The rhetoric reveals the direction of US foreign policy – and the work to be done unpicking the damage wrought by Trump
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has just wrapped up a week-long swing through Europe, while basking in the afterglow of not representing Donald Trump.
Along the way Blinken has delivered encouraging, albeit boilerplate, rhetoric: hearty appreciation for the US’s strong ties with Europe, a case for the importance of international cooperation and the Biden team’s latest riff on the responsibilities of the world’s democracies “to deliver” – not just for their citizens, but for the global population. The US has no better friend and partner than (he inserted the name of the country he was visiting) in pursuing this challenge of our time. Blinken’s rhetoric rarely deviates from the standard diplomatic playbook, but his language about China is revealing about the possible direction of nascent US foreign policy.
Related: China’s ambassador to the US to leave after eight years
Elise Labott is a columnist at Foreign Policy magazine and an adjunct professor at American University’s School of International Service