Vice President Kamala Harris, if elected president in November, would inherit a slate of global conflicts, including Israel\u2019s war with Hamas, Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine and increasing military competition with China.<\/p>\n
Harris was not a major voice on defense or national security during her years as a senator from California, but she did serve on the Intelligence and Homeland Security committees.<\/p>\n
Harris is largely expected to continue many of President Joe Biden\u2019s foreign policy initiatives, with a couple of possible differences. Here\u2019s a look at how she might approach each region.<\/p>\n
As president, Harris would be likely to approach Israel\u2019s war with Hamas similarly to her predecessor, though her public remarks suggest she may be more sympathetic to the humanitarian plight of Palestinians in Gaza. <\/p>\n
Harris was one of the first senior U.S. officials to demand a cease-fire and pressure Israel to do more to facilitate aid deliveries to Gaza. During a speech in Selma, Ala., in March, Harris went further than Biden in directly calling for hostilities to end.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,\u201d she said. \u201cLet\u2019s get a cease-fire. Let\u2019s reunite the hostages with their families. And let\u2019s provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time, her comments were some of the strongest made by a U.S. official urging Israel to reduce humanitarian suffering in Gaza, where nearly 40,000 people have died since the war\u2019s onset.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid,\u201d she said. \u201cNo excuses. They must open new border crossings. They must not impose any unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid. They must ensure humanitarian personnel, sites, and convoys are not targeted. And they must work to restore basic services and promote order in Gaza so more food, water, and fuel can reach those in need.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also notable that Harris doesn\u2019t have the decades-long relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Biden has. She won\u2019t attend his public address to Congress on Wednesday, although she reportedly has plans to meet with him later in the week.<\/p>\n
Philip Gordon, Harris\u2019 national security adviser, would likely play a major role in her administration\u2019s foreign policy apparatus. Gordon previously served as a Middle East adviser to former President Barack Obama and helped negotiate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.<\/p>\n
As part of Harris\u2019 staff, Gordon has participated in meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. According to a White House readout of Gordon\u2019s June trip to Israel and the West Bank, Gordon discussed \u201cday-after planning efforts,\u201d expressed U.S. support for Israel and emphasized the importance of improving humanitarian aid delivery.<\/p>\n
It appears likely that Harris would continue the Biden administration\u2019s approach toward Ukraine, should she become president.<\/p>\n
Since Russia\u2019s invasion of the country in February 2022, Harris has regularly played a role in the Biden administration\u2019s pro-Ukraine messaging on the world stage.<\/p>\n
Just this month, during a campaign event in Greensboro, N.C., Harris promoted Biden\u2019s efforts to, as she put it, strengthen the NATO military alliance and stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n
Harris was the administration\u2019s representative at each of the past three Munich Security Conferences, during which she met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n
At the 2023 conference, Harris repeated a refrain often used by Biden: \u201cThe United States will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n
In February, following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a Russian penal colony, Harris publicly said that Russia was responsible \u2014 a clear message to Putin. <\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat in the Senate Ukraine Caucus and an appropriator, said in an email on Monday that Durbin, who has endorsed Harris, was confident in how she might approach the issue of war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Biden-Harris administration proved its unwavering support to Ukraine and the growing NATO alliance over the last three and a half years. With Vice President Harris on the ticket, Senator Durbin is confident the U.S. will continue to repel Putin\u2019s tyranny, have a strong relationship with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, and continue to push for the necessary resources for Ukraine to win this war,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
It is also likely that Harris would inherit at least some of the government apparatus that existed during the Biden administration in the form of staff within government agencies like the Defense Department and the National Security Council.<\/p>\n
Mykola Murskyj, the director of advocacy for Razom for Ukraine, a pro-Ukraine nonprofit, said his organization was hopeful that a potential Harris presidency would continue Biden\u2019s support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cVice President Harris has stood by President Biden as he stood with Ukraine, and so we\u2019re hopeful that she continues and indeed expands on his support,\u201d Murskyj said.<\/p>\n
Migration into the United States from Mexico was Harris\u2019 top foreign policy mission under Biden, but the vice president\u2019s multiple visits to Asia show she has prioritized that region as well. <\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly, Harris\u2019 comments about China in the last three-plus years reflect Biden\u2019s policies, so it is not easy to discern what Harris might do differently on China if she is elected president.<\/p>\n
Harris, like Biden, has emphasized the need to reduce Western economic reliance on China without strangling trade between the two nations or potentially hurting the U.S. economy through steep tariffs of the sort Trump espouses. Harris also echoes Biden\u2019s stress on engaging in competition with China but not conflict.<\/p>\n
Like the president, Harris has called out China for what she has characterized as its domineering behavior toward its neighbors.<\/p>\n
During a 2022 visit to the Philippines, for example, Harris criticized China for \u201cintimidation and coercion\u201d of Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n
In 2023, during a Southeast Asian summit, she called out China\u2019s efforts to control other nations\u2019 access to those waters as \u201cbullying.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. policy toward Taiwan, an island nation that China considers a breakaway region, has been one of \u201cstrategic ambiguity,\u201d signifying U.S. ability to defend Taiwan and to provide it with weapons but no explicit U.S. commitment to come to Taiwan\u2019s defense if it is attacked.<\/p>\n
Harris has reiterated that policy and underscored U.S. support for Taiwan\u2019s security in the face of People\u2019s Liberation Army military exercises near Taiwan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have witnessed disturbing behavior in the East China Sea and in the South China Sea, and most recently, provocations across the Taiwan Strait,\u201d Harris said during a visit to a U.S. Navy destroyer in Japan in 2022.<\/p>\n
The administration will \u201ccontinue to oppose any unilateral change to the status quo\u201d in Taiwan, she added. \u201cAnd we will continue to support Taiwan\u2019s self-defense, consistent with our long-standing policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a senator, Harris helped write legislation aimed at protecting the rights of people in Hong Kong, which is a so-called special administrative region of China, and sanctioning Chinese persons who violate those rights. She was also outspoken in defending the besieged Uyghur population in northwestern China.<\/p>\n
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