The Biden administration's incompatible views on multilateralism

Joe Biden entered the White House in January this year with the promise of bringing multilateralism “back” to a pre-transactional United States foreign policy. At the same time, Biden emphasized that he would double down on the Donald Trump administration’s hard stance on China. Biden has not rescinded Trump’s trade war with China and, in fact, embarked on a “blunting” strategy aimed to limit Chinese economic and political power alongside a new military pact designed to counter China’s growing military power. However, can the Biden administration successfully rebuild multilateral ties with traditional allies while at the same time impede China’s influence in multilateral institutions? Might the Biden administration’s intensification of the Sino-American rivalry ultimately undermine its attempts to restore multilateralism across the globe? If so, what might Europeans do to reignite an expansive multilateralism in U.S. foreign policy—one that not only reacts to China’s rise but that sets a clear vision for the future