President Biden's foreign policy slogan 'America's back' was useful in appealing to Europe and NATO allies but failed to resonate with the rest of the world, which does not want to return to a time when the US and Europe told them what to do, revealing a fundamental misconception about what international order is possible.

factualpending

Speaker

Ben Rhodes

Evidence Quote

he had a slogan that he used when he was running for president the first time... 'America's back'... what I think he found is that was a useful worldview in like Europe and with NATO and with a handful of Asian allies but the rest of the world is like we don't want to go back to when you guys told us what to do

Source

Ben Rhodes: The Warren and Anita Manshel Lecture in American Foreign PolicyWeatherhead Center for International Affairs
Created: 8/11/2026, 7:23:32 AM

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