Transition or reversion in America?

JOE Biden looks set to be sworn in as the next president of the United States. From some Americans, a sigh of relief is distinctly audible, as they can finally revert to what they perhaps perceive as “business as usual,” the familiar kind of somewhat bipartisan consensus that had come to dominate the mainstream discourse in America since at least the Second World War as to how best to govern the country that happens to be a superpower, regardless of which side of the political divide happened to be in power.

Domestically in America, this sort of longstanding politico-cultural and socioeconomic consensus would include affirmative action that is supposed to assist minorities, as well as political correctness in saying and writing the “correct” things about circumstances ranging from everyday conversation to academic debates. And internationally, US foreign policy has been widely acknowledged to be one of the few sectors where there is genuine bipartisan consensus, enabling the US to project not only its hard power but also its smartly crafted image as a beacon of democracy around the world.