As President Biden now kicks off days of face-to-face meetings with world leaders in the UK, he brings with him what officials consider a secret weapon to high-stakes discussions: decades of work building connections with ally and adversary alike.
“In international relations, all politics is personal,” Biden said during a visit to South Korea in 2013. “Because it’s all ultimately based on trust. And trust only flows from personal — not friendly — personal, candid relationships with your counterpart, so you don’t have to wonder about intentions.”
During his time as a senator and member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Biden’s office began cataloguing his travels. A version of that document has survived to this day, handed down from staffer to staffer and allowing them to refresh their, or Biden’s, recollection of potential past encounters.
The depth of relationships particularly with U.S. adversaries is particularly valuable at what Biden himself has termed an “inflection point'' in world history, with democracies and autocracies jockeying for influence in the 21st century. “Because our relationship is so complex, getting it right isn’t going to be easy, and it’s going to require direct straightforwardness with one another about our interests, our concerns and, quite frankly, our expectations,” Biden added.Ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladmir Putin next week, advisers have stressed the value of him being able to speak bluntly and directly without the need to take the measure of his counterpart.
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