The

Biden administration

The State Department is on a mission to sell

of the Biden administration

foreign policy as a local issue in Los Angeles and other cities around the country, just in time for

the 2024

election.

Deputy State Secretary for

global public affairs public diplomacy,

William Russo

,

completed a tour of Los Angeles and Phoenix this month, one of many

travel excursions

appoint high-ranking officials.

They also went to Chicago, Pittsburgh and other cities, meeting with local officials, youth groups and think tanks.

They are seeking to advance one of President Biden and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s campaign-era promises: ensuring that foreign policy is relevant to and supported by everyday Americans. That support

has

become

S

more urgent as the Biden administration sends billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine in its fight against invading Russia, and as some Americans question those efforts.

“The rubric” by which the administration wants to be judged in foreign policy, Russo said, “is the extent to which we have been able to achieve tangible benefits” for Americans.

The purpose comes in part from the blurring of

the

lines between domestic and foreign policy, Russo said in an interview

with De Tijden

at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It’s also an “overdue course correction,” Russo said.

“It is a humble reflection on the past failures of the foreign policy community to be too focused on the outside world and outside perceptions, and frankly not to spend enough time explaining… the value of what we doing and securing the informed consent of the “American people for that work,” he said.

Since taking office,

President

Biden and his administration have tried to connect foreign policy with the well-being of Americans

in cities and villages

who may feel distant from conflict abroad. For example, a foreign policy that achieves effective economic competition with China should do the same

translate tomean

more jobs in the US, Biden has said in numerous public remarks.

Blinken acknowledged in his first speech as secretary of state that foreign policy “sometimes feels disconnected from our daily lives.”

“Those of us who conduct foreign policy have not always done a good job of connecting it to the needs and aspirations of the American people,” Blinken said. “As a result, Americans have been asking hard but honest questions for some time about what we do, how we lead, and whether we should lead at all.”

Bringing that home has a It has, a

T times turned out to be a hard sell. The Ukraine issue involves complicated efforts to engage with ordinary Americans. After many Americans initially decorated houses and buildings in American cities with the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag in a show of

enormous

support, opinion polls have recorded a significant drop in that sentiment in recent weeks,

noisy

eroded by a small one

but vocally,

A hardline group of Republican lawmakers questioning Washington’s billions in aid to the struggling country.

“Ukraine is an excellent example,” Russo said. He cited a trip by Blinken and other State Department officials to Chicago and Cleveland to meet with large Ukrainian diaspora communities. “What we want to do is tell a story about why what’s happening in Ukraine matters here, and why what we’re doing here has a huge impact on what’s happening in Ukraine.”

Russo and his staff often tailor the message to the audience. During a meeting with young members of Future Farmers of America from the Midwest, the topic turned to food insecurity and Russia’s heavy-handed efforts to block shipments of Ukrainian grain, which are contributing to shortages in key parts of the world.

“One of the ways we solve this problem of hunger and food security is through American agriculture and through American farmers,” Russo said, referring

of the meeting.

Whether you’re talking to people from a town on the Mississippi River in Missouri or…

others

from rural Arizona, Russo sa

idys

he can argue that conflicts thousands of miles away rarely remain under control, and that the consequences do indeed reach home, whether

‘

S

The flow of

migrant

current

S

to the US

or climate disasters.

“Speaking on these major foreign issues is obviously the bread and butter of the State Department and what we do,” Russo said. “It just requires a slightly different mindset and a different frame for the way we talk about it when we talk about it domestically.”

In Los Angeles, Russo discussed the city’s upcoming hosting

the 2028 Olympic Games and

the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games with Deputy Mayor Erin Bromaghim,

together with

how we can better showcase Southern California’s diverse economy, vast commerce infrastructure, and varied industrial and artistic talents.

He also met with young student athletes in the PlayLA program at the Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex

in Rancho Cienega Park

and spoke to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and LA-based international journalists.

“Our team handles global messaging,” Russo said. “How can we help tell the story of Los Angeles, as part of the story of America? Beyond just the Olympics and beyond the World Cup, what are some LA stories that tell a bigger story about who we are as America today “That we can see it on the world stage? Our team believes… it’s a great thing to get out there and talk about that.”