In his first speech on how the United States will approach its relationship with the world over the next four years - and especially with those countries with which relations have historically been tense, such as Russia and China - the new president, Joe Biden, said this Thursday that diplomacy and respect will be at the center of its foreign policy.
"We will deal with our adversaries and competitors through diplomatic channels," the president said on his first visit to the State Department since taking office.
Biden stressed that his government will seek to
regain "the credibility and moral authority" of the United States before the international community
, launching a sidestepped criticism of the administration of former President Donald Trump.
American democratic values, the president said, have "been under intense pressure in recent years," and were "pushed to the edge [of the precipice] in recent weeks," he added, referring to the January 6 insurgent assault on the seat of Congress by Trump supporters.
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Biden said he will halt the withdrawal of US troops stationed in Germany, end support for Saudi Arabia's military offensive in Yemen, and make support for LGBTQ rights a cornerstone of his diplomacy.
He also sent a message of encouragement to the U.S. diplomatic corps, many of whom
had expressed dissatisfaction with Trump's policies and tone
toward the countries they represent Washington against.
“The United States is back.
Diplomacy is back, ”Biden said,“ we're going to rebuild our alliances. ”The Democrat has substantial foreign policy experience, after years as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He also announced that he will increase the limit on the number of refugees allowed in the United States per year to more than eight times the amount ordered by the Trump Administration.
The former president drastically reduced the limit to just 15,000 refugees.
Biden will raise that number to 125,000, which is also over the limit set by President Barack Obama before leaving office in 2012.
Unlike Biden, who saw the State Department less than a month away from taking office, Trump waited more than a year to do so, and that was when former Secretary Mike Pompeo was sworn in in 2018.
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During his tenure, Trump denigrated and fired many of the State Department employees, and
tried unsuccessfully for several years to cut his budget by as much as 35%.
In a different approach, Biden chose his former confidant Antony Blinken as his secretary of state, aiming to revitalize an American diplomatic corps that had been drained and demoralized during Trump's four years in power.
The Biden Administration will appoint career diplomat Tim Lenderking to deal with the Middle East, and will also serve as the United States' special envoy in Yemen, as the president seeks a diplomatic end to the Saudi-led military campaign that has deepened humanitarian suffering in the poorest country on the Arabian peninsula.
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Biden also addressed the tense relationship with Russia and called for the immediate release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, in a strong condemnation of the president, Vladimir Putin, amid the crisis for the imprisonment of thousands of protesters who demand an end to the repression of the dissidents.
“I made it clear to President Putin, in a very different way than my predecessor, that the days of the United States ignoring aggressive actions by Russia (intervention in our elections, cyberattacks, poisoning of its citizens) have finished, ”he said.
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He also mentioned a list of issues on which he said he would reverse Trump's policies or push different priorities, including eliminating the former president's plan to withdraw around 9,500 of the roughly 34,500 US troops stationed in Germany.
The European nation is home to key US military installations such as Ramstein Air Base and the headquarters of the US European Command and its Africa Command.
Trump announced his plan after repeatedly accusing Germany of not paying enough for its own defense, and
calling its former NATO ally a "criminal" for failing to spend 2% of its GDP on defense
, the benchmark of the alliance.
Biden said he will also issue a presidential memorandum that will address the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
queer people
around the world.
As a candidate, the Democrat pledged to prioritize LGBTQ rights on the international stage, promising to use "the full range of US diplomatic tools" to promote equality.
With information from NBC News and The Associated Press