Foreign Affairs in the Washington Today

America may still be a republic, but its foreign policy has long ago become imperial. It is no longer the ruler of its own spirit, as John Quincy Adams warned, but has been subcontracted to international relations scholars and other nations, whose lobbyists have more than earned their keep.

Washington faced serious challenges in determining the nation’s first foreign policy. He entrusted the job to his secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson.

The Foreign Policy Program at Brookings

The Foreign Policy Program at Brookings, an influential research and educational organization, is one of the most widely respected think tanks in the country. It is dedicated to advancing public understanding of critical issues facing the U.S. and the world through authoritative, independent, and nonpartisan research and analysis.

As a result, it is frequently called upon to shape policy in Washington. As such, it is home to several key initiatives that focus on a variety of international challenges.

Among these are the Latin America Initiative, the Center on the United States and Europe (CUSE), and the Turkey Project.

The Latin America Initiative, based within the Foreign Policy Program, provides high-quality, in-depth research and recommendations on the most pressing political, economic, and social policy issues facing Latin America and the Caribbean. It also fosters a high-level dialogue between U.S. and Latin American and Caribbean policymakers, leveraging Brookings’ authoritative, independent, and nonpartisan research; depth of practical expertise; and unparalleled convening power.

The Foreign Policy Blob

In the Obama years, national security adviser Ben Rhodes dubbed the Washington foreign policy establishment “the Blob.” He mocked it for its stodgy hawkishness. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump were skeptical of the capital’s groupthink, and they kept establishment types at arm’s length when they could.

But the Blob’s resurgence is a sign that the bipartisan foreign policy elite that Rhodes and others sought to discredit has regained its footing. It’s a group of senior officials who believe in U.S. engagement abroad, despite some of its political and economic challenges.

It’s a group that is wary of squandering increasingly controversial alliances with Israel or Saudi Arabia, for example. It’s a group that understands that the United States needs allies who are not necessarily democracies.

But by slamming all Democratic foreign policy voices as TEH BLOB, critics make it easier to dismiss their concerns as hyperbole. If we want to have a productive debate about Demcratic foreign policy, we may need to deconstruct what the term “TEH BLOB” means and discuss it more narrowly.

Foreign Policy in the 21st Century

The United States has emerged as the world’s lone superpower, with no rival possessing sufficient military, economic or technological strength to challenge it.

A key aim of American foreign policy is to secure America’s national interests, promoting the promotion and spread of its democratic values and international institutions. These goals are often achieved through diplomacy, economic strength and military might.

Traditionally, American foreign policy has been a relatively state-centric affair, with a strong emphasis on national interests and security. That changed with the 9/11 attacks, which reoriented political and national-security conversations toward a new threat: non-state actors.

A key issue for the State Department is to figure out how best to reconfigure the system of foreign policy at a time when governments are relatively less powerful. This will require a new approach to diplomacy that is rooted in a new sense of national interest. It will also require a broader understanding of how international crises affect the lives of people throughout the world, and an increased concern about their potential to be exacerbated by broad-based sanctions and weapons sales.

Foreign Policy and the 2020 Election

After the 2020 election, which reflected a deep division in society and marked a turning point in American foreign policy, the debate has entered a new stage. It has become clear that the United States no longer holds hegemony.

However, this does not mean that the liberal world order has been destroyed. Some political analysts and experts of liberal views admit that the post-Cold War world order has unravelled.

These experts believe that the U.S., under D. Trump, has abandoned the liberal hegemony that long animated Western foreign policy.

This has resulted in a global shift of power. It has also been a significant cause of instability in the international system.

Biden, for example, intends to return the United States to its position of leading the European Union. He wants to restore a true allied relationship with the EU, which unites 27 countries of Europe and is perceived by Washington as an antidote to nationalist movements in European nations.