The White House announced on Wednesday the selection of Kurt Campbell, the architect of Joe Biden’s strong policy towards China, as the future number two in American diplomacy.
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The Senate, in which the president has a very narrow majority, must now confirm the Asia specialist as deputy secretary of state.
Kurt Campbell is considered the great architect of Joe Biden’s policy towards China, with which the US has extremely tense relations.
At a time when the American executive branch is on the front lines of the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Hamas and Israel, his appointment signals that the rivalry with Beijing remains the primary axis of President Biden’s foreign policy.
The latter has repeatedly stated that he wants to engage China in tough competition, be it ideological, strategic, economic or technological, while preventing this competition from turning into conflict.
In fact, this has led to massive investments in America’s industrial apparatus as well as relentless diplomatic activity to deepen and expand American alliances in Asia – something that Beijing views very negatively.
Already strained relations between the two superpowers deteriorated earlier this year after a Chinese balloon flew over American territory.
However, diplomatic activities have subsequently resumed and Joe Biden is hoping to meet face-to-face with his counterpart Xi Jinping in mid-November on the sidelines of a summit in San Francisco.
Kurt Campbell moved into the diplomatic and political spotlight during Barack Obama’s presidency, articulating what was later described as the “pivot” of U.S. foreign policy to Asia. This is also the title of one of the numerous books that the diplomat has published.
An important figure in the foreign policy “think tank” scene in Washington, founder of a consulting company, he traveled the Asia-Pacific region for several years and came to the conclusion that the United States needed to respond more seriously to Chinese ambitions.
The California native, who studied music and political philosophy in Yerevan when Armenia was still a Soviet republic, is therefore seen as a representative of a hard line against China, which has earned him some sympathy in the Republican camp.
Kurt Campbell, who like many senior American officials has bounced between the public and private sectors throughout his career, is the husband of Lael Brainard, also a key figure in the Biden administration.
She is chair of the National Economic Council, the White House economic advisory team.