President Joe Biden and his top foreign policy advisers have demonstrated how effective diplomacy can be in a crisis. They have worked tirelessly to build a powerful, coordinated response to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Though this has not yet ended the war, it has greatly increased the cost to Putin.
It has also sucked up most of the oxygen in the White House, the National Security Council and the State Department. But other crises haven’t abated in the meantime, from Yemen to Myanmar, Ethiopia to Afghanistan. If the State Department were better resourced and empowered, the United States could bring more robust, nonmilitary foreign policy solutions to many more complex conflicts around the world.
Diplomacy is the least risky and least costly foreign policy tool at our disposal, but it has taken a back seat for years to a military-first approach and budget, leaving us less prepared to provide the global, nonmilitary solutions required.
