Biden Says ‘America’s Back.’ The World Has Some Questions



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One thorny issue facing President Biden at the U.N.: the defense deal he announced with Australia and the United Kingdom, which left France so angry that it pulled its ambassador from Washington.

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Biden, then vice president, sits with President Barack Obama at a summit on refugees during the U.N. General Assembly in 2016.

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In 2018, former President Donald Trump drew laughter during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly when he bragged about his accomplishments. «I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s OK,» he said.

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Politics
What The Exit From Afghanistan Tells Us About How Biden Sees The World

Dobbins recalled running into Biden on an Amtrak train headed to Washington, shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. «He stopped reading his newspaper and asked me to sit down across from him,» said Dobbins, now a senior fellow the Rand Corporation. «And for the rest of the trip, from Wilmington to Washington, he probed me on what we should be doing in Iraq and Afghanistan.»

Years later, when Biden was vice president, Dobbins was a part of a group of about a dozen experts invited to have dinner with him at his residence. Biden still had questions, but had become decidedly skeptical of the military mission in Afghanistan.

«He’s pretty open minded, at least initially,» Dobbins said. «And then when he made his mind up, he tended to stick to that position.»

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President Biden, in an address about the end of the war in Afghanistan on Aug. 31, said it was no longer in the U.S. national interest to be there.

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President Biden, in an address about the end of the war in Afghanistan on Aug. 31, said it was no longer in the U.S. national interest to be there.

Evan Vucci/AP

COVID concerns

Biden has said he wants to rally the world to boost the pace of global COVID-19 vaccinations, and the White House has planned a virtual summit on the topic for Wednesday, to coincide with activities at the U.N.

The administration has faced criticism for its preparations to give Americans a third booster shot even as millions of people in the world’s poorest countries are still waiting for an initial dose. The World Health Organization and other groups have urged the United States to hold back on broad plans for booster shots, arguing that other countries need the vaccines more. The White House has pushed back, countering that the U.S. has enough doses to vaccinate Americans even as it donates more doses than any other nation.

An additional 4.6 million US-donated #COVID19 vaccine doses are arriving in #Indonesia, a total of nearly 13 million so far. 190 @USAID-supported vaccine sites immunized thousands of people in Jakarta last month, and we’re proud to continue our partnership. pic.twitter.com/wOoSbyekYp

— Samantha Power (@PowerUSAID) September 18, 2021

Biden’s speech to the U.N. may give him the opportunity to «reset the agenda» with countries concerned about the U.S. commitment to multilateralism, said Alynna Lyon, a University of New Hampshire professor who has written extensively about the relationship between Washington and the U.N.

But they also need to be accompanied by actions and resources, she said.

«Words are pretty hollow right now,» Lyon said. «He can’t just say he wants to work with other countries. He really needs to bring in, particularly the allies, into both planning what the U.S. agenda and what the U.N. agenda could be, and also implementing it.»

  • covid vaccines
  • climate
  • United Nations
  • France
  • Joe Biden
  • Afghanistan



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