Biden Issues Call To Defend Liberal International Order

By

Two days before stepping down from office, US Vice-President Joseph R. Biden called on the United States and Europe to confirm the transatlantic alliance and continue to work together to defend the liberal international order that has brought stability and peace in Europe since the end of World War II.

“History has proven that the defense of free nations in Europe has always been America’s fight,” Biden said in a special address to participants on the second day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.

The 47th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is taking place on January 17-20 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.

“The United States should fulfill our historic responsibility as the indispensable nation, but we have never been able to lead alone. It is only through championing the liberal international order that we will retain our position of leadership,” Biden said.

According to Biden, “There will be a new president in the US, but the challenges and choices we make as an international community do not hinge exclusively on Washington’s leadership. Whether we reinforce the ties that bind us or they unravel, these choices will be made by every single nation.”

Recognizing that recent economic and social challenges in the US and Europe have allowed nationalist and populist forces to capitalize on citizens’ concerns, Biden rejected the politics of fear.

“Impulses to hunker down, to build walls, are precisely the wrong answer,” Biden argued. “We can and we must take action to mitigate the economic trends that are stoking unrest in so many advanced economies and undermining people’s basic sense of dignity.”

Economic stresses that are leading to the hollowing out of the middle class and the social disruptions caused by technological change have to be addressed, Biden told participants. Unskilled workers are losing their jobs, while higher-paid skilled workers are getting paid more and more.

“Globalization has not been an unalloyed good,” the vice-president said. “It has deepened the rift between those racing ahead at the top and those hanging on in the middle or falling to the bottom.” He added: “We cannot undo the changes that technology has wrought in our world, nor should we try.”

The complaints of those who feel that they have been left behind are legitimate, Biden said. “Continuing education whether you are an astrophysicist or working on an assembly line is going to be required.”

Tax reforms will also be necessary so everyone pays their fair share, according to Biden, who said, “The top 1% is not carrying their weight.”

Retreating from the world, however, is not a solution, Biden insisted. “We cannot rout fear with retrenchment.” While the US has not always been its perfect defender, “we need urgently to defend the liberal international order – to sustain it.”

In his last official speech as US Vice-President, Biden said that he had come to Davos to issue a valedictory call for Europe and the US to come together and renew the “fight for democracy wherever it is under threat”.

Biden underscored the importance of European unity and the integrity of the European Union, which he said is in America’s interest.

Biden stressed that the transatlantic alliance is of utmost importance and that “the American commitment to NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is thoroughly bipartisan” in the support it has in Washington. He described NATO as the “single greatest bulwark of our transatlantic partnership.”

One thought on “Biden Issues Call To Defend Liberal International Order

  • January 19, 2017 at 12:22 am
    Permalink

    What arrogance – this was not Biden-misspeak but Biden-unfiltered. Without US Eu cannot stand. Bull poo. With US Trump saying, we will not be the world’s god, EU is getting over it’s tantrum of US ignited disbelief and saying well why can we not go it alone?
    They can the very hand that “fed them” also kept a strangle hold on them.
    Let the EU renogiate with itself and neighbors. Let the EU unplug the US mantra of hate. Yes hate. That is what it is when one abuses another.

    EU and Russia need to come into a working compromise without warheads and armament -and without NATO crying OH WOE is us. EU needs to negotiate an equal partner within itself. One where the originals do not have the sway. The original six foundering nations need to stop being colonial over the others. And the EU needs to bring in all who want in and make treaties with Central Asia, ASEAN, Russia and China.
    It needs not a new Marshall plan for Africa nor the Middle East. It needs to stay home and wipe it’s collective backend while cleansing itself from it’s US plague. The US on the other hand, hopefully in Trump, will be getting a long over do self induced enema along with the removal of blinders.

    Biden is looking at 2018 and 2020. he is not giving a care for the US not EU not any other part of the globe. Shame on him.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *