US President Joe Biden’s recent remarks at the Munich Security Conference strongly echoed those made earlier in the day at the G-7 meeting, where he participated…
Appearing virtually at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Biden announced Friday the US was breaking from the Trump administration’s so-called “America First” stance, stressing to foreign leaders that his term would focus on bolstering the transatlantic alliance. The speech, which marked Biden’s first big appearance on the global stage, saw the president vow to the nation’s traditional allies that it was more than ready to begin working hand-in-hand with them on a variety of issues, including arms control, COVID-19, cyberhacking and the worsening climate crisis. “We cannot focus only on the competition among countries that threaten to divide the world… that threaten to sink us all together if we fail to cooperate. We must do both – working in lockstep with our allies and partners,” he continued. Biden invoked the NATO alliance several times throughout his speech, highlighting the group as an anchor for global security challenges, including those set by the US’ decades-old military mission in Afghanistan. Additionally, he stated the US and its European partners “cannot allow [Daesh] to reopen and regroup and threaten people in the Middle East and elsewhere.
