The Biden Doctrine: Muddling Through?

As observers in Washington look back at the Biden
administration’s first year and prepare for its forthcoming
national security and defense strategies, the Net Assessment crew
debates the virtues of muddling through. Does the Biden team have
a grand plan? Does it need one? And are errors of omission worse
than those of commission?


Chris, Melanie, and Zack debate recent articles on muddling
through by Josh Rovner, Richard Fontaine, and Anne-Marie
Slaughter. Chris gives an attaboy to Tom Brady, since he hasn’t
won enough already. Melanie issues both a grievance and an
attaboy to Newt Gingrich. And Zack hails the wonders of easily
available satellite imagery.


Links: 


Joshua Rovner, “How Long can Biden Muddle Through on
China?” War on the Rocks, Jan. 26,
2022, https://warontherocks.com/2022/01/how-long-can-biden-muddle-through-on-china/. 


Richard Fontaine, “The Case Against Foreign Policy
Solutionism,” Foreign Affairs, Feb. 8,
2021, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-02-08/case-against-foreign-policy-solutionism. 


Richard Fontaine, “Washington’s Missing China
Strategy,” Foreign Affairs, Jan. 14,
2022, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2022-01-14/washingtons-missing-china-strategy. 


Anne-Marie Slaughter, “It’s Time to Get Honest About the Biden
Doctrine,” New York Times, Nov. 12,
2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/opinion/biden-foreign-policy.html. 


Amy B. Zegart, Spies, Lies, and Algorithms (Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press,
2022), https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691147130/spies-lies-and-algorithms.


Stacie L. Pettyjohn, "Spiking the Problem: Developing a Resilient
Posture in the Indo-Pacific with Passive Defenses," War on the
Rocks, Jan. 10, 2022.  


Dustin Walker, “The Pentagon is in Desperate Need of an
Intervention from the Top,” War on the Rocks, Jan. 27,
2022. 


Joe DiPaolo, " Newt Gingrich Says January 6 Committee
Members 'Face a Real Risk of Jail' if Republicans Win the House,"
Mediaite, Jan. 23, 2022. 


Liz Harrington, Tweet, Jan. 30, 2022. 


Newt Gingrich, Tweet, Jan. 26, 2022. 


The Hill, Tweet, Jan. 26, 2022. 


Stephen Breyer, "Why Regulation Rarely Achieves the Goals It Is
Designed to Serve," PBS Commanding Heights (no date).


Jeff Darlington and Adam Schefter, “Tom Brady retiring after 22
seasons, seven Super Bowl wins with New England Patriots, Tampa
Bay Buccaneers, sources say,” ESPN, Jan. 29, 2022,


https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33173652/tom-brady-retiring-22-seasons-seven-super-bowl-wins-new-england-patriots-tampa-bay-buccaneers-sources-say. 


Dustin Volz, “Vast Troves of Classified Info Undermine National
Security, Spy Chief Says,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 27,
2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/vast-troves-of-classified-info-undermine-national-security-spy-chief-says-11643286602. 


Oona Hathaway, “Keeping the Wrong Secrets: How Washington Misses
the Real Security Threat,” Foreign
Affairs (January-February
2022), https://reader.foreignaffairs.com/2021/12/14/keeping-the-wrong-secrets/content.html. 


Patrick G. Eddington and Christopher A. Preble, “Bad Idea:
Overclassification,” Defense360, Center for Strategic and
International Studies, Dec. 6,
2019, https://defense360.csis.org/bad-idea-overclassification/. 


Mathew Burrows and Evan Cooper, “Engagement Reframed #1:
Vaccinate the world,” New American Engagement Initiative, Feb. 1,
2022, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/content-series/engagement-reframed/vaccinate-the-world/.