President Biden delivered a broad reset of America’s place in the world, putting diplomacy at the heart of his foreign policy on Thursday as he signaled to allies Washington is ready to resume its role as a global leader.
If that wasn’t a clear enough repudiation of his predecessor’s “America first” approach, he also promised to stand up to Russia, raise limits on immigration quotas, and end American support for the Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen.
In so doing, foreign policy experts said they saw a “Biden doctrine” that valued process, such as negotiation and alliance building, as the path to good outcomes.
“We’re a country that does big things. American diplomacy makes it happen,” said Biden. “And our administration is ready to take up the mantle and lead once again.”
In his first visit to the State Department as president, the former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman also tried to restore morale among diplomats who had frequently been viewed with suspicion by the Trump White House.
“You are the center of all that I intend to do,” he told them in brief remarks delivered before the main speech. “You are the heart of it. We’re going to rebuild our alliances.”
Officials made clear everyone understood the symbolism of his visit, reminding reporters that former President Donald Trump had waited more than a year to address the State Department.
Biden also signaled a change in dealing with Moscow, saying he told President Vladimir Putin last week that the days of the United States “rolling over” in the face of Russian activities were over.
And he demanded Myanmar’s armed forces should give up power and release officials and activists detained in a coup.
“There can be no doubt in a democracy, force should never seek to overrule the will of the people or attempt to erase the outcome of a credible election,” he said beneath the glittering chandeliers of the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room.
But policy specifics were few. Instead, Biden laid out how getting the process right would translate into action.
“This administration is going to empower you to do your jobs, not target or politicize,” he told diplomats, in a slightly veiled jab at Trump. “We want a rigorous debate that brings all perspectives and makes room for dissent. That’s how we’ll get the best possible policy outcomes.”
There were few surprises in the speech, said Dominic Tierney, professor of political science at Swarthmore College.
“One of the hallmarks of the Biden doctrine is the clarity on the means of foreign policy as much as the ends,” he said. “So although there wasn’t a huge amount of precision on exactly what he was going to do about Russia and so on, there was clarity on the process — that we’re going to work with allies.”
He also pointed to a hangover from the Trump years: a continued sense that foreign policy needs to serve the interests of the middle class.
As Biden put it: “There’s no longer a bright line between foreign and domestic policy. Every action we take, and our conduct abroad, we must take with American working families in mind.”
Even so, Trump hard-liners see weakness in the new approach.
“The Biden approach certainly can’t be characterized as ‘America first,’” said Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy before Biden’s speech. “If this president puts America last, our national decline will be his lasting legacy.”
By visiting the State Department so early in his presidency, the message was really one of diplomacy first, said Michael Hanna, senior fellow at the Century Foundation.
“It’s both a show of confidence in a beleaguered institution and a break with the unprofessional and personalized engagements abroad that characterized the previous administration,” he said. “Also, by going to State first, Biden is clearly sending a signal about his intention to break with the overly militarized approach to foreign policy that has dominated policy since 9/11.”
