Harris prioritizes foreign policy and NATO – continues Ukraine support

WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to stick largely to Joe Biden's foreign policy playbook on key issues such as Ukraine, China and Iran but could strike a tougher tone with Israel over the Gaza war if she replaces the president at the top of the Democratic ticket and wins the U.S. November election.

As the apparent frontrunner for the nomination after Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her on Sunday, Harris would bring on-the-job experience, personal ties forged with world leaders, and a sense of global affairs gained during a Senate term and as Biden's second-in-command.

But running against Republican candidate Donald Trump, she would also have a major vulnerability - a troubled situation at the U.S.-Mexico border that has bedeviled Biden and become a top campaign issue. Harris was tasked at the start of his term with addressing the root causes of high irregular migration, and Republicans have sought to make her the face of the problem.

On a range of global priorities, said analysts, a Harris presidency would resemble a second Biden administration.

"She may be a more energetic player but one thing you shouldn't expect – any immediate big shifts in the substance of Biden's foreign policy," said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator for Democratic and Republican administrations.

Harris has signaled, for instance, that she would not deviate from Biden's staunch support for NATO and would continue backing Ukraine in its fight against Russia. That stands in sharp contrast to a pledge by former president Trump to fundamentally alter the U.S. relationship with the alliance and the doubts he has raised about future weapons supplies to Kyiv.