Will Biden’s Foreign Policy Pragmatism Inspire the Left?

Joe Biden has just laid out a distinctly centrist foreign policy agenda aimed at making a case against President Donald Trump. What’s not yet clear is how much this will enhance his standing in the Democratic primary — or the general election, if he makes it that far.

In his first major campaign speech on foreign policy this week, the former vice president promised to undo the diplomatic damage Trump has done. Biden lambasted the president’s solicitude for autocrats, his astonishing depletion of American soft power, his gratuitously antagonistic approach toward allies. But he said it’s still possible to repair the damage: by reinvesting in diplomacy, rolling back the most xenophobic and inhumane aspects of Trump’s immigration policy, recommitting to multilateral climate-change diplomacy, and restoring support for democracy and human rights overseas.