Editorial: Joe Biden pitch to the world undercut by US domestic politics
8 Feb, 2021 04:00 PM
4 minutes to read
United States President Joe Biden. Photo / AP
NZ Herald
Joe Biden's first pitch to the wider world as United States President would have been greeted with both welcome and caution overseas.
Speaking at the State Department in Washington, Biden vowed: "America is back. Diplomacy
is back".
In a foreign policy speech on Friday the President said: "We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again".
Biden wants to restore a policy-based approach that emphasises diplomacy and democracy in the world. That will please foreign allies left bruised by former president Donald Trump's "America first" populism. The new, old-school, approach is one that broadly signals where US policy is headed. Whereas Trump prized shock-and-awe, Biden is more show-and-tell.