What Does a Foreign Policy for the Middle Class Look Like?

President Biden has talked about pursuing a foreign policy for middle class America and all Americans, but what does that actually mean? Foreign policy has become the province of elites in Washington, bypassing the views of many Americans when it comes to defense expenditures, overseas interventions, and our relationships with the rest of the world.  Partisan politics have tainted the way people see foreign policy and often leave the country bitterly divided. Biden says he wants to change this, but how?

On May 25, 2021, the Center for the National Interest and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft teamed up to examine how foreign policy impacts the heartland, what if anything needs to change in Washington, and what it would take to make foreign policy a “bread and butter issue” that improves the lives of Americans.

This conversation featured analysis from Michael Lind, professor of practice at the University of Texas; Rachel Bovard, senior director of policy at the Conservative Partnership Institute; and Daniel McCarthy, editor of Modern Age. The Quincy Institute’s Kelley Beaucar Vlahos moderated, and Center for the National Interest Vice President George Beebe provided introductory remarks.