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US
Biden outlines US foreign policy
Article published on the 2009-02-07 Latest update 2009-02-07 12:37 TU
US Vice President Joe Biden
(Credit: Reuters)
United States Vice President Joe Biden presented Washington's foreign policy at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, stressing to the world leaders attending that the US is looking to work together with other countries, including asking for states to take Guantanamo inmates. Biden also touched on Eastern European issues, and climate change.
"As we seek a lasting framework for our common struggle against extremism, we will have to work cooperatively with nations around the world -- and we will need your help," said Biden.
This is a sea change from the previous US administration, which elected to tackle global issues unilaterally.
"The United States is emphasising equality rather than inequality, or at the very least they are maintaining a fiction of equality between themselves and the allies of the US rather than affirming American supremacy over the others, as the Bush administration did," Philip Golub, a political scientist at the American University in Paris, told RFI.
Analysis: Philip Golub, a professor of international relations at the American University in Paris
Biden also said the US is interested in creating a cost-effective missile defence system
"Faced with new threats, we need a new resolve to meet them, and the capabilities to succeed," he said, adding that Nato allies "must be better equipped to help stop the spread of the world's most dangerous weapons".
While he spoke of missile defence in connection with Iran, Biden did say that "we'll be willing to talk to Iran", with offers of "meaningful incentives" to the hard-line Islamic state.
He also talked about climate change, and a "green revolution", explaining that the Obama administration plans to appoint a climate envoy this year to tackle greenhouse gas emission issues.
And Biden said that the US was hoping to "reset" talks with Russia to prevent the strained relations with the eastern superpower. He was set to have one-on-one talks with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov on Sunday.
