The Biden legacy is chequered

As inauguration day draws closer for the 47th president of the United States of America to ascend to the White House, officials of the last administration are hastily clearing their desks, submitting their resignation letters and making preparations for a promised period of “retribution”.

It is the dawn of uncertainty, as people await what is expected to be the Trump 2.0 version. Donald Trump’s supporters who align with his isolationist, nationalist policies, will look forward to his mass deportation plan, his controversial tariffs, and his wielding of presidential power on the home and international fronts.

Others, who were hoping for a different outcome from the November poll, will seek some form of escapism to preserve their mental health and survive the next four years.

In the days leading up to the inauguration, Americans and others around the world will take the opportunity to also assess the performance of the outgoing President Joe Biden.

Experts and enthusiasts of international affairs and politics may look positively on Biden’s progressive policies, such as his appointment of a record number of Black and female judges to the federal bench.

Maybe Biden will receive his flowers for the promotion of a green economy, critical support to manufacturers of alternative energy-based products, and, of course, his sensitivity to climate activism, of which Barbados has become a global voice.

At the same time, people of the global south will brand Biden an American president who was unhelpful, if not antagonistic, to the cause of suffering people in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have perished from the onslaught of bombs provided to Israel by the US.

The world condemned the action of Hamas last October 2023 when more than 1 000 Israelis and nationals of other countries were killed and over 200 kidnapped.

Conversely, civilians in Gaza and across the occupied Palestinian territory have endured what can only be described as targeted genocidal actions by Israel. The city and urban areas have been obliterated by the Americans’ massive bombs. Just over one million have been herded into extremely small areas, where children face starvation, diseases spread unchecked and critical infrastructure—such as schools, hospitals, places of worship, and businesses—has been destroyed, leaving people struggling to survive.

South Africa, which took the audacious step of bringing a case of genocide against Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), outlined that Israel’s intention was clear and “goes beyond military objectives, aiming instead at the wholesale depopulation of Gaza through extreme violence and forced displacement”.

President Biden, for all the good that he has done, will take a scarred reputation into history as a president who could have done much more to protect innocent Palestinian civilians.