How Harris will distinguish her international coverage from Biden — and Trump

For the previous 3½ years, Vice President Harris has carried out President Biden’s agenda across the globe, touring to 21 nations, working with allies to fight authoritarianism.

However now, because the Democratic presidential nominee, there are questions on how Harris herself sees the world and america’ function in it — and what her international coverage would seem like if she wins the election in November.

It’s a problem more likely to be entrance and middle in Tuesday’s debate with former President Donald Trump. Republicans have sought responsible Harris for what they forged because the international coverage failures of the Biden administration — from the chaotic withdrawal in Afghanistan to the variety of migrants on the southern border

“If Kamala wins, foreign leaders will treat America’s president as a joke,” Trump mentioned at a rally in Montana final month. “They already do.”

Harris has tried to current a distinction with Trump

Harris, for her half, is making an attempt to distinction her imaginative and prescient for the world with Trump, whereas providing ever-so-subtle distinctions with Biden. Her speech on the Democratic conference final month was geared toward exhibiting how she would lead as commander in chief.

“As president, I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals, because in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs,” Harris mentioned.

Earlier this 12 months on the Munich Safety Convention, earlier than she was the nominee, Harris informed European leaders that “isolation is not insulation.” It was a reference to Trump’s world view. Throughout his time in workplace, the previous president slapped tariffs on allies and threatened to tug out of NATO.

In distinction, the day after she was inaugurated, Harris made her first worldwide name as vp to the pinnacle of the World Well being Group to debate the administration’s determination to rejoin the group. Trump had pulled out of the WHO in the course of the pandemic.

How Harris differs from Biden

As vp, Harris made a degree of visiting Africa — one thing Biden promised to do, however has not but achieved. A senior administration official who spoke on the situation of anonymity to explain Harris’ work behind the scenes mentioned she has had an emphasis on the International South in her work.

Harris has endorsed and echoed Biden’s emphasis on managing competitors with China and supporting Ukraine in its battle towards Russia.

On the subject of the conflict in Gaza — one of many greatest international coverage challenges for whoever wins the election in November — Harris has mentioned Israel has a proper to defend itself and that she is going to guarantee it has the “ability” to take action.

On the similar time, she was among the many first voices within the administration to emphasise the humanitarian struggling of Palestinians in Gaza. However up to now she has supplied little indication of how her rhetorical empathy could translate into coverage.

Whereas their world views largely align, Harris and Biden have totally different private {and professional} experiences that inform their selections, aides mentioned.

Harris is the daughter of immigrants — an Indian mom and a Jamaican father. “She is not of the Cold War generation,” mentioned Nancy McEldowney, who served as Harris’ nationwide safety adviser in the course of the early a part of the Biden administration.

“She is very mindful of the fact that the world has changed in fundamental ways over the course, not just of the last 50 years, but of the last five years,” McEldowney mentioned.

Harris got here to Washington in 2017 as a politician who had constructed her profession domestically as a prosecutor.

The then-newly minted senator for California joined the Intelligence Committee, and that have was vital in shaping her pondering. The committee launched a multiyear investigation trying into Russia’s interference within the 2016 election.

“She was really kind of thrown into what was the most critical national security issue at that time, which was defending against Russia’s threat to our democracy,” mentioned Halie Soifer, who labored as Harris’ nationwide safety adviser on the time and is now the CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

Harris’ prosecutorial background informs her world view

Harris’ international coverage developed by way of her work on intelligence and cyber safety. And he or she grew to become significantly centered on worldwide guidelines and norms, mentioned Rebecca Invoice Chavez, co-director of international coverage for Harris’ 2020 presidential bid.

It’s a throughline Chavez, now CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue, says she has seen with the vp’s work in Central America.

“She’s been very active in working with the countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras in pushing for the rule of law and for judicial security,” Chavez mentioned.

Her prosecutorial background is a think about how she thinks about worldwide points. McEldowney remembers that on worldwide journeys, Harris wished to see the very best courtroom “to see where it was located, how it was presented, and to get a frame of how countries dealt with the laws that govern society.”

She says Harris additionally thinks so much about expertise and the way that intersects with international coverage.

“She has spent much of her time as vice president focused on issues that she knows are going to be significant going forward, such as cyber and AI and space,” McEldowney mentioned.

NPR’s Gus Contreras and Kai McNamee contributed to this story.