President Joe Biden’s attempts at deepening ties in the Pacific are again competing with other, pressing issues, this time the brewing war in the Middle East that is looming over his lavish state welcome for Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Biden’s invitation to his Australian counterpart was a consolation prize after he abruptly scrapped a planned visit down under earlier this year to return to Washington when the US government was on the verge of a calamitous debt default. At the time, the scrambled plans were viewed as a sign of dysfunctional American politics interrupting the administration’s efforts to counter China’s growing influence in the Pacific.
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