Biden looks back on long history of foreign policy, insists he is “leaving the next administration with a very strong hand”

In a world at war Ukrainein the Middle East and Sudan, President Biden said in his speech at the State Department on Monday that his administration has strengthened relationships around the world, improved the position of the United States on the world stage and weakened its main opponents.

While Mr. When Biden took office four years ago, he wanted to reassure global partners and reestablish foreign agreements that the Trump administration had withdrawn from. The president restored strong ties with NATO leaders in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and re-entered the Paris climate accord. But world leaders have been preparing for major changes as the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump approaches.

“I'm coming here to the State Department to report to the American people about the progress we've made in the last four years, in our foreign policy, in our presidency,” said Mr. Biden. “I have said many times that we are in a critical situation. The era of the Cold War is over. A new era has begun. In these four years, we have faced problems, we have been tested, we have passed. those tests, in my opinion, are stronger than those tests that we entered. The United States is winning the global competition.”

Specifically, the president made the case that the United States' relationship with international institutions is stronger than it was before he took office, a key claim of his presidency.

“Today, I can report to the American people, our alliances are stronger than they have been in decades,” he said. “NATO is more capable than ever. And many of our partners are paying their fair share.”

But the president also tried to make the case that “America's adversaries are weaker than they were when we entered this operation four years ago.”

Specifically, Mr Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin had “failed” to govern Ukraine and weaken NATO. The president praised his internationalization work in Ukraine, another key part of his foreign policy.

“As I have seen, when Putin starts his attack, I have two jobs – one is to unite the world to protect Ukraine, and the other is to avoid a war between two nuclear powers,” Mr Biden said. “We did both of those things. Today, Ukraine is still a free, independent, powerful country with a bright future.”

He also pointed out that Iran is weaker than it has been in “decades,” saying Iran's main proxy Hezbollah is “severely wounded” and Iran's economy is “in dire straits.”

Something that has always been difficult for the Biden administration is this the release of Hamas hostages kidnapped in Israel, which was a priority for the president and his aides. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said before Mr. Biden on Monday said the parties were “close to an agreement and it could be done this week,” but he also said he could not make a promise or a prediction.

In his speech, the president briefly mentioned the soldiers who died during the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, while insisting that he became president to end the United States' involvement in its longest war.

“We grieve for all 2,461 Americans who made the greatest sacrifice in the longest war in American history,” he said. “And I grieve for those brave members who lost their lives during the retreat.”

Thirteen US service members he died in the attack outside the Kabul airport during the evacuation as the Taliban took control of the country faster than the US expected.

Mr. Biden also laid out the challenges that will face the incoming Trump administration, which will have to deal with the chaos in the Middle East, Russia's almost three-year war against Ukraine and the tense situation in the Red Sea.

“Make no mistake, there are difficult challenges that the United States must continue to face, in Ukraine, in the Middle East, in the Indo-Pacific,” he said. “It must keep pressure on the Houthis who are attacking ships in the Red Sea, firing missiles at Israel, and firing at American forces. It must stop North Korea as it sharpens its saber and moves closer to Russia. And surely new challenges will emerge in the months and years to come.”

“But or – but still, it's clear,” he continued. “My administration leaves the next administration with a stronger hand to play. And we leave an America with many friends and strong alliances, its enemies weak and under pressure. An America that leads again, unites countries, sets the agenda, unites others behind our plans and ideas .”

The president recently told USA Today that he helped reset a relationship that had crumbled during the Trump administration, saying he led an “inflection point” in history. He credited his long history on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for helping him “navigate some of the most important changes that are happening, whether it's in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, the Far East.”

“The only benefit of being an old man is that I've known all the world leaders for a long time,” he told USA Today's Susan Page. “And so I got to see each of them and their interests.”

Jake Sullivan said the president will argue that “America is winning that race for the future.”

In his first foreign policy speech as president, in 2021Mr. Biden aimed to unite foreign and domestic policy interests in opposition to middle-class foreign policy. Much of the focus was on China and alliances but was interrupted by the turmoil in Ukraine and the Middle East.

“The United States is in worse political shape today than it was four years ago,” said Stephen Wertheim, a historian and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The United States is mired in a major war on the European continent with grave risks; it has suddenly returned to bombing the Middle East; and it has entered a full-blown strategic conflict with China.”

A look at the biggest foreign policy issues of his presidency:

Ukraine, Russia and NATO

Mr. Biden has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine, becoming the first president to go to a conflict zone where the US military was not involved and directing more than $183 billion in military aid since the 2021 invasion of Russia. He played an important role in founding NATO. spending more on collective defense.

However, the fierce war continues with no clear plan for a peace agreement. Washington has deferred to Kyiv on when and how the talks should take place with the tag line “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

The administration was criticized early in the conflict for holding back on sending the most dangerous weapons and later by some Republicans for spending too much on aid to Ukraine.

Mr. Biden is expected to argue that his policies ensured Ukraine's survival as an independent country and thwarted Putin's ambitions, a senior administration official told CBS News.

Israel-Hamas war

After Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack in Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, Mr. Biden made it clear that Israel has the right to defend itself by sending billions of dollars in military aid.

As Israel begins a war in Gaza that has killed more than 45,000 people according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health and led to a humanitarian crisis, the administration has not changed its stance.

In April 2023, Mr. Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that future US support for his country depends on Israel protecting civilians and aid workers in Gaza.

“Biden willingly squandered his power by pledging military support to Israel; then criticized the Israeli government's decisions in isolation,” Wertheim said.

The State Department notified Congress earlier this month of a planned $8 billion arms transfer to Israel. Ceasefire talks continue between Israel and Hamas as pressure mounts to reach an agreement before Trump's January 20 inauguration.

De-escalation of the chaos in Afghanistan

The most notable foreign policy failure was the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Mr. Biden had promised to end America's longest war and assured the American people that the Afghan military could hold back the Taliban takeover. Instead the Taliban expanded their territorial control across the country much faster than the US had expected and seized Kabul as the Afghan government fell. The US rushed out about 125,000 people, including 6,000 Americans, during its withdrawal, but dozens of Afghans and 13 members of the US killed by a suicide bomb outside the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul as thousands sought to flee the country.

US citizens and Afghan allies who supported US forces during the war were left behind. Thousands feared retribution from the Taliban and felt abandoned by the American government that had promised to take care of them.

Images of Afghans clinging to military planes in the hope of escape, and US military weapons left behind and surrounded by the Taliban became a symbol of the missteps leading up to the withdrawal.

In the three years since the Taliban returned to power, al Qaeda and other terrorist groups have established a presence in the country, and Afghan women and girls are denied basic freedoms they enjoyed two decades of Western-backed government following the 2001 US-led invasion.

China

Trump started a trade war with China and other countries during his first term, imposing tariffs that were intended to prevent what he saw as unfair trade practices and to encourage American consumers and businesses to buy and sell more domestically produced goods. While the rhetoric changed under Mr. Biden, he nevertheless continued his tax policy. And as was the case during the Trump administration, both view China as a security threat, not just an economic one.

The Biden administration has put in place safeguards to help protect industries such as chip manufacturing from relying on China. Global alliances such as the Quad – US, India, Japan and Australia – and AUKUS – Australia, US and UK – are making diplomatic and military efforts to block China. And the Biden administration has it too developed its military alliance and Japan.

Mr. Biden was vice president when former President Barack Obama delivered his “pivot to Asia” speech. American policymakers have been trying to change the focus of foreign policy ever since, but there have been a world of distractions along the way.

“The United States cannot expect to put China first while remaining the leading military power in Europe and the Middle East. If the United States really wants to put China first, it needs to retreat somewhere else,” said Wertheim.

Olivia Gazis and Ahmad Mukhtar contributed to this report.