world politics

But one subject has been largely absent from conversation in the “pods,” despite being virtually unavoidable in the real world: politics.

Biden succinctly summarized his broad view of world politics and made it personal, citing his involvement in the ups and downs of war and peace over the past half-century as the basis of his hopes for the future.

As U.S. decline first became apparent in 2011, he argued that Washington’s ability to shape world politics would diminish, but “the liberal international order will survive and thrive,” preserving its core elements of multilateral governance, free trade and human rights.

The implications—both for how he rolls over in world politics and for what he aspires to do in domestic politics—are alarming.

She privately disagrees with the formulation of world politics as a contest between democracy and autocracy, the sources close to her noted, and sees that as oversimplifying and even misleading, given the kinds of allies that we’re sometimes forced to choose.