SVG
Commentary
Wall Street Journal

Biden’s Foreign-Policy Blast From the Past

walter_russell_mead
walter_russell_mead
Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship
US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken attends a press conference about the 2016 annual report on international religious freedom at the US Department of State August 10, 2016 in Washington, DC.
Caption
US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken attends a press conference about the 2016 annual report on international religious freedom at the US Department of State August 10, 2016 in Washington, DC.

Optimism is a rare commodity in this difficult year, but I came away from a conversation with Antony Blinken, Joe Biden’s senior foreign-policy adviser, believing the former vice president’s campaign is confident that the old-time Democratic policy playbook will bring success abroad and at home.

This sort of optimism, the belief that working hard and sticking to your principles will bring results, is a defining characteristics of the American spirit. Pessimists don’t change countries and cultures in hope of building a better life. And a nation of pessimists produces few world-class innovators and entrepreneurs.

In foreign affairs the case for optimism is limited. A nation of pessimists wouldn’t have come up with the Marshall Plan—but neither would it have overthrown Moammar Gadhafi, certain a more peaceful Libya would emerge.

Read the full article in