Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during her appearance on Sunday at the Technical University of Berlin.Image: www.imago-images.de
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has so far had little to do with foreign policy. Her participation in the Munich Security Conference is seen as an indication that she is aiming for the top.
Feb 17, 2026, 3:29 p.mFeb 17, 2026, 3:29 p.m
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez once worked as a barista and struggled to pay rent. Today the 36-year-old is one of the superstars of US politics, especially on the left. Since 2019, she has represented a constituency in her native New York in the House of Representatives. She is known by the abbreviation AOC – a privilege that only “real” celebrities enjoy.
She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a close confidante of left-wing icon Bernie Sanders. Ocasio-Cortez’s favorite enemies include the super-rich and right-wing populists. “Extreme income inequality leads to social instability,” she said last Friday at the Munich Security Conference.
AOC was on the “Fight Oligarchy” tour through the USA with her mentor Bernie Sanders last year.Image: keystone
Her participation in the meeting of foreign and defense politicians caused a stir. Because AOC has hardly left any traces in these areas so far. According to the “New York Times” it became all the more violent speculated about their motives. It was said that she wanted to run for the US presidency and sharpen her foreign policy profile.
Candidacy as early as 2028?
She laughed away such questions in Munich. But her participation in several podiums alone showed that Ocasio-Cortez did not travel to Germany as an onlooker, but wanted to mark her presence. This was accompanied by an appearance on Sunday evening in the auditorium of the Technical University (TU) of Berlin, where she was celebrated with ovations.
Rumors about AOC running for the White House, possibly as early as 2028, have been circulating for some time. Recently, however, they have picked up speed. After her election, she made a name for herself as a left-wing “rebel,” but recently she has changed her mind tried to get closer to moderate Democratswrote the New York Times last week.
Progressive demands
So she sent out a fundraising appeal for Mary Peltola’s Senate candidacy in Alaska. The former representative supports oil drilling and the right to own guns, which completely contradicts AOC’s views on these issues (she is a committed climate activist) but is consistent with the state’s conservative profile.
In Munich, AOC took part in a panel on the topic of populism.image: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Conversely, more moderate members of the Democratic Party are more open to Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive demands on issues such as inequality and purchasing power. This is the only way to win back working-class voters who “defected” in droves to Donald Trump in the last elections in 2024.
Meaningless answers
Democratic members of Congress told the New York Times that she had team spirit and a willingness to form coalitions. Domestically, things are going pretty well for the MP with roots in Puerto Rico. It seems only logical that she wants to mark her presence on the world stage and recommend herself for higher tasks.
However, their appearances in Munich left an ambivalent impression. This was not the first time she denounced the Israeli “genocide” in Gaza. However, when asked questions about other sources of conflict, she went into a tailspin and sometimes gave meaningless answers, such as whether US troops should defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
Democratic competition
AOC has room for improvement when it comes to geopolitics, but she doesn’t have to worry about that for now. In US elections, this issue is usually a sideshow. What concerns her more is the fact that there were other Democratic politicians present in Munich who are said to have ambitions for the US presidency.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is also on a European tour.Image: keystone
They included Senators Chris Murphy, Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly and Governor Gretchen Whitmer from Michigan. Her counterpart Gavin Newsom of California also graced the security conference with his visit after speaking in January took part in the WEF in Davos. His candidacy is considered virtually certain.
Controversial tax on the rich
Newsom is leading in the polls, which means little right now. He is also working on his foreign policy profile, which he underlines with his own “European tour”. In London on Monday he signed an agreement with the British government for the construction of offshore wind turbines – a swipe at the “climate denier” Trump.
Hardly any Democrat attacks the president more sharply than Gavin Newsom. At the same time, he is emphatically moderate. This is how he fights a popular initiative for a tax on the richwhich is expected to be voted on in California in November. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called for one, but even in America today there is hardly a majority in favor of it.
“A radical communist”
And despite moving closer to the political center, AOC is likely to have problems “to assert yourself as a candidate within the party”wrote the Berlin TAZ, which was ideologically very favorable to her. Large parts of the US population saw her as a radical communist, she admitted during her appearance on Sunday at the Technical University.
The road to the White House remains rocky for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She will hardly decide on a candidacy before 2027, wrote the New York Times, citing allies and friends. In addition to the presidency, Chuck Schumer’s New York Senate seat would be an option. The 75-year-old has not yet decided whether he wants to compete again.
Selfie with AOC
With her charisma and her political talent, a lot is possible for Ocasio-Cortez, despite all her reservations. This was evident at the Munich conference, where she took part in a panel with Daiana Fernandez Molero, a liberal MP from Argentina. Clear differences emerged, such as the overthrow of Venezuela’s ruler Nicolas Maduro.
But the Argentine didn’t miss a selfie with the prominent US representative, although she admitted to the New York Times that many of her followers on social media wouldn’t like it. When asked if she still wanted to post the picture, Fernández Molero said: “Yes, of course. She’s AOC!”