United Nations.- President Joe Biden said in his final speech to the UN General Assembly on Monday that the United States must not isolate itself from the world as Israel and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon edge closer to all-out war and Israel’s bloody operation against Hamas in Gaza nears its one-year anniversary.
Biden used his wide-ranging speech to discuss the need to end the Middle East conflict and the 17-month-old civil war in Sudan, while highlighting the support for kyiv by the United States and its Western allies since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He also expressed concern about artificial intelligence and its potential to be used for repression.
His appearance before the world body offered Biden one of his last high-profile opportunities as president to speak out in favor of robust support for Ukraine, which could be in doubt if former President Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Biden insisted that despite global conflicts, he still has hope for the future.
“I’ve seen a remarkable piece of history,” Biden said. “I know a lot of people look at the world now and see hardship and react with despair, but I haven’t.”
“We are stronger than we think” when the world acts together, he added.
Biden came to office promising to rejuvenate America’s relationships around the world and withdraw the country from “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq that consumed American foreign policy for the past 20 years.
“I was determined to finish it, and I did,” Biden said, referring to the withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling it a “difficult but right decision.” He acknowledged that it was “accompanied by tragedy” with the deaths of 13 American soldiers and hundreds of Afghans in a suicide attack during the chaotic withdrawal.
But his foreign policy legacy could ultimately be determined by his administration’s response to two of the biggest conflicts in Europe and the Middle East since World War II.
“There will always be forces that drive our countries apart,” Biden said, rejecting “a desire to retreat from the world and go it alone.” He said, “Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces that unite us are stronger than those that divide us.”
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