Antony Blinken: Biden’s choice to lead State Department to point out new leadership at confirmation hearing

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Antony Blinken is one of many national security candidates to appear before Senate confirmation hearings on Wednesday following Biden’s swearing-in – a signal of the new president’s desire to ensure he doesn’t There are no national security gaps after the deadly insurgency on Capitol Hill by Donald Trump supporters and amid continued concerns about extremist violence.

Blinken is set to set three priorities in prepared remarks – the first being to bring to life a State Department hollowed out after four years of Trump administration and undermined by Trump’s attack on American democracy.

Blinken will stress the need to revitalize US diplomacy after the international distrust and disgust engendered by Trump’s policies. He will also discuss Biden’s desire to restore the administration’s traditional foreign policy partnership with Congress, where lawmakers often complained of being excluded and ignored by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

And where Pompeo pointed out “bluster,” Blinken will tell lawmakers that “humility and confidence should be the flip side of American leadership.”

“Humility because we have a lot of work to do at home to strengthen our reputation abroad,” he should say. “But we will also act with confidence that America at its best still has a greater capacity than any country on earth to mobilize others for the greater good.”

Blinken will highlight transnational challenges that will require international partnerships, from tackling the Covid-19 pandemic to dealing with China; defend human rights; reaffirming the value and strength of democratic governance; counter threats from Iran, Russia and North Korea; and confront “the existential threat posed by climate change”.

The 58-year-old will make a personal note in his remarks at the top of the audience, introducing himself to the public and to the committee, where he worked for six years and where senators know him well. The father of two will describe his pride in his family’s history of service, saying he sees it as “the payment of the debt our family owes to the nation that has given us refuge and opportunity. extraordinary through the generations ”.

Biden's team is swimming in the ocean of Trump's troubles
Blinken’s grandfather fled the pogroms in Russia, his stepmother fled the Communists in Hungary, and his late stepfather survived the Holocaust. Blinken’s father and uncle went on to serve as American ambassadors. “It is the honor of a lifetime to appear before this committee,” as Biden’s candidate, Blinken will tell senators.
He will have a huge challenge ahead of him. Pompeo left Blinken a worn out and demoralized department, according to former and current diplomats. They point to Pompeo’s inability to defend former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovich from attacks by President Donald Trump. And despite Pompeo’s oft-repeated pledge that he did not have a higher priority than the safety of his people, many diplomats are angry at his State Department’s inability to do more to help diplomats. suffering from mysterious sound attacks.

The policies of the Trump administration have resulted in a North Korea that, four years later, is better equipped to strike North American shores with nuclear weapons. Iran is closer to producing a nuclear weapon, if it decides to sprint towards a weapon. China further strengthened its influence in Asia, crushing Hong Kong democracy and signing a trade deal after Trump in 2017 tore up the Obama administration’s plans to create its own trans-Pacific partnership.

Blinken, who was once Biden’s top foreign policy adviser, is likely to face hostile questions over Biden’s plans to enter the Iran nuclear deal from Republicans who opposed the initiative of the Obama administration. He may also wonder if his work as a private consultant to foreign clients could influence his decision-making.

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