President Biden will deliver his final address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. It will likely also be one of his last global speeches as president, capping a decades-long political career focused on foreign policy.
The 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, popularly known as UNGA, is bringing leaders from around the world to New York. A senior administration official told reporters that the themes of the president’s speech will encompass many of his foreign policy actions throughout his administration — mobilizing the world around Ukraine, managing global competition and emphasizing the importance of upholding the UN Charter.
“He came into office four years ago with a vision for America to return to the world stage, with a new way of engaging with other countries, where countries would come together to solve some of those big challenges,” a senior administration official told reporters.
The official said the speech will be an opportunity for the president to “review” some of the foreign policy goals Biden has achieved.
It’s a busy week on the foreign policy front for the president, who meet with the leaders of the Indo-Pacific countries — Japan, Australia and India — at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, over the weekend. He will meet with world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and also with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House Thursday.
The ongoing tension in the Middle East promises to dominate much of the conference, and a senior administration official said the president will address what’s happening there. The senior official called the situation between Israel and Lebanon “sensitive and dangerous.”
Rockets struck southern Lebanon on Monday, killing nearly 500 people, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Israel said it launched the attack. Hezbollah weapons hidden in residential buildings. The explosions came as Israel announced a new wave of attacks on the Iran-backed group in Lebanon, warning civilians to flee any buildings or areas where the organization had positioned weapons or fighters.
Biden has said he believes a ceasefire and hostage negotiation deal is close, but nearly a year after the deadly Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war, a deal remains elusive. Earlier this month, Biden said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not do enough to secure a deal.
Last month, Hamas executed six hostages, including an American citizen.
A major focus of the UN General Assembly last year was Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. This was a focus for Mr Biden, who has stressed the need to protect democracy throughout his presidency and presidential campaigns.
After former President Donald Trump’s presidency, which had more isolationist tendencies toward allies, Biden has emphasized that close relationships with allies are in America’s best interests.
“To take care of our own people, we also need to work closely with the rest of the world,” Mr Biden said during his speech at the UN General Assembly last year. “To secure our own future, we need to work together with other partners — our partners — toward a shared future. Our security, our prosperity, and our freedoms, I believe, are intertwined as never before. And so I believe we need to work together as never before.”
