Biden's speech further polarizes the US and maintains the strategy of fighting against China and Russia.

José Reinaldo Carvalho, 247 - The State of the Union address, delivered by US President Joe Biden on Tuesday night (7), was as pale as his term has been and as faltering as his approval ratings.

Domestically, it was an attempt to rally forces within his party to gauge his chances of reelection. The White House chief is signaling that he doesn't want to pass the baton to his vice president, Kamala Harris, demonstrating the limitations of his position on giving space to women and leadership outside the white sphere. When it comes to occupying positions of power, what matters is the strength of vested interests. 

Biden attempted to establish positions considered "progressive," according to the concepts in vogue in the peculiar circumstances of American society. In reality, these are positions concerning rights that are constantly violated in a country torn apart by crises and conflicts stemming from the profound systemic inequalities of capitalism. He introduced into his agenda themes such as raising taxes on the rich and lowering them on the poor, public health policies, and security, given the repeated criminal acts of the police against the Black and poor population. He professed faith in the values ​​of American "democracy," accentuated his nationalist discourse in the economic dispute with China, gave indications of greater protectionism, and celebrated dubious indicators of economic progress.  

Biden's path to reelection will not be easy. The country is more polarized and, despite Trump's personal situation, embroiled in legal proceedings, the Republican Party has radicalized its right-wing positions and will throw all its strength into trying to regain control of the government. Trump himself is not out of the running.

In a country in steep decline, Biden sold the image of a leader committed to promoting development by mobilizing American capabilities, in a world where the country's economy is losing ground. He wants, in his own way, to make America great again, as Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton, etc., etc., wanted. More of the same.  

"American roads, American bridges, and American highways will be built with American products," which, obviously, also displeases all of its partners abroad, starting with its closest allies in Europe. 

On the international front, Biden maintained his rhetoric of confrontation with Russia and unconditional support for the Zelensky regime, a staunch ally of fascists of all stripes in Ukraine and their instrument in the global war of US imperialism for world domination. A contender for the leadership of a global front, he made it clear that he considers Russia's special military operation in Ukraine "a test for America and the world," ignoring Russia's concerns about defense, security, and sovereignty. 

The White House chief praised NATO, the armed wing of the Western imperialist powers: “Together, we did what America always does best,” Biden said. “We led. We united NATO. We built a global coalition. We resisted Putin’s aggression.” 

Days earlier, Biden announced another military assistance package to the Zelensky regime worth more than US$2.17 billion, including long-range missiles for the first time, in addition to confirming the shipment of 31 advanced M-1 Abrams tanks, a decision made jointly with European countries that supply Leopard 2 tanks manufactured in Germany.

These actions constitute crossing the red lines that Russia refers to as the limits of what the Eurasian country can endure in war to defend national sovereignty and guarantee territorial security. It is obvious that Russia considers these actions part of an offensive strategy of Western collective imperialism and will react proportionally.

All of this makes it clear that far from sending a signal of peace and balance to the world, the president of the planet's greatest superpower emphasized that he is ready for a warlike escalation. 

Following the speech, US diplomatic sources reported that Biden will most likely travel to Europe near the one-year anniversary of the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, which will certainly inflame tensions against Russia. 

But it wasn't only against the Russians that Biden launched attacks from the Capitol podium. Unexpectedly, he threatened China. "If China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our nation. And so we did," he stated, referring to the recent incident with an alleged Chinese "spy balloon," shot down by mere chance while flying over the United States last week. 

Two days after the State of the Union address, the U.S. government issued an official statement "detailing" the characteristics of the Chinese weather research balloon as "unequivocally a spy balloon," equipped with devices to collect intelligence data, not meteorological data. The State Department says it is convinced that the balloon's equipment "was clearly for intelligence surveillance and was inconsistent with the equipment aboard weather balloons."

Senior government officials say the balloon was under the control of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and is part of a fleet of balloons sent by Beijing to more than 40 countries on five continents to collect intelligence information.

As is obvious, China immediately and peremptorily rejected the claim: "The international community knows very well who the world champion in espionage and surveillance is," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning, referring to the United States.

US domestic politics is experiencing a moment of heightened polarization between Democrats and Republicans, Bidens and Trump supporters. But when the subject is China, unity emerges around a deep-sea anti-communism. A resolution unanimously passed this Thursday in the House of Representatives condemns "the use by the Chinese Communist Party of a high-altitude surveillance balloon over American territory," considering it "a blatant violation of United States sovereignty."

And in the style of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (Trump administration), who attributed all the world's ills to the Chinese Communist Party, Republican Representative and author of the resolution Michael McCaul asserted: "The good news is that [the balloon incident] has strengthened the American people's opposition to President Xi's communist regime." This is the same spirit as another resolution in which American representatives condemn the "horrors of socialism," a text presented by a Republican representative with the support of 109 Democratic representatives.

In his State of the Union address, although he stated his intention to continue "working with China" and that his empire's relations with the Asian socialist country would henceforth be based on "competition, not confrontation," it became clear that the guiding principle of this relationship is what has been established since the beginning of his term and in the national security strategy updated last October, at the center of which lies the containment of the People's Republic of China. 

Dialogue with Lula

Certainly, Biden and Lula have concerns to share regarding the threats they both faced from the far-right's coup attempts, both there and here. Perhaps they will reach conclusions that are useful for both sides. 

But in the context of geopolitical confrontations in which US imperialism is the protagonist, proposals to form a front for democracy in the world with the United States and its NATO allies are nothing more than illusory. When Biden refers to this and explicitly states the priority of confronting what he calls "tyrannies," his model is that of the "Democracy Summit" of December 2021, in which democracy was merely a shell to instrumentalize his offensive against Russia and China and, regionally, Cuba and Venezuela.

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