Foreign Policy Views of US Presidental candidates during the 2020 election campaign

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2640.2026.162.9

Abstract

Background. In the 21^st century United States remain as a main dominating force and the most influential country in the world. Thus, both its internal and external policy are of considerable interest to historical scholarship, having great potential for the future studies. That’s why the topicality of the chosen topic is quite obvious since the study of the issue provides us with the better understanding of different foreign policy visions of the members of various political parties and spectra within the American political establishment on the eve of the 2020 elections. It enables us to compare them and trace the whole process of their development during the following period of history as well.

The aim of the article is to analyze the foreign policy views of candidates from different parties in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The particular objectives of the study are as such: to compare views on US foreign policy among the candidates for the presidency from the Democratic Party; to study the foreign policy positions of the main Republican party candidates considering the issue in study; to identify the global foreign policy approaches of candidates from the Green and Libertarian Party; to analyze the views on the US international policy expressed by D. Trump and J. Biden during the 2020 presidential debates.

Methods. The researcher uses the general scientific metods. Analysis is used to examine individual components of the foreign policy programs of representatives of various U.S. parties. The method of synthesis serves primarily to construct a full picture of each presidential candidate’s views. Specialized historical methods were also used. Among them the comparative method was applied to compare politicians’ programs, while the historical-typological one was used to study their common features.

 Results. The main foreign policy strategies of representatives of the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green parties in the context of the 2020 elections were studied and compared in accordance with the selected set of parameters.

Conclusions. Among all the Democratic Party candidates in the 2020 election, J. Biden’s liberal-pragmatic approach gained the most support. His strategy was based upon the ideas of diplomatic foreign policy and also on defending democratic values worldwide. As for the the Republicans, ideological and political leadership was secured by D. Trump with his populist neo-isolationism. The Libertarians with their free-market isolationism and the «Greens» with their pacifist external policy weren’t the real competitors to the candidates of the main parties due to a very low level of popular support. Ultimately, J. Biden won the election.

 Keywords: international politics, United States, Joseph Biden, Donald Trump, 2020 Presidential election, Democratic Party, Republican Party.