Grading Secretary of State Antony Blinken

What’s happening: Secretary of State Antony Blinken, America’s chief foreign policy officer, has overseen America’s foreign policy for just over three years.

Why it matters: The U.S. Secretary of State is not solely responsible for foreign policy; those decisions ultimately rest with the president. However, he is America’s representative when he travels abroad, and the nation’s credibility rests on his shoulders.

The report card: Coming into office, President Biden promised that our allies would be respected and that the U.S. would be taken seriously once again - much of which is Blinken’s duty to carry out. But since January 2021, American foreign policy has lurched from one disaster to the next.

• Afghanistan: America’s chaotic withdrawal resulted in many innocents and U.S. soldiers being killed; plus, those who had helped America — like Afghan translators — were left to face the Taliban’s wrath. Two years later, Blinken admitted his department had been ill-prepared for the pullout.

• Ukraine: While Afghanistan was falling apart, Blinken was also attempting to keep Russia from launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. His attempts at diplomacy failed, and now, over two years later, Ukraine is starting to lose the war.

• Israel: Though Blinken said the U.S. would “always be there” for Israel, he also pressured the Israelis to forego a full-scale ground invasion of Rafah, a hotbed of Hamas terrorism. Plus, to resurrect the Iran Deal, Blinken unfroze $6 billion in Iranian assets while claiming it would not help Hamas. It has.

Final grade: At least we avoided nuclear annihilation so far: D-