President Joe Biden told the United Nations on Tuesday that the U.S. is “opening a new era of relentless diplomacy.” Speaking before the General Assembly, Biden said the U.S. would work with other world powers to confront growing global threats.
At no point in the speech did Biden reference "China" or "Beijing." However, he carefully touched on authoritarian rule, as China and the U.S. have faced conflict over human rights issues and trade.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway was Biden's declaration that the U.S. is “not seeking a new Cold War.” He added the U.S. is willing to work with any nation that “pursues peaceful resolution to shared challenges because we’ll all suffer the consequences as our failure.”
Biden discussed the need for foreign governments to “engage deeply with the rest of the world” and “work together with our partners toward a shared future,” adding that the U.S. must work together with its allies more than ever before.
Biden said he is focused on “ending the pandemic, addressing the climate crisis, managing the shifts in global power dynamics, shaping the rules of the world on vital issues like trade, cyber and emerging technologies, and facing the threat of terrorism as it stands today.”
Biden said he is seeking to double funds by 2024 to $11.4 billion per year to aid developing countries to deal with the fight against climate change. The comments come after Biden fulfilled his promise to rejoin the Paris Agreement on his first day in office.
Tuesday's address was Biden’s first major foreign policy speech to world leaders since the G7 summit in June.
Biden had campaigned on restoring America’s international standing. On Tuesday, he defended U.S. foreign policy over the past eight months and that the U.S. has "prioritized rebuilding our alliances, revitalizing our partnerships and recognizing they’re essential and central to America’s enduring security and prosperity."
There were some strong reactions to the speech on social media.
“The future will belong to those who embrace human dignity, not trample it," Biden said in his first address to the UN General Assembly, where he called for more financial support for climate change and for human rights to be respected in all countries https://t.co/s2W3KgYOza
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake)
President Biden at the U.N.: "Bombs and bullets cannot defend against COVID-19, or its future variants. To fight this pandemic, we need a collective act of science and political will. We need to act now to get shots in arms as fast as possible."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1)
Biden closes his UN speech with this and gets big applause: "I stand here today for the first time in 20 years with the US not at war. We have turned the page ... Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot afford to waste any more time. Let's get to work. Let's make our better future now." pic.twitter.com/qM71Gw8iRj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)
Great hopeful and forceful speech by @POTUS @JoeBiden at the United Nations this morning! __
A big shift from the last time an American president addressed the General Assembly. #UNGA pic.twitter.com/urWqbH3t46
— Chris D. Jackson (@ChrisDJackson)
President Biden: The US is "back at the table in international forums, especially the United Nations" https://t.co/cyzabx7IaO
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics)
Addressing the UN General Assembly for the first time since taking office, Biden heralded the end of an "era of relentless war" and promised that the next one would be defined by "relentless diplomacy."https://t.co/UiQvimIYm4
— Axios (@axios)
