Biden and Europe, values and interests. Egmont Commentary 18 June 2021.

Before his trip to Europe, President Biden spoke of its purpose as “rallying the democracies”. But international politics is not just a clash between the democrats and the dictators. Indeed, Americans and Europeans count quite a few authoritarian states among their allies and partners – which were left studiously unmentioned during the recent G7, NATO, and EU-US Summits. Biden’s deeply-felt rhetoric on values cannot change the reality that interests drive international politics. Most states cooperate with most other states when interests overlap, quite regardless of their domestic political system. That demands a nuanced approach, and that is exactly what a week of summitry produced