From Afghanistan to Ukraine to Gaza: Politico’s Alexander Ward on the Evolution of Biden’s Foreign Policy
A vital new book for understanding Biden's approach to international relations
I was at the Aspen Security Forum last summer seated next to POLITICO’s Alex Ward. He’s a journalist I’ve gotten to know over the years — we tend to participate in many of the same foreign policy and international affairs conferences. (His NatSec Daily newsletter is a must-read and he’s been on the podcast a few times before.) During a downtime in the conference I noticed him working furiously at his computer and inquired — he was making some edits to his forthcoming book about the Biden’s administration’s foreign policy.
I knew immediately this was going to be a banger of a book.
The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore American Foreign Policy After Trump provides the definitive account of the first two years of the Biden administration’s foreign policy. It tells the story of how key players in the administration come to office seeking to re-orient US foreign policy after Trump. This includes designing and implementing what they deemed a “foreign policy for the middle class.” However, foreign policy crises soon overtake their well-laid plans. Ward tells the story of both the Afghanistan withdrawal and US response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in exquisite detail. This book is vital to understanding Biden’s foreign policy.
Given Alex Ward’s D.C. insider chops, I kicked off our conversation asking his perspective on the foreign policy implications, if any, of Mitch McConnell’s decision to step down as Republican Senate Leader next year. We then delve into the key themes and insights from his important new book.
The full podcast episode is available wherever you get your podcasts. Click here for links to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more. The full transcript is immediately available below the fold for paying subscribers.
Biden and Zelensky Used to SCREAM At Each Other
Edited for clarity
Mark Leon Goldberg Biden has been fond of saying that foreign policy is the natural extension of personal relationships. And one thing that really struck me from reading your book was how acrimonious the relationship was between Zelensky and Biden in the months and weeks leading up to the invasion. I hadn't really seen much reporting on that before — it was shocking to me. What were the roots of that acrimony, and why did they apparently see things so differently in the months leading up to the invasion?
Alex Ward Yeah, this is one of the stunning things I found out during the reporting of the book. We sort of knew that Biden, Zelensky weren't best of friends in the run up to the invasion, but we didn't know it was this bad — like screaming match bad. This was a truly angry relationship. And look, I'll tell you, there are still Biden administration officials working today that aren't exactly sure why Zelensky took it so poorly. But there are a couple of reasons that sort of come out of it. One is the Ukrainians didn't have the intelligence the U.S. had, and so they were like, look, if the Russians were really planning this, we would know. And the fact that Zelensky didn't have that intelligence in hand led him to some skepticism.
Mark Leon Goldberg And people should remember that just prior to the invasion, Zelensky was saying publicly, look, we know the Russians. They're not going to do this. Stop hyperventilating, everyone.
Alex Ward Right. He was worried about the psychological effect on people, about the economic effect on his country . No one's really excited when you hear the USA say you're about to be invaded. So he was worried about that. Zelensky also truly felt that if this was such an imminent crisis, why wasn't the U.S. sending weapons initially? Why weren't the Europeans sending weapons before an invasion? Why weren't there sanctions being placed on the Russians? He was basically like, you guys are saying that the sky is falling down, but you're doing nothing about it. That's sort of how he felt.
And then let's also not forget that the intelligence was coming in shortly after the fall of Afghanistan. And there was a sense from Zelensky and others in Europe that maybe the Americans were being overly cautious here, that maybe they were overhyping something to make sure they could stay out in front of it, and that they wouldn't be caught by surprise again because they were embarrassed by Afghanistan.
But look, nothing sharpens the mind like having your country be invaded. And basically the moment the Russian tanks start rolling in, Zelensky's like, "where are my weapons? Where's my help? Come to our support!" And now the US-Ukrainian relationship is better. It's not particularly great because there's a mismatch between what the US wants to provide, what the Ukrainians want to be given. But it's far better than where it was, because Biden and Zelensky were really, really at each other before the invasion. I mean, at some points Biden was like, "dude, protect your country! Like, what are you doing, just kind of sitting around waiting for this to happen to Ukraine?!" So yeah, a truly shocking period leading up to the invasion.

Other Key Takeaways From the Interview
The Biden administration’s “foreign policy for the middle class,” which considers the impact of global actions on the American populace, showcases a nuanced shift influenced by Trump-era politics.
Relations between Biden and Zelensky were strained before the Russian invasion, leading to tensions that have since adjusted following a mutual focus on Ukrainian defense.
The decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was met with comprehensive interagency deliberation, amid which Biden remained steadfast in his preference for withdrawal.
The approach to the crisis in Gaza mirrors early dealings with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, balancing public support with private diplomatic pressure.
The Biden administration has incorporated elements from Trump’s policies while maintaining distinct differences, particularly in key areas such as alliance building and addressing global crises.
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