Joe Biden is right to restore America to a prominent international role

Editorial: The new US president will need allies, old and new, as he shapes his nation’s foreign policy

Biden says his approach is in America’s ‘naked self-interest’ (AFP/Getty)

Foreign policy speeches are usually long on concepts and rhetorical flourishes, and short on action and urgency. Joe Biden, no stranger to woolly diplospeak himself, has at least done some demonstrable good in his first outline of the future of US foreign policy. 

All things being equal, the new president has probably already saved the lives of some blameless Yemeni civilians caught up in the proxy war in their country. In ceasing support for Saudi-led coalition offensives in Yemen, including halting supplies of relevant arms, Mr Biden has taken the first step towards ending this cruel and futile war, long since declared a humanitarian disaster by the United Nations.

In seven years no one has achieved anything, and never will. The president is right to begin the de-escalation of this almost forgotten, pitiless, conflict. The move may conceivably lead to a better outcome with Iran, which has Yemeni allies.