With less than a year before a challenging election, the Biden administration risks getting caught in a political doom loop. President Biden’s perceived weakness at home undermines his authority in dealing with foreign leaders, while the deteriorating global picture erodes his popularity at home.
Mr. Biden’s foreign-policy efforts have not exactly been crowned with success. In Ukraine, Western squabbles and policy misfires have given reason to hope that victory might be heading his way. In the Middle East, as the original wave of Western sympathy for Israel following the Hamas terror attack fades, calls for a cease-fire that would leave Hamas in control of Gaza steadily mount. More ominously still, Iran’s proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq are stepping up their assaults, with the Houthis now attacking peaceful commerce in the vital Red Sea.