MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. US President-elect Joe Biden is likely to be guided by the principle "just not the way Trump would have it" when shaping his economic policy, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote in his op-ed published by tass.com on Saturday.
"It seems of much more interest to us what Joe Biden's economic policy will look like. And this is often shaped based on the thesis "just not the way Trump would have it," he noted. "It's some sort of a tradition: the same way, the 45th president without hesitation reversed the 44th president Barack Obama's directives on all tracks."
He underscored that it is a sovereign choice of a state to develop its own legal and political system but many nations, first of all the United States, are seeking to impose their model of development on the world as the most efficient.
"Certainly, there is no legal and political system that can be called the monument of "classical" democracy. It is constantly developing and improving," he wrote. "The question is how relevant and timely the models that are offered as a replacement for those that have lost their progressive potential are. And here what we need is a combination of sound conservatism and well-timed new laws. Both artificial preservation of and constant experimentation with political and legal realities pose a danger. The post-Soviet nations have the examples of both, state regimes sometimes transiting from the presidential system to parliamentary and back once every two or three years."
According to Medvedev, many world capitals have questions about the policy continuity of the United States as a major international player, since the centuries-long tradition of continuity of administrations, especially in what concerns foreign policies, was shattered after the 2016 elections. "This time, again, the US's stance on a range of key issues depends on the election results. Where shall we witness a reverse in policy, a getting-around to approaches adopted by Barack Obama and his predecessors' administrations? Let us take a look at the critical issue of fighting against the coronavirus. The 2020 candidates' opposing viewpoints regarding the danger of COVID-19 will lead to an expanded scope and increased stringency of pandemic-related measures implemented in the US as one of the main short-term effects of the election outcomes. This will influence the lives and health of Americans as well as the well-being of citizens in neighbouring countries and the US's allies," he wrote. "The polarization among citizens themselves, when you could tell with great certainty by the presence or absence of a mask which party the voter has voted for, was grotesque indeed."