Three years ago, the Biden administration commenced its foreign policy agenda by assuring allies that America was "back” from its brief spell of isolationism. In his first address to a global audience as president in 2021, Biden outlined his administration’s global priorities , including salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, ending the days of “the United States rolling over in the face of Russia’s aggressive actions,” and blunting the “growing ambitions of China to rival the United States.”

Now it’s clear that Biden has failed on all three fronts, and as a result, it may soon find itself embroiled in three hot wars against adversaries (Russia, Iran, and China) that appear increasingly united.

In Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Biden’s bluff by invading neighboring Ukraine in early 2022. The Biden team rallied NATO allies in the early months, contributing to Ukraine’s surprisingly effective efforts to repel the Russian invasion. But as the conflict morphed into a protracted and grueling stalemate, America's failure to articulate and pursue a clear endgame has squandered its early gains.

In recent months, Putin appears to have weathered the internal chaos that ensued from his failure to conquer Ukraine quickly and achieve his stated objective to liberate the Donbas. It appears increasingly likely that neither country will emerge victorious by any significant measure. This is a disappointing result for the U.S. since it has already contributed $75 billion to the Ukrainian effort before Biden’s most recent demand from Congress for an additional $61 billion .

The Biden administration’s failure to deter Iran’s militaristic ambitions is perhaps even more dire than its indecisiveness in Ukraine. The naive assumption that Iran was “appeasable” through barrels of cash has been forever shattered by recent events in Israel.

There has been much consternation in recent days regarding whether or not the $6 billion in unfrozen humanitarian aid to Iran contributed to the state’s sponsorship of Hamas’s recent terrorist attack. But more pertinent is the $56 billion given to Tehran via the Obama administration’s disastrous Iran nuclear deal in 2015. Instead of deterring the mullahs, these funds (and America’s conciliatory stance toward Iran) only emboldened it to pursue its aims more quickly.

Whether or not the Biden administration admits this (they’ve done everything they can to save face by minimizing Iran’s role in Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack), Iran is at war with Israel and the U.S. It cannot be bargained with or bought. It must be confronted.

Meanwhile, reports from the Indo-Pacific indicate that China is quietly ramping up its naval presence to prepare for an invasion of Taiwan. The island is America’s key ally due to its high production of semiconductors and advanced chips, as well as its central location within the crucial region.

The fate of Taiwan also has major implications for the global order. Should Taiwan fall to China, America’s military capabilities in the region would be significantly limited, which would allow China to assert its local dominance and continue to bolster its position as leader of a rapidly emerging parallel global order. It is not an exaggeration to say that the fate of the world hinges on China’s ability to annex the tech powerhouse.

At the very least, such an event would be perilous for other key American allies in the region, including Japan and South Korea.

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Biden assured Americans that the U.S. had the capacity to defend both Ukraine and Israel simultaneously. “We’re the United States of America, for God’s sake, the most powerful nation in the history — not in the world, in the history of the world,” Biden said. “We can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall international defense.”

Given his administration’s failure to pursue the priorities it laid out from the beginning, not to mention its historically blundered exit from Afghanistan in 2021 and its bizarre preoccupation with a leftist diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda , it is difficult to swallow Biden’s bullishness regarding his administration’s ability to further the interests of the U.S. overseas. Should a third hot war break out in the Pacific and our resources get stretched even thinner, these failures will only be compounded.

It is clear the sharks are circling. Whether or not the U.S. regains its ability to deter and repel its enemies is another matter.

Peter Laffin is a contributor at the Washington Examiner. His work has also appeared in RealClearPolitics, the Catholic Thing, and the National Catholic Register.