Chattanooga Times Free Press

Biden looks to turn page at UN

BY AAMER MADHANI

NEW YORK — President Joe Biden begins his first visit to the U.N. General Assembly ready to make the case to world leaders that after closing the book on 20 years of war, the U.S. aims to rally allies and adversaries to work together on a slew of crises including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and trade and economics.

The president faced a healthy measure of skepticism when he arrived in New York on Monday to start a week of high-level diplomacy. The opening months of his presidency have included a series of difficult moments with friendly nations that were expecting greater cooperation from Biden following four years of Donald Trump’s “America first” approach to foreign policy.

Eight months into his presidency, Biden has been out of sync with allies on the chaotic ending to the U.S. war in Afghanistan. He has faced differences over how to go about sharing coronavirus vaccines with the developing world and over pandemic travel restrictions and the best way to respond to military and economic moves by China.

Biden also finds himself in the midst of a fresh diplomatic spat with France, the United States’ oldest ally, after announcing plans — along with Britain — to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. The move is expected to give Australia improved capabilities to patrol the Pacific amid growing concern about the Chinese military’s increasingly aggressive tactics, but it upended a French defense contract worth at least $66 billion to sell diesel-powered submarines to Australia.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Monday there’s a “crisis of trust” with the U.S. as a result of the episode.

Ahead of Biden’s arrival, EU Council President Charles Michel strongly criticized the Biden administration for leaving Europe “out of the game in the Indo-Pacific region” and ignoring the underlying elements of the trans-Atlantic alliance — transparency and loyalty — in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the announcement of the U.S.-U.K.-Australia alliance.

Despite such differences, Biden is looking to use his Tuesday address to the General Assembly as well as a series of one-on-one and larger meetings with world leaders this week to make the case for American leadership on the world stage.

“There are points of disagreement, including when we have disagreed with the decisions other countries are making, the decision points of when countries have disagreed with the decisions we’re making,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “But the larger point here, and what you’ll hear the president talk about tomorrow, is that we are committed to those alliances, and that always requires work from every president, from every global leader.”

Biden had an evening meeting scheduled with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

In an interview ahead of the meeting, the secretary-general said he was concerned about the “completely dysfunctional” U.S.-China relationship and it could lead to a new cold war. Psaki said the administration disagreed with the assessment, adding the U.S.-China relationship was “one not of conflict but of competition.”

NATION/WORLD/POLITICS

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2021-09-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.timesfreepress.com/article/281603833606632

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