What would a Harris administration foreign policy look like? These diplomats want to know.
They’re still watching to see how a Harris White House could put its own spin on multilateral partnerships.
Prominent members of the Washington diplomatic corps said Tuesday that they don’t expect a Kamala Harris presidency will differ much from the Biden administration when it comes to U.S. support for Ukraine and U.S. engagement with transatlantic allies.
But they’re still watching to see how a Harris administration could put its own spin on multilateral engagements and partnerships as it builds on efforts made under Joe Biden.
“We certainly do expect a great deal of continuity there,” Estonian Ambassador Kristjan Prikk said in conversation with POLITICO. Yet he noted that his country wants to see a Harris administration provide “clear signals and clear understanding of their views, including the issues that they want to keep, keep the way that they are, and some changes, too.”
Canadian Ambassador Kirsten Hillman said that while her country also expects continuity, she noted that Harris has different experiences and priorities that will inform her foreign policy, pointing to her personal focus on tech issues and her work on hemispheric security issues and migration. That different perspective, she added, could provide new opportunities for bilateral cooperation as Washington and Ottawa deepen existing ties.
“There’s crossover there, I think, in defense and security and new technologies and maintaining leadership and global sort of governance around some technologies that offer enormous opportunities but also pose important risks, including national security risks,” Hillman said. “I think that would be another, another issue that we’re looking for.”
U.S. allies have telegraphed their anxieties over the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House and the effects a second Trump presidency could have on U.S. support for Ukraine and U.S. engagement in NATO and the Indo-Pacific. And Harris’ relationships with key world leaders and U.S. partners have received scrutiny since her ascension to the top of the Democratic ticket, as foreign policy hands scour for clues in call logs and readouts about how a Harris presidency could approach U.S. engagements around the world differently.
At least one envoy praised Harris’ hospitality as vice president.
British Ambassador Karen Pierce, whose official residence is located steps away from the Naval Observatory where Harris and Doug Emhoff live, called Harris and Emhoff “very nice neighbors.”
“They very kindly invited my husband and me to their 50 years of hip-hop party. I am very sorry to say we were totally out of place, but we had a great time,” Pierce said. “We’ve seen the second gentleman quite a few times, and when the vice president moved in, the New Zealand ambassador and I went over with welcome gifts. So we’ve been really honored to be that close.”
Pierce, though, demurred when asked if her proximity to Harris afforded her any unique insights into the Democratic nominee’s foreign policy vision. “It’s quite hard to talk about foreign policy during hip-hop — it doesn’t kind of lend itself to that discussion,” she quipped.