Top Biden official's Foreign Affairs essay on Middle East significantly revised after Hamas attack
A Foreign Affairs essay by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan about the White House's success in de-escalating the crises in Gaza went through significant revisions following the Hamas terror attacks on October 7.
The original version of "The Sources of American Power" essay appeared in the magazine's print edition released on Wednesday. However, the online version has scrubbed or altered many of Sullivan's comments on the Middle East.
One of the most substantial changes, highlighted by The Washington Free Beacon, came from Sullivan's assertion that the Biden administration's foreign policy decisions have led to a "freer and more stable world."
"The Israeli-Palestinian situation is tense, particularly in the West Bank, but in the face of serious frictions, we have de-escalated crises in Gaza and restored direct diplomacy between the parties after years of its absence," Sullivan wrote.
The new version of the essay portrays a more tempered and somber picture of the current conflicts occurring overseas.
"The original version of this article emphasized that this progress was fragile and that perennial challenges remained, including tensions between Israel and Palestinians and the threat posed by Iran," the new version states. "The October 7 attacks have cast a shadow over the entire regional picture, the repercussions of which are still playing out, including the risk of significant regional escalation."
In the print edition, Sullivan also suggested that Biden had emphasized deterring aggression, de-escalating conflicts and "integrating the region through joint infrastructure projects and new partnerships" when speaking with Middle Eastern leaders.
Sullivan said these policies extended to Israel and its Arab neighbors, a move he claimed was "bearing fruit."
But the current online version of the essay now claims the White House was always alert to the risk that the "current crisis" in Israel could "spiral into a regional conflict."
The line, "Indeed, although the Middle East remains beset with perennial challenges, the region is quieter than it has been for decades," has been removed entirely.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Foreign Affairs noted a three-week lag between sending an issue to the press and the print edition's release date. During that period, they said, a major crisis broke out.
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"The magazine felt it would be best for this article—a broad statement on American foreign policy by the U.S. national security adviser—to address those events. We therefore decided to have the author update the article before posting it online, making explicit reference to statements included in the original version that were changed in the updated version," Foreign Affairs stated.
"The original version of this article, written before the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel, emphasized the progress in the Middle East," the updated text noted. "The October 7 attacks have cast a shadow over the entire regional picture, the repercussions of which are still playing out, including the risk of significant regional escalation," it continued.
Foreign Affairs also stressed that an editor's note accompanied the updated version explaining that the passages in the online version differed from the print version.
"We encourage readers to compare the two; we believe the differences usefully reflect how the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel war has affected the administration's thinking about the Middle East," they added.
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