US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Tuesday emphasised the strength and resilience of America’s democracy and said that, though there have been setbacks that have hurt the country’s ability to advance American values around the world, the country was acknowledging its imperfections and confronting them.
The nation’s top diplomat, while speaking to NPR, was responding to a question about the impact of incidents like the deadly January 6 US Capitol attack on America’s standing in the world and admitted that such sentiments had featured in his conversations with foreign counterparts. However, the secretary noted that the Biden administration was moving swiftly to re-engage with allies, re-join important international fora like the Paris Climate accords, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and re-focus its efforts on protecting the most vulnerable across the globe. “The point is, I think people are seeing by our actions – not just what we’re saying, by what we’re doing – that, as the President likes to say, America is back, America is re-engaged, America is leading. And I found an incredibly receptive audience for that,” he said.
Blinken also spoke about the US’ approach to Iran and stressed that the goal was still to prohibit Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. He said that the 2015 JCPOA was a crucial accord to achieving this objective and lamented the US’ withdrawal from it in 2018. However, he said that re-engagement on the matter will require a deal that is “longer and stronger than the original one,” and said that its scope would also have to be broadened to include other areas of concern, including the country’s ballistic missile program, as well as its “destabilising actions” in multiple nations.
The two sides have been stuck in a diplomatic standoff regarding their return to the nuclear deal, with neither side willing to make the first move. Tehran has promised to fully implement the terms of the agreement if (and after) the US lifts crippling sanctions on the country. However, Washington has said that removing the restrictive measures will not be possible until it is sure that Iran is complying with the deal. Blinken on Tuesday said that “the path to diplomacy is open” and noted that President Biden had made it very clear on where America stood. “We’ll see what, if any, reaction Iran has to that,” he added.
On China, the secretary said that though the previous administration was right in taking a more hardline stance to Beijing, the way in which it was done did not produce the necessary results. Blinken emphasized that any approach towards China must be from a position of strength and said that that comes from close coordination and engagement with allies, and “being engaged, leaning in, showing up around the world.”
The secretary also noted that while it was challenging to engage with countries accused of conducting horrific atrocities against minorities and other vulnerable groups—like in the case of Uighurs in Xinjiang—it was important to be able to do “multiple things at the same time.” He also cited the example of Russia and said that though Moscow had undertaken numerous “egregious” actions that went against American interests and values—such as the treatment of Alexei Navalny, interference in US elections, aggression in Ukraine, and the infamous “SolarWinds” attack—the Biden administration had also been able to identify areas of mutual interest that could facilitate cooperation, like the renewing of the New START agreement.
You can read the full interview here.