Catchphrase Diplomacy Is Back

For days, the White House teased Joe Biden’s first major foreign-policy address as a noteworthy event. Jake Sullivan, the national-security adviser, even made an appearance at the briefing room podium to talk it up on Thursday: “He wants to send a clear message that our national-security strategy will lead with diplomacy” and re-establish American strength on the global stage.

His boss delivered on that preview during his speech at the State Department later that afternoon. “America is back,” declared Biden, just as he did in his November remarks introducing his foreign-policy appointees. And he said it again for emphasis: “America is back. Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy.” He’d said the same thing an hour earlier when he spoke to U.S. foreign-service officers.

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Jimmy Quinn

Jimmy Quinn is the former national security correspondent for National Review.

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For days, the White House teased Joe Biden’s first major foreign-policy address as a noteworthy event. Jake Sullivan, the national-security adviser, even made an appearance at the briefing room podium to talk it up on Thursday: “He wants to send a clear message that our national-security strategy will lead with diplomacy” and re-establish American strength on the global stage.

His boss delivered on that preview during his speech at the State Department later that afternoon. “America is back,” declared Biden, just as he did in his November remarks introducing his foreign-policy appointees. And he said it again for emphasis: “America is back. Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy.” He’d said the same thing an hour earlier when he spoke to U.S. foreign-service officers.