The Democrats Just Erased All of Their Progress on Foreign Policy

These shifts reflect the Biden administration’s—and the party’s—drift away from the goals of the 2020 platform. By continuing its unconditional support of Israel, Democrats in Washington are making it more likely that the U.S. will engage in the kind of military intervention in the Middle East that the party disavowed four years ago. Likewise, it’s no wonder that support for congressional war powers was axed from the platform, given that since October 7 the U.S. has used military force in Syria, Iraq, and the Red Sea without approval from the legislature.

The Democratic platform abandons the progress made in 2020 in more subtle ways, too. The last platform noted that “when misused and overused, sanctions not only undermine our interests, they threaten one of the United States’ greatest strategic assets: the importance of the American financial system.” But the Biden administration has done little to meaningfully reform the sanctions regime, and the new platform does not repeat these concerns about overuse. Both platforms call for competition with China, but in 2020 it said that Democrats would do so while avoiding the trap of a “new Cold War”—language that does not appear this time around.

Biden arrived at the White House pledging to reinvigorate American foreign policy with his vision to bolster democracy, human rights, and diplomacy. After some early successes—such as the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the strengthening of constraints on drone use, and the pledge not to send U.S. troops to Eastern Europe while continuing to support Ukraine after Russia’s invasion—his administration’s unconditional support for Israel’s war in Gaza has scrambled his legacy and forced an unfortunate reversal in the party’s stated positions. But Biden won’t be the party’s leader for long, so it’s time to start asking Vice President Kamala Harris: Are these your foreign policy positions, too?