Throughout history national leaders have been judged almost exclusively on how well they advanced state security. Those who did so best received the highest ranking. Today, the task is far more complex. With globalization and advances in communications and travel, what happens around the world can have profound impacts on the United States. The ensuing challenges demand the attention of a president, and a nation, that is prepared to face them.
Promoting a democratic and free world order in the new age of global politics requires four broad strategies. First, the United States must sustain and strengthen the bases of its power. This means ensuring that America’s economy is not overextended and that the United States retains its technological and military edge. It also means sustaining and strengthening a network of alliances and trade agreements with countries that share our democratic values and interests, and making sure that the American public understands the value of supporting the diplomats and other foreign service personnel who make these relationships possible.
Neither Biden nor Harris offers a fully articulated plan for confronting these challenges, but their record in government suggests that they are likely to avoid the radical disruption that Trump promises and to offer continuity with some tweaks. In particular, their approaches to standing up to foreign pressure and promoting multilateralism suggest that a future Harris administration may not diverge as much from a future Trump administration in terms of its foreign policy approach as one might have expected given their different ideological temperaments.