The Internationalists

“From one of the best reporters in Washington, this is the first behind-the-scenes account of the Biden Doctrine. Ward uses remarkable details to explore Biden’s massively consequential foreign policy, a tenet shaped by one war the president was desperate to end and another that stunned the globe.”
— Jonathan Lemire, host of “Way Too Early” on MSNBC, White House Bureau Chief at Politico and author of The New York Times bestseller The Big Lie.

“The Internationalists offers a rapid-fire reported account of the world of challenges faced by President Biden and his administration as they sought to restore American global leadership at a time of tumult. The chapters on the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan are a particular page-turner. Most importantly, the book recounts with newsy detail how an administration that came to office planning to focus on the long-term strategic threat posed by China ended up pivoting to deal with the consequences of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine— the largest land war in Europe since World War II. The book is a testament to the virtues of having a dogged reporter on one of the most important beats in the world.”
— Susan Glasser, staff writer at The New Yorker, and co-author of The New York Times bestsellers The Man Who Ran Washington and The Divider

“The Internationalists is a deeply reported, propulsively written view inside the Biden administration’s race to rebuild America’s standing among allies and enemies alike. Alexander Ward has filled an enormous gap in our understanding of what goes on inside Washington’s most important rooms. This is an essential read for anyone who cares about the wars in Afghanistan and Ukraine, and the United States’ place in a complex, dangerous world.”
— Mitchell Zuckoff, The New York Times bestselling author of 13 Hours and The Secret Gate

“There are few reporters in America that can combine first-rate, granular reporting with the talent to weave it all together into a deft narrative that is impossible to put down. The Internationalists is a pivotal, behind-the-scenes look at the presidency of a man with more foreign-policy experience than any of his predecessors, who came into office with a national security dream team, intent on parking the problems and focusing on the strategic big picture — only to have God laugh at his plan. This book is an instant classic and an indispensable look at how the Biden administration has wielded American Power.”
— Julia Ioffe, founding partner of Puck

“Superb.”
— Shane Harris, senior national security writer at The Washington Post and author of @War

“The most fulsome account of the Administration’s foreign policy - its rationale and the people implementing it.”
— Phil Mattingly, coanchor of CNN This Morning

“An expert account. Simultaneously illuminating and painful.”
— Kirkus

“Stellar.”
— Steven A. Cook, author of False Dawn

“Vital for understanding President Biden’s foreign policy.”
— Mark Leon Goldberg, editor of UN Dispatch and host of the ”Global Dispatches” podcast

“The most important book you’ll read on the Biden administration.”
— Sean Illing, author of The Paradox of Democracy and host of “The Gray Area” podcast

“Excellent, revealing and newsworthy”
— Michael Beschloss, author of The Presidents at War

“A must-read for anyone who wants to know the true story of how American foreign policy is made.”
— Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Senate Foreign Relations Committee member and author, The Violence Inside Us

Alexander Ward is a national security reporter at Politico. Previously, Ward was the White House and national security reporter at Vox. He was an associate director on the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. He has won multiple prestigious awards for his reporting and was a part of a team that was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Washington, D.C.

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