COLUMN-OPINION: By Invitation- Vaccines for VFA deal – the challenge Biden faces in dealing with Duterte
The incoming US president will have to find a balance between a values agenda and geopolitical interests in managing relations with the Philippines led by a pugnacious populist.
President-elect Joseph Biden has made the restoration of America’s frayed ties with allies a top foreign policy priority. But the incoming American leader will face major hurdles in places such as the Philippines.
In his latest strategic outburst, President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to fully nix the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), a backbone of Philippine-US military cooperation currently placed on probation, unless Washington provides tens of millions of Covid-19 vaccines.
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