SVG
Commentary
Wall Street Journal

US Foreign Policy Wanders Aimlessly

walter_russell_mead
walter_russell_mead
Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship
Supporters of the Iran-backed Houthis demonstrate in Sanaa, Yemen, on June 14, 2024. (Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Caption
Supporters of the Iran-backed Houthis demonstrate in Sanaa, Yemen, on June 14, 2024. (Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Giorgia Meloni was the winner of last week’s Group of Seven meeting. Whether giving French President Emmanuel Macron the or stitching up a deal to increase Italy’s clout in the European Union, the Italian prime minister had a good summit. Once stigmatized as a neofascist from the fringes of Europe’s hard right, Ms. Meloni has firmly entrenched herself at the center of European politics. She has become a role model for figures like Marine Le Pen in France, and the European Union seems to be moving in Ms. Meloni’s direction on issues like migration and climate change.

, by contrast, is struggling. While administration supporters denounced what they called a cropped and misleading of a befuddled-looking president wandering across the lawn, the image aptly depicted the state of an American foreign policy that has largely lost its way.