Since US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race last Sunday, his deputy Kamala Harris has received the support of most influential Democrats in the party, including officials, legislators, federal and social groups, women's and human rights institutions, and others, which has dispelled any attempts to challenge her in the competition for the Democratic Party nomination at the party's convention next month in Chicago.

Hundreds of former Democratic foreign policy leaders this week also backed Vice President Harris in her White House bid, praising Harris, their party's presumptive nominee, for her foreign policy credentials despite her limited experience in diplomacy.

Notably, her rapid trajectory to the top of the ticket just days after President Biden announced he was dropping out of the race comes at a time of heightened global tension, leaving voters questioning her position on critical foreign policy issues, including military support for Israel and Ukraine, the migrant crisis, and threats from China.

“Vice President Harris has played a limited role in shaping the Biden administration’s foreign policy, even in areas where she is involved, most notably the administration’s approach to illegal immigration along the southern border,” the New York Times reported. “Yet former President Donald Trump’s campaign sought to link her to the influx of migrants while portraying her as inexperienced” in foreign policy, raising questions about her positions on hot-button foreign policy issues.”

War on Gaza

In reviewing Harris’s positions on the Israeli war on Gaza, Harris was largely in line with Biden on U.S. support for Israel in its war on Hamas in Gaza. She consistently and consistently reiterated the administration’s position that Israel has the right to defend itself, but she took a more strident tone on the suffering of people in Gaza.

"What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating," Harris told reporters after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.

“The images of dead children, desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes for a second, third or fourth time – we cannot turn a blind eye to these tragedies,” she said, adding: “I will not be silent.”

Harris did not attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress on Wednesday (7/24/24), but she condemned anti-war and anti-Netanyahu protesters who burned the American flag and spray-painted anti-Israel graffiti on statues near the Capitol on Wednesday.

After meeting with Netanyahu, Harris also said she met with the families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas since the group's October 7 attack and told them, "I stand with them."

Last March, Harris called for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza and said the situation in the Strip was a "humanitarian catastrophe."

“In an interview later that month, Harris echoed the Biden administration’s opposition to the Israeli invasion of Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million people have fled, saying, ‘There’s no place for these people to go,’” according to The New York Times.

War in Ukraine

Harris's unequivocal support for Ukraine in its war against Russia marks a significant moment for the vice president on the world stage and stands in sharp contrast to the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.

At the Munich Security Conference in February, “Harris assured world leaders that she and Biden stood with Ukraine but could not guarantee the unwavering support of the U.S. Congress,” according to the New York Times.

She also accused Russia of committing "crimes against humanity" in its invasion of Ukraine and said it must be held accountable for its "barbaric" actions in the war.

Harris also warned China against providing support to Russia.

Immigration

Perhaps the hottest issue in the upcoming elections, as in previous elections, is the immigration issue. It is worth noting that when Biden took office on January 20, 2021, he eased some of the measures that Trump had put in place on the southern border, which included separating families and building a wall.

Biden-era policies have coincided with a surge in global migration, leading to a sharp increase in the number of undocumented migrants crossing the southern border into the United States. Biden has tasked Harris with addressing the root causes of migration in Central America, such as poverty, crime rates and corruption.

On a visit to Guatemala in 2021, her first foreign trip as vice president, she said the United States would investigate corruption in the country but warned migrants hoping to reach the U.S. border and Guatemalan citizens, “Don’t come” (according to The New York Times).

Republicans have sought to blame Harris for the large numbers of migrants crossing, calling her a "failed border czar."

“We are very clear, and I think most Americans are clear, that we have a broken immigration system and we need to fix it,” Harris said in March.

According to the New York Times, Harris recently backed a bipartisan border security proposal that Republican lawmakers killed at Trump’s urging. The deal would have closed the U.S. border with Mexico if crossings reached a plateau and would have funded more money.

Indian and Pacific Oceans

Harris spoke about the threat China poses to U.S. allies and interests in Asia. “We will continue to support Taiwan’s self-defense, consistent with our longstanding policy,” she said, according to the New York Times.

Harris has also made comments on matters outside China. At a September summit in Indonesia with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Harris called on Myanmar’s military regime, which staged a coup in 2021, to “end the horrific violence” and “re-establish” democracy.

During a speech in Singapore in 2021, she condemned China's maritime actions, which have included intimidating other countries' fishing fleets and building artificial islands in the South China Sea.

“We know that Beijing continues to coerce, intimidate and claim the vast majority of the South China Sea,” she said.

Africa

The New York Times says on this point that Africa is in the midst of a population boom that could force the United States to change its relationship with the continent. “In 2023, the vice president took a weeklong trip to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia to counter the narrative that the United States views Africa as a mere pawn to protect against Chinese and Russian expansion.”

"I am confident that African creativity and innovation will shape the future of the world," she said in Ghana (according to the newspaper).

“Harris’s trip (to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia) came amid efforts to curtail gay rights in all three countries, and she had to navigate her long-standing commitment to gay rights. When asked about the changes to gay rights during a news conference with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, Harris said she had “raised the issue,” but did not specify with whom or in which country, or what the response was,” the newspaper reported.

"This is an issue that we consider, and I consider, a human rights issue, and it will not change," Harris added.

The year after her trip, Harris announced a partnership that aims to provide internet access to 80 percent of the continent by 2030.