Podcast / The Time of Monsters / Apr 21, 2024

Where Did Biden’s Foreign Policy Go Wrong?

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, David Klion on the president’s fatal flaw.

President Joe Biden joined Israel's prime minister for the start of the Israeli war cabinet meeting, in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023.

President Joe Biden joined Israel’s prime minister for the start of the Israeli war cabinet meeting, in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023.

(Miriam Alster / AFP via Getty Images)

Writing in The Nation, David Klion recently reviewed Alexander Ward’s new book on Biden’s foreign policy, which offers a redemption arc whereby an administration wounded by the botched exit from Afghanistan made good by its handling of the Ukraine invasion.

But as Klion notes, the two-year frame of the book is too narrow. In conversation on this podcast, David and I contextualize Biden’s foreign policy, which is deeply unpopular and flawed, in the larger history of hawkish liberalism. We look at the attempt to revive a style of military Keynesianism and at Biden’s deep investment in Zionism, as well as the contradictions on issues of human rights that are hampering Biden’s presidency.

During the discussion, I alluded to this excellent Mother Jones article by Noah Lanard on Biden and Israel.

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Jeet Heer

Jeet Heer is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and host of the weekly Nation podcast, The Time of Monsters. He also pens the monthly column “Morbid Symptoms.” The author of In Love with Art: Francoise Mouly’s Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman (2013) and Sweet Lechery: Reviews, Essays and Profiles (2014), Heer has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The American Prospect, The Guardian, The New Republic, and The Boston Globe.

More from The Nation

Presidential candidate and incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil celebrates after the results of the general election day on October 25, 2026, in São Paulo, Brazil.

Lula Wins a Fourth Term, Serbian Students Defeat the Ruling Party, the US Prepares to Escalate the Iran War Lula Wins a Fourth Term, Serbian Students Defeat the Ruling Party, the US Prepares to Escalate the Iran War

Danny and Derek unpack the week’s global news, from elections in Israel and Brazil to political upheaval in Serbia, tensions with Iran, and the wars in Sudan and Ukraine.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

A plume of smoke rises during a reported air strike by the Saudi-led coalition on the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital Sanaa, on October 9, 2026.

US and Israel Plan Iran Strikes, Ansar Allah Hits Saudi Arabia, Mass Protests Sweep France US and Israel Plan Iran Strikes, Ansar Allah Hits Saudi Arabia, Mass Protests Sweep France

Neera Tanden has not yet posted a tirade about AP, and we’re starting to take it personally. In this week’s news: The US and Israel prepare for renewed strikes against Iran after t…

Podcast / American Prestige

Presidential candidate for the Brazilian Liberal Party Flavio Bolsonaro during a press conference with representatives that declared their support for the runoff election in Brasília, on October 7, 2026.

War Breaks in Tigray, Brazil Holds Elections, Houthi/Ansar Allah Attacks Hit a Saudi Airport War Breaks in Tigray, Brazil Holds Elections, Houthi/Ansar Allah Attacks Hit a Saudi Airport

Derek has returned, but he keeps trying to get Danny to go to some seminar led by a charismatic “mentor” he encountered in his travels.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

The Scala Data Centers facility in Barueri, São Paulo state, Brazil, on March 9, 2026.

Brazil’s Data Center Boom Is Enabled by Renewables Firms—With Laís Martins Brazil’s Data Center Boom Is Enabled by Renewables Firms—With Laís Martins

Paris Marx and a tech reporter for The Intercept Brazil discuss how Brazil’s renewable energy industry is fueling data center expansion, greenwashing, and harm to local communitie...

Paris Marx

A Palestinian flag in the Mashrou' Beit Lahia area of Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, on October 6, 2026.

Palestine Three Years After October—With Rashid Khalidi Palestine Three Years After October—With Rashid Khalidi

Rashid Khalidi joins Danny and Derek to discuss Gaza, October 7, US policy toward Israel, regional shifts, and the future of Palestinian resistance.

Podcast / American Prestige

Joe Biden with national security adviser Jake Sullivan during a roundtable with Jewish community leaders on October 11, 2023, in Washington, DC.

Gaza and Elite Accountability Gaza and Elite Accountability

Connor Echols on a reckoning within the foreign-policy establishment.

Jeet Heer

x