The Quiet Reformation of Biden’s Foreign Policy

Joe Biden is running as a restorationist, offering a return to the Obama era. But he likely wouldn’t govern as a restorationist, at least when it comes to foreign policy and America’s role in the world.

The Biden campaign believes that the candidate’s connection to Barack Obama is an asset, and no political benefit exists in distancing Biden from the former president, except in the gentlest of ways. However, an influential group in the wider Democratic foreign-policy community from which Biden will draw if he wins, including some people who are a formal part of his campaign, have not been thinking about how to return to Obama’s policies. They have spent much of the past three years thinking about what they need to do differently if they have another bite at the apple.

[Read: When Obama talked Biden out of running for president]

For simplicity’s sake, call them the 2021 Democrats. The group is informal, with no organization or meetings; some members are part of Biden’s team, others have worked for other campaigns or none at all. They are foreign-policy experts, academics, politicians, and congressional staffers.