Washington, DC – President Biden used his first U.N. General Assembly speech to mark a transition from the post 9/11 U.S. strategy, which relied on large-scale military deployments, to a new approach that marshals all the sources of American power to confront today’s fast-moving challenges, including COVID-19 and future pandemics, the climate crisis, cyber threats, corruption and inequality, and authoritarianism. “We’ve turned the page. All the unmatched strength, energy, commitment, will, and resources of our nation are now fully and squarely focused on what’s ahead of us, not on what’s behind.”
President Biden reassured the global body that the U.S. is back at the table, recommitted to global cooperation, universal values, and a diplomacy-first approach to address our shared global challenges. He emphasized the importance of international partnerships and affirmed that the future for Americans and communities around the world is intertwined – “our security, our prosperity, our very freedoms are connected.”
Foreign Policy for America applauds this ambitious new strategy and the concrete steps the Biden administration has already taken to achieve it.
We also welcome President Biden’s announcement that, as part of his forward-focused strategy, the United States will work with Congress to double investments in global climate finance projects above and beyond levels committed to in April of 2020. As the world moves closer to the COP26 Climate Change Conference in November, that is the kind of bold commitment needed to renew U.S. global leadership on addressing the climate crisis. We look forward to supporting the Biden administration as it works to fulfill this commitment.
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