In his final address to the United Nations General Assembly as US President on Tuesday, Joe Biden declared that the United States must not retreat from the world.
In denial of the ugly role the United States has played in the Middle East crisis and the Russia-Ukraine conflict under his administration, Biden highlighted the US and its allies’ support for Tel Aviv and Kyiv, portraying it as their contribution to safeguarding justice and order.
His address to the world body was widely seen as one of the last high-profile opportunities for the US president to press his case. Although he tried to impress his listeners with his de facto farewell speech, it will have found few receptive ears, as it is a wide consensus, even among US allies, that the US holds the key to put an end to the two crises.
Compared with four years ago, even if Biden has done something to repair the estrangement his predecessor created between the US and its allies, the world has become even more divided today, thanks to his administration’s “value diplomacy” and zero-sum game mindset in handling foreign affairs.
“We are stronger than we think” when the world acts together, Biden said. But the challenges the US is confronted with today, at home and abroad, are no less complicated than they were prior to his administration, and even the US and its allies are not on the same wavelength on many key issues, as the US under his administration, still implements a de facto “America first” policy.
When he took office, Biden promised to rejuvenate the US’ relations around the world and to extract the country from “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But after its withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq, the US has left behind a mess. And while the administration has sought to reinvigorate the US alliance network, it has managed to rub many of its allies the wrong way and the US’ relations with Russia and China have fallen to their lowest points since the end of the Cold War.
Biden said there will always be forces with a desire to “go it alone”. That the Democrats and the Republicans have stooped to new lows these years in their chase for power and their overt and covert interest exchanges is a vivid reflection of how those forces are produced.
And the lasting sufferings of the Palestinians in the Middle East are another reflection of the consequences of allowing these forces to define the US’ “leadership” in the world.
It is shameful that Biden tried to transform the rostrum of the UN into a stage on which to peddle his brazen pro-war stance when the majority of UN members have already made it clear they are not willing to buy what he is selling.