Why President Sleepy Joe will keep Australia up at night

It’s not yet certain, but it is looking likely that Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States, the Democrats will retain control of the House and the Republicans control of the Senate.

What this would mean is that Biden’s big policy reform agenda is off the table. No green new deal. No court-packing. No new states. No Medicare for all.

This leaves a Biden administration just two policy levers to affect his agenda (announced, revised or emerged). The first lever is foreign policy, which has historically been the realm of the President. The second lever is executive action and executive orders.

On foreign policy, Australia and the rest of the world have reason to be alert. While Biden may be surrounded by…