US President-elect Joe Biden's pledge to make diplomacy "the first instrument of American power” represents a welcome departure from President Donald Trump’s transactional approach to the world. But crafting a diplomacy-first US foreign policy will require revamping America's foreign-policy institutions.
WASHINGTON, DC – US President-elect Joe Biden has made it clear that diplomacy will be at the center of his administration’s foreign policy. Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris climate agreement on day one of his administration, recommit to NATO allies, return the United States to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and convene a “Summit for Democracy” to “renew the spirit and shared purpose of the nations of the free world.” As he wrote in Foreign Affairs in March, “diplomacy should be the first instrument of American power.”
WASHINGTON, DC – US President-elect Joe Biden has made it clear that diplomacy will be at the center of his administration’s foreign policy. Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris climate agreement on day one of his administration, recommit to NATO allies, return the United States to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and convene a “Summit for Democracy” to “renew the spirit and shared purpose of the nations of the free world.” As he wrote in Foreign Affairs in March, “diplomacy should be the first instrument of American power.”