Last month, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, a group known as AUKUS, signed an agreement for Australia to buy nuclear submarines from the United States, which are to be developed within the next twenty years. This plan is mutually beneficial for Australia and the United States. For Australia, this deal provides security against China, given their proximity and recently strained relationship. For the United States, this deal widens its influence in the Indo-Pacific, which is a priority for the Biden administration. The situation that made this deal diplomatically messy is the role of France. In 2016, France developed a $66 billion deal to build twelve non-nuclear submarines for Australia. The AUKUS deal made the 2016 agreement null and void. The issue is that France did not learn about AUKUS and its nullified deal with Australia from two of its closest allies. Instead, French officials became aware of the deal from the Australian news. Its allies never told it what was going on. In turn, France publicly expressed its anger towards the United States, cancelled a major gala in Washington D.C., and pulled its diplomats from Washington and Canberra—something France had never done before. 

For France, this was a landmark humiliation on the national stage. The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, accused Joe Biden of behaving like Donald Trump and stabbing France in the back. For context, France is the United State’s oldest ally. Arguably, the United States would not have won independence without the French navy in the American Revolution and its dominance at the Battle of the Chesapeake. The French are indispensable to the founding of the United States and in U.S. international relations since. This explains why France was so taken aback by this deceit. While it acted on its displeasure in the short-term, France has the ability to cause long-term negative effects for the United States should it choose to hold a grudge. For example, this could manifest as supranational organizations that exclude the United States. Ultimately, whether France is in the right or in the wrong is not the point. This is an issue that has been overshadowed by France's reaction, but who we should actually draw our attention to is China.

China rose militarily and economically in the last decade. It is at the forefront of national security developments, economic growth, and political influence in the region. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Trump both voiced their intentions on prioritizing China, but were unable to focus the required efforts on them. Biden took action to eliminate other distractions and concentrate on China. This partly explains the withdrawal from Afghanistan in August, to better recuperate U.S. resources and time towards an urgent threat. Treating America’s closest ally transactionally and pulling our troops out of a twenty-year long conflict demonstrates how pressing this situation is. In order to accelerate the Chinese response, Biden is taking control of American foreign policy by ending “forever wars,” participating in supranational organizations, and making investments necessary to protect our interests. He is not afraid to be less than the typical diplomatic character in order to get the United States back on track—as he should. 

While the situation with France is less than ideal and does not properly reflect U.S. relations with them, it does reflect our relations with China. China will be America’s current adversary, and the United States is already behind. The Chinese economy is projected to increase by 8.5 percent in 2021 alone, its social policies encourage poverty reduction and a larger middle class, which will reward them in dividends in the coming years. While the U.S. military remains the most advanced in the world, the Chinese military is by far the largest, combined with its increase in defense spending, it is a notable threat. Biden’s deal with Australia is actually catching up with our defense presence in the Indo-Pacific. Australia’s relations with China have been strained over the past few years, and it made the adjustment to strengthen  its defense protocol and join forces with the United States. This deal was mutually beneficial, but also promotes regional stability and general safety for the common good. It demonstrates America’s role as the leader of the international system and our responsibility to make the best decision for our national security and security in the region. 

Regaining French trust is not something that can or should be brushed aside. We cannot properly guard against China without the support and trust of our allies. However, this diplomatic debacle detracted from the main goal of our Chinese strategy. This whole circumstance was overshadowed by France’s reaction, but it should be recognized that this was intentional and visionary for global relations. It is essential to maintaining international order to protect U.S.  geopolitical interests in the Indo-Pacific. China is such a concern for the present and the future because it threatens the status quo and the international systems that are required to keep political, economic, and social institutions in the democratic realm. Surveying China is our smartest move forward. America’s role as global leaders is not compromised by this disruption with the French because they are aware of China’s threat, regardless of this mishap, and understand the necessity to join forces to compete with them. Looking to the future, Biden made a call that will make security more reliable and ward off unwanted Chinese power plays.