Secretary of State John Kerry denied that the United States maintained a foreign policy of disengagement under the Obama administration, calling that perception “a marketing problem” on Thursday.
“I hear people allege that the United States is retrenching and that we’re somehow pulling back,” Kerry said during the Atlantic‘s Washington Ideas Festival. “But … I think if you measure all of American history, there has never been a moment where the United States is more engaged in more places simultaneously on as significant a number of complicated issues as we are today, and with impact.”
Kerry then ran through a list of U.S. efforts around the world, including battles against Ebola and AIDS, striving for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, sanctioning Russia over the incursion into Ukraine, and fighting the Islamic State in Libya.
In response, interviewer Steve Clemons suggested the creation of a bumper sticker that rebuffed the public perception of American retrenchment.
“Maybe we need a bumper sticker or something like, “‘There’s a lot going on. More going on than you think,'” he said.
Clemons then suggested that the perception of disengagement was “a marketing problem.” Kerry agreed.
“I like that,” Kerry said. “It is a marketing problem.”
Kerry’s comment echoes those of other administration officials, including President Obama, who have frequently linked policy problems to messaging issues.
