As Thursday’s presidential debate reverberated through American politics, most attention focused on President Biden’s faltering performance. But there is another dimension to the story. The debate moved foreign policy to center stage in the presidential race even as it raised the temperature of world politics and increased the chances of more international crises as the U.S. election approaches.
American presidential debates typically revolve around domestic issues like fiscal policy and culture wars, but last week’s shocker was an exception. Donald Trump has decided that foreign policy is a crucial weakness of the Biden presidency, and he hammered relentlessly at a theme he believes will work for him.