Thread by @djrothkopf

From Afghanistan to infrastructure, the climate crisis to defending democracy, China policy to inequality, today America is having a major debate about its priorities going forward. In many ways we have squandered the first decades of this century. It is time to rethink that.

President Biden has argued that rather than investing $3 trillion in wars--the vast majority of which goes to a handful of major U.S. defense contractors--we should invest it in the real sources of our security and strength: our people, our infrastructure, R&D, health, education.

He has argued that rather than focusing on wars that cannot be won, we should prepare for the challenges of the coming century, great power rivalries, competitiveness, and addressing urgent needs like the climate crisis.

He has emphasized that after neglecting infrastructure for half a century, not hardening our assets against next generation threats, not preparing our students properly, not upgrading our health care systems, we must meet those challenges now or lose our ability to lead.

He has argued that it is high time to reverse forty years of growing inequality in America because in so doing we not only can make the richest pay their fair share but we give everyone a chance to contribute to and benefit from our nation's success.

The decision to withdraw from Afghanistan must be seen in this context. It is directly linked to reimagining our foreign policy so it is better suited to 21st Century challenges. Yes, it is also about an end to failed approaches, to the folly of American exceptionalism.

Yes, it is about being a better ally and not seeing the military as the solution to every problem. But it is also about shifting our focus to investing in ourselves. Ending the foreign policy mistakes of the past is directly linked therefore to building back better.

Instead of spending trillions on those wars, he seeks to invest it in the real sources of our leadership and strength. This is not isolationism reimagined. It is completely consistent with the post-World War II ideal of the US as a superpower that leads by example.

President Biden and his team are offering not just decisions but a strategy, one in which foreign and domestic policies are two halves of a whole. If we recognize this, we can see the merits in the approach and the urgency that we embrace it.