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A great power has let its foreign service slip, to a dangerous degree

Sorry state

America needs to invest more in diplomacy, argues Daniel Franklin

WHO WILL run the world in 2021? International institutions such as the United Nations
have been weakened by great-power rivalry. Russia will be a spoiler, not a leader. In
Europe, Boris Johnson will have his hands full with the aftermath of Brexit, Germany’s
Angela Merkel will leave the stage and France’s Emmanuel Macron has limited means to
pursue his grand ideas. China is the rising superpower, and an increasingly assertive
one, but not yet keen, let alone able, to take on the burdens of world leadership. The
question is whether America, under President Joe Biden, will be prepared to step back
into the role.

For some years now America, weary of its “endless wars”, has been in retreat. Barack
Obama believed it was time to focus on “nation-building at home”. Donald Trump took
to withdrawal with gusto, pulling the country out of a long list of international
arrangements, including the Paris climate agreement, the Iran nuclear deal and—in the
middle of a pandemic—the World Health Organisation. As America has stepped back,