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Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
- Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have distinguished themselves on domestic issues like healthcare and taxes.
- But the two Democratic candidates are also unique in what they've said about how the US should behave as a global power. A historian of US foreign policy explained how Sanders and Warren would use this power.
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The 2020 presidential campaign, like the ones before it, has focused on domestic issues.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, both tireless proponents of workers and vociferous critics of the financial elite, have been leading voices on issues like healthcare and economic policy as the Democratic primary unfolds.
Presidential candidates' foreign-policy visions receive less attention, despite the president having outsize power to shape US foreign policy. Just as Sanders and Warren have distinguished themselves on domestic matters, they stand apart from their rivals when it comes to defining the role the US should have in the world.
In an email interview, Daniel Bessner, a professor at the University of Washington's Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies who specializes in the history of US foreign policy, explained how Sanders and Warren conceive of US power and what they could do if they get the chance to wield it.