At the recent NATO summit in Lithuania, President Joe Biden urged fellow alliance members to “take the same spirit of unity, common purpose, determination that we have demonstrated in our response to Russian aggression in Ukraine and bring more partners along as we continue working to build a world we want to live in.”
We have a choice to make, said President Biden:
“A choice between a world defined by coercion and exploitation, where might makes right, or a world where we recognize that our own success is bound to the success of others.”
President Biden said he has focused on revitalizing America’s alliances around the world:
“These past years, we have brought the Transatlantic Partnership to new heights, reaffirming the importance of the relationship between Europe and the United States as an anchor to global stability. The idea that the United States could prosper without a secure Europe is not reasonable.”
The United States has also deepened its alliance in the Indo-Pacific with Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and the Philippines.
Through the Quad partnership, which includes Australia, India, Japan, and the United States — “we’re bringing major democracies of the region together to cooperate, keeping the Indo-Pacific free and open, prosperous, and secure,” declared President Biden.
President Biden urged building broad coalitions “to strengthen and defend ... the international system grounded in the rule of law:”
“We have to come together to protect the rights and freedoms that underwrite the flow of ideas and commerce, and which have enabled decades of global growth. Yes, territorial integrity and sovereignty, but also principles like freedom of navigation and overflight, keeping our shared seas and skies open so that every nation has equal access to our global common space.”
“We stand at an inflection point,” said President Biden, “where the choices we make now are going to shape the direction of our world for decades to come.”
“I believe that with. . .nations working together for (a) common cause,” declared President Biden, “we can ensure the vision we share and the freedoms we cherish are not just empty words in a troubled time, but a roadmap” toward a future we can reach if we work together.
