Avril Haines

Lloyd J. Austin, a West Point graduate who rose to the Army's elite ranks and marched through racial barriers in a 41-year career, won Senate confirmation on Jan. 22 to become the nation's first Black secretary of defense.

Last week's attempted coup by strident supporters of President Donald Trump sullied America's image in the world, and it also drowned out other significant news regarding American foreign policy during the Biden administration.

President-elect Joe Biden on Nov. 23 announced a foreign policy and national security team crammed with veterans from the Barack Obama years, signaling an end to the upheaval under President Donald Trump and a return to traditional U.S. diplomacy.    

Top of the list was former State Department number two Antony Blinken, tapped for secretary of state.