: Why Putin, Xi and other strongmen haven't congratulated Biden yet

Biden will mark a big step change for Russia, which has had a free hand for some years now — together with on the finish of President Barack Obama’s years in workplace — von Hippel, a former nonpolitical senior adviser on the State Division below the Obama administration, added.

In late October, Biden known as Russia “the primary menace” to US nationwide safety throughout an interview with 60 Minutes on CBS. Kremlin spokesman Peskov responded by saying that Russia did not agree with Biden’s remarks, and such rhetoric amplified “hatred in direction of the Russian Federation.”

Within the run-up to the election, the 2 international locations didn’t attain a deal to increase a key arms discount treaty, New START — signed by Presidents Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in 2010 — which the Trump administration was pushing for forward of election day.

Putin beforehand indicated that he sees strategic treaties as one of many potential factors for cooperation with Biden.

Chinese language President Xi Jinping

It isn’t arduous to see why Beijing is hesitant. Biden has boasted of his means to tackle China in distinction to Trump, denouncing the outgoing President for initially embracing Xi. Beijing might not really feel obliged to compromise with the US below a brand new administration, particularly as the chance of unpredictable motion is significantly decrease. However a level of consistency is also to Beijing’s profit, von Hippel stated.

“Though Biden might be powerful on China, and can work with companions and allies to have a concerted China coverage, his platform says we are going to work with China on areas the place there’s mutual curiosity, whether or not that is local weather change or North Korea. After which they will push again in different areas. So it will be extra nuanced, however I feel it will be higher for China as a result of it will not be so erratic and advert hoc like Trump was,” stated von Hippel.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

In brief, with Trump in workplace, Erdogan has largely been given carte blanche to do what he desires. That might be a really completely different story with Biden, who Erdogan has not but acknowledged as President-elect.

Biden has stated Erdogan has “to pay a worth” for these actions, together with whether or not the US will proceed to promote weapons to him.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, usually generally known as “the Trump of the Tropics” for his shared model of populist politics, has additionally stored quiet on Trump’s loss.

Like Trump, Bolsonaro has campaigned and run on polarization, stirring controversy by making misogynistic, racist and homophobic remarks. He has additionally repeatedly downplayed the Covid-19 pandemic, whilst Brazil suffered one of many world’s deadliest outbreaks.

“Will this herald the start of the tip of different populist leaders? Part of the rationale that it might do that’s as a result of so many of those populist leaders like Bolsonaro particularly … are in denial in regards to the pandemic and so they actually demonstrated to their very own individuals, in some ways as Trump has, that they do not really care about them,” von Hippel stated.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador made a rigorously worded assertion on the US election during which he didn’t handle Biden because the winner and as an alternative stated he wanted to attend till authorized challenges to the vote-counting concluded.

“We’re going to look forward to all of the authorized points to be resolved. We don’t need to be reckless. We don’t need to act calmly. We need to be respectful of the self-determination of the individuals and of their rights,” López Obrador stated on state tv Saturday.

López Obrador’s reluctance to congratulate Biden could also be all the way down to that friendship. The transfer is also interpreted as a continuation of a international coverage custom of actively avoiding commenting on the affairs of different international locations.

The Mexican President added in Saturday’s televised assertion: “We now have an excellent relationship with each of the candidates. President Trump has been very respectful with us and we’ve reached some good accords. We thank him as a result of he has not been a meddler and he has revered us. And the identical factor with the candidate Biden. I’ve identified him for greater than 10 years.”