Biden called for diplomacy on the conflict at the United Nations General Assembly. This is how the world can react

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But the president’s call for unity comes as the United States is embroiled in a series of global controversies that have left allies questioning whether his administration is really ready to move beyond an era of foreign policy. ‘on board “.

Here are some key points from Biden’s inaugural address – and how world leaders might respond.

Biden proclaimed that a new chapter begins after the decision to end two decades of war in Afghanistan.

“As we close this period of relentless warfare, we usher in a new era of relentless diplomacy, of using the power of our development assistance to invest in new ways of uplifting people around the world,” President.

But many countries have also questioned the Biden administration’s largely one-sided decision to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of August after 20 years of war, a move that led to a chaotic withdrawal and decision-making. swift and humiliating control of the country by the Taliban.

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 21.

Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian president – who has no formal diplomatic relations with the United States – used his first UNGA speech to attack Biden’s strategy in Afghanistan, referring to Afghan civilians who have been seen fall from US evacuation planes last month in Kabul.

Raisi called on the United States to refrain from trying to influence the world, saying the world no longer cares about “America First” or “America’s Back” – digging through both Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump.

“Freedom does not fit in the backpacks of soldiers coming from outside the region,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Taliban have asked for representation from the UNGA and for their spokesperson to address the assembly.

On fears of a new cold war

Without naming China, Biden said the United States does not want a new cold war with the world’s most populous country, but seeks to “vigorously compete” with the autocracies of the world.

“We are not looking – repeat it – we are not looking for a new cold war or a world divided into rigid blocs,” Biden said, adding that the United States is “ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues resolution. peaceful common challenges, even if we have intense disagreements in other areas, as we will all suffer the consequences of our failure. “

In a pre-recorded speech released after Biden’s, Chinese President Xi Jinping underscored China’s commitment to multilateralism, although critics in Beijing note that its policies towards the South China Sea and Taiwan, for example, paint a different picture.

China views the 1.3 million square mile South China Sea as its own sovereign territory, expanding and fortifying its military installations on man-made islands. Beijing considers Taiwan as its territory to be brought under Chinese control, by force if necessary.

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks via video link. He made a major new climate commitment in his speech.

Biden said the United States “will stand up for our allies and friends and oppose attempts by stronger countries to dominate weaker ones,” citing attempts to change territory through force, economic coercion and disinformation as examples of malicious activity that the United States would oppose.

He said the United States was turning its attention to the Indo-Pacific region and “fixing our eyes on the allocation of our resources to the challenges that hold the keys to our collective future.”

The United States recently entered into a trilateral partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines – a major step towards the fight against China (and sparking a diplomatic row with China). France.)

Yet the leaders of the world’s two largest economies have adopted a much less confrontational tone, perhaps a nod to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for countries to correct their “completely dysfunctional relationship.” And conflictual – a relationship that threatens to affect world order.

“The success of one country does not necessarily mean the failure of another country, and the world is large enough to accommodate the common development and progress of all countries,” Xi said.

On the climate crisis

Biden urged world leaders to unite in the fight against climate change, calling the climate crisis “without borders” and reaching a “point of no return”.

He announced an effort to mobilize $ 100 billion to support climate action in developing countries and called on world leaders to “bring their highest ambitions to the table” when they meet at the meeting. a climate summit in Scotland later this year.

In his pre-recorded speech, Chinese Xi made a major new climate pledge on behalf of the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, saying the country will not build any new coal-fired power projects overseas.

The wish marks a policy shift around the sprawling Beijing Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, which had already started to scale back its coal initiatives. China will also increase financial support for green and low-carbon energy projects in other developing countries, Xi said.

Meanwhile, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic whose policies have reversed decades of progress in reducing deforestation, asserted in his speech that the Amazon had “a 32% reduction in deforestation. deforestation in August compared to August of the previous year. “

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic, addresses the UNGA on Tuesday.

However, non-governmental organizations claim that this figure contradicts data and aerial images of the region which show that deforestation is on the increase, consumed by fires, scars from mining activities in protected areas, illegal airstrips. , large plots of land being prepared for planting, and livestock grazing alongside recent fires.

Peru will declare a national emergency as part of its commitment to tackle the climate change crisis, President Pedro Castillo said in his speech, without providing further details on what this entails. He also demanded that the countries which “pollute the most” work to “meet their obligations”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in his speech that his country will ratify the Paris climate agreement – an international agreement between nearly 200 countries to fight climate change – next month.

On vaccine inequalities

Biden praised the US vaccine-sharing efforts, saying they brought a “small dose of hope” to communities around the world.

The United States has contributed more than $ 15 billion to the global response to Covid-19, shipping “more than 160 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to other countries,” he said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said vaccine inequality is a

Yet vaccine inequality continues to be fueled by the actions – or inactions – of the world’s richest nations. Last week, the World Health Organization said more than 5.7 billion doses of the vaccine had been administered worldwide, 73% of which were in just 10 countries.

Biden’s comments followed a scathing indictment over vaccine inequality by the UN Secretary-General, who pointed out that more than 90% of Africans are still waiting for a first dose while many in wealthy countries are already fully vaccinated.

“It’s a moral accusation against the state of our world. It’s obscenity,” Guterres said.

Biden said he would announce additional commitments to fight the virus on Wednesday at a Covid-19 global summit hosted by the United States.

CNN’s Caitlin Hu, Karol Suarez, Elizabeth Joseph and Hira Humayun contributed reporting.

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