Outgoing President Joe Biden sought to burnish his foreign policy record on Monday, saying America’s adversaries are weaker than when he took office four years ago despite global crises that remain unresolved.
A week before handing over to President-elect Donald Trump, Biden addressed U.S. diplomats at the State Department and touted his administration’s support for Ukraine against a Russian invasion in 2022 and for Israel’s wars in the Middle East.
Biden said the United States is “winning the global competition” and will not be economically overtaken by China as had been predicted, while Russia and Iran have been weakened by wars without direct US involvement.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are weaker,” Biden said. “We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
As wars continue in Ukraine and the Middle East, officials hope a deal can be reached between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas before Biden leaves the White House on Jan. 20.
Biden said negotiators were close to reaching a deal that would release hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and halt fighting in the Palestinian enclave to allow for a surge in humanitarian aid.
“So many innocent people have died, so many communities have been destroyed. The Palestinian people deserve peace, the right to determine their own future. Israel deserves peace and real security. The hostages and their families deserve to be reunited,” Biden said. “That is why we are working urgently to close this agreement.”
Biden has faced criticism for providing weapons and diplomatic support to Israel since the latest bloodshed in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking a 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
Biden said he had helped Israel defeat adversaries such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both backed by Iran. He also praised Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“Overall, Iran is weaker than it has been in decades,” he added, pointing to the collapse of Assad’s Syrian government. “There is no doubt that our actions contributed significantly.”
authoritarian alliance
Biden acknowledged that authoritarian states China, Iran, North Korea and Russia are now more closely aligned with each other, but said that was more “out of weakness than strength.”
Ukraine, backed by the United States, has thwarted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goal of wiping the country off the map, Biden said, touting his 2023 visit to kyiv as the first by a sitting president to a war zone outside the control of American forces.
“When Putin invaded Ukraine, he thought he could take kyiv in a matter of days. The truth is, since that war started, I’m the only one who’s been in the center of kyiv, not him,” Biden said.
Biden defended his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, saying there was nothing adversaries like China and Russia would have liked more than to see the United States tied up there for another decade.
Biden said that when he came to the White House, experts predicted that it was inevitable that China would overtake the United States economically. Now, he predicted, that will never happen. He said the U.S. economy is moving forward, but there is still work to do.
“Now, make no mistake, the United States must continue to face serious challenges,” Biden said, including in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific. He added that his government is leaving the next administration “a very strong hand to play.”
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