If you blinked, you might have missed it. Across the five hours of Democratic primary debates split between two nights this week, the presidential hopefuls discussed the future of U.S. foreign policy for no more than 25 minutes. Other policy areas had it worse. There were no questions either night on Puerto Rico, for example, or LGBT issues, or reproductive rights. But the scant attention to foreign policy was striking precisely because it’s the area in which a president has the most power to change things on their own. If the next president wants to rejoin the Paris climate agreement or renegotiate the Iran nuclear deal or even scale back foreign military operations around the globe, she can do those things without much say from Congress or the courts.

The scant attention to foreign policy was striking because it’s the area in which a president has the most power to change things on their own.

Those 25 minutes did produce a handful of memorable moments. Former Vice President Joe Biden suggested that he wanted to renegotiate, rather than simply rejoin, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal the Obama administration negotiated with Pacific Rim countries to isolate China. Sen. Elizabeth Warren came prepared to make the case for a “no first use” nuclear weapons policy and to defend it. But audiences mostly heard candidates who sounded alike. Sen. Bernie Sanders said he wants to stop “policing the world.” Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan said he wanted to “demilitarize foreign policy.” South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke both condemned “endless war.” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, O’Rourke, and Buttigieg all said they want to withdraw from Afghanistan — Buttigeig and Gabbard in their first years in office. Without hearing more about these plans, though, it’s impossible to gauge a candidate’s seriousness. How do they intend to end “endless wars” like the one in Afghanistan? Do they actually want an immediate withdrawal, including that of U.S. forces training the Afghan military? Or an expedited approach to talks with the Taliban or with Pakistan? Do any of these “withdrawal” plans involve leaving behind Special Forces or conducting drone strikes?

CNN’s format did not enable that level of detail. Candidates got one minute to answer a question and 30 seconds for a rebuttal, followed by several hours of pundits debating who “won” various exchanges. (The banner headline on CNN.com read “The Debate’s Winners and Losers.”). This was a format that rewarded quick, charismatic quips at other candidates’ expense. A similar format in NBC’s debate in June led to a comically rushed discussion about Iran. Lester Holt asked the candidates to raise their hand if they would rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, and when only Booker declined to do so, the senator got 60 seconds to explain what he found insufficient in the 109-page agreement. After committing to “renegotiate and get back into a deal,” but not necessarily the same one, his time was up. The moderators sought no details, and everyone moved on.

The caustic, rapid-fire quality of primary debates has punished candidates who try to introduce unorthodox foreign policy ideas.