This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Wednesday, January 20th, 2021.

I'm Caleb Brown.

The Trump administration was marked by many good impulses on foreign policy, met with terrible execution, and some bad impulses with mixed

results.

So what do we expect from the foreign policy of Joe Biden now that we know something

about the people who will begin staffing that administration.

Cato's John Glazer and Eric Gomez offer their thoughts.

I want to start with you, John Glazer. What's the best thing for American foreign policy going forward because there

will be a Biden administration?

Well the best thing I think the goal is to really fundamentally change U.S. foreign policy and the conception that we have of the U.S. role in the world.

You know, we are currently treaty-bound to protect some 60 nations and

we have tacit agreements to come to defense of other non-treaty partners and allies.

We have a global military presence and we consider virtually every international problem

to be a vital US interest.

And so that kind of approach I think has gotten us into a lot of trouble.

And we're at a moment right now nationally where the constituency saying, hey we ought to make some fundamental changes and perhaps

draw down the endless global war on terror and start focusing on things at home as opposed to expanding all this blood and

treasure abroad on things that don't conform to our interests. I'm glad that

that those voices are a part of the debate.

So far, I think, though, there's no indication that the Biden administration is going to

have that kind of approach or pursue those kind of objectives.

There may be some things on the margins that Cato types are hoping that will happen in

...