Joe Biden, who was the vice president in Barack Obama’s administration, may presently be more optimistic about his chances for victory. His new running mate is the assiduous Senator Kamala Harris: They currently beat Trump in almost every major US swing state by several percentage points.

If the US election were held today, Biden and Harris would not only win the White House but would also expand Democrat-held seats in both the US House of Representatives and Senate. While the results of the US election are months away, it is paramount for Indonesians to also understand and prepare for a potential Biden presidency, as there are less than 90 days left until America’s election day.

At first, Biden was initially written off as “too old” and “too traditional” to win the US presidency, but the current American zeitgeist is encapsulated by the musician Neil Young in his updated, 2020 version of his classic song Looking for a Leader: “Yeah, we had Barack Obama, and we really need him now/The man who stood behind him has to take his place somehow/America has a leader building walls around our house/He don’t know black lives matter and we got to vote him out.”

One reason it is useful for Indonesians to try to understand and prepare for a potential Biden presidency is because the interests and values of the US and Indonesia mostly align. Biden realizes the importance of Indonesia as a US partner. For example, in 2015, when Biden visited Jakarta as Obama’s vice president, he praised Indonesia as possessing “strategic value”, not least because of its status as one of the world’s most ethnoreligiously diverse countries, with the world’s largest Muslim population.

Moreover, in last December’s Democratic Party debate, he stated, “We in fact should make sure we begin to build our alliances, which Trump has demolished, with Japan and South Korea, Australia and Indonesia.”

Given Biden’s respectful, empathetic approach to diplomacy and his deep knowledge of countries, including Indonesia, there is good reason to infer that he will strive to restore an assertive but positive relationship with Indonesia. As a noted geostrategist, Biden is therefore likely to recommit to Obama’s and Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s US-Indonesia Strategic Partnership and potentially upgrade bilateral cooperation with Jakarta around COVID-19 response, advanced technologies, regional infrastructure connectivity, climate action, interfaith peacebuilding, democratization, and trade and investment. It is possible that a president Biden will seriously consider the idea of an official presidential visit to Indonesia.

To defeat Trump with a landslide mandate this November, Biden will campaign by drawing upon his decades of experience as a respected global leader. If elected, Biden is likely to start attending the annual regional Asia summits that Trump has been increasingly neglecting: the ASEAN Regional Forum, the East Asian Summit and other key forums. He is also likely to refocus on high-level strategic engagement with Southeast Asian heads of state and senior leaders, including with Indonesian President Jokowi.

Biden would likely return the US as a member state to the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement, World Health Organization, UNESCO and other multilateral organizations that have suffered from the absence of US leadership over the last three years.

For example, Biden is likely to support strengthening the World Trade Organization by moving the US economy away from tariff-killing policies, while promoting regional leadership that will advance the peace and security of the South China Sea for pollution-free fishing and international freedom of navigation. In contrast to Trump, Biden is also more likely to closely collaborate with Indonesia and other nations to eventually eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic and “build back better.”

As reflected in the Obama administration’s previous support for legislative ratification of the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and regional trade cooperation (the Trans-Pacific Partnership), under Biden’s leadership, America is likely to be an active participant in the art of diplomacy and partnerships.

Lastly, Biden is also a foreign policy pragmatist who will communicate with both Israelis and the Palestinians. He is likely to support Israel as a crucial US partner for regional security, shared values and other areas of cooperation. He is also likely to support the creation of a Palestinian state, as well as the restoration of US aid to the Palestinian Authority under clearly defined conditions.

Biden will also unequivocally condemn any Palestinian terrorist attacks, especially on unarmed civilian noncombatants, and craft a peaceful, realistic resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Biden recognizes that a two-state solution cannot be negotiated with only one of the parties.

Trump’s dark, antagonistic worldview has long been reflected in his blatant racism, transactionalism, and his xenophobic visa and immigration policies. He primarily perceives Indonesia through the lenses of his family business – as merely useful in selling gaudy real estate projects in Bali and West Java.

In summary, although imperfect, a Biden administration would probably represent a fresh start: As the world’s second- and third-largest democracies, the US and Indonesia would likely advance multilateral cooperation, sustainable peace and the rule of law as shared values in mutual partnership.

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Niruban Balachandran is a former staff member at the World Bank

William P. Tuchrello is a retired United States diplomat

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