WASHINGTON: Pushing back calls for withdrawl from the International arena, US Vice President Joe Biden has said that America needs to stay engaged in the world, to lead and to be a force for positive change.
As it ends two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq thus making available for itself the crucial resources, the US is rebalancing and deepening its strategic, economic and diplomatic investments in regions that will shape the 21st century, he said.
"America is and will remain a resident Pacific power. That power has been essential to the peace and prosperity of that region for the past seven decades, and it will be equally essential in the decades ahead to knit together Pacific nations, from the shores of India to the Americas, as part of a security and economic order that delivers peace and prosperity and freedom rather than war and conflict," Biden said in his Commencement Address to the US Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs.
The US, he said, has been working hard to modernize and strengthen the security foundations of America, retooling NATO to fit the needs of the 21st century, revitalizing it's Pacific alliances with Japan and South Korea and others, in
short, maintaining and strengthening dozens upon dozens of military alliances -- something no other nation can match.
"Now that the wars are ended, we are able to redeploy our security and intelligence capabilities to focus on other parts of the world -- from North Africa to Southeast Asia -- to adapt to the changing face of terrorism," he said.
"We're refining our strategy, which includes building up the capacity of our partner countries where terrorists operate and reside, while maintaining the robust capacity to take action when threats are imminent. And that means continuing to invest in the unmatched special forces and intelligence capabilities of the United States military," he said.
Biden said the US is reinforcing international norms that constitute the global rules of the road -- international norms regarding nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, international norms regarding the freedom of navigation on both the seas and in the air, and international norms relating to sovereignty and territorial integrity, and establishing international norms that are still taking shape but are badly needed in the 21st century with respect to cybersecurity, climate change and global trading.
"That's why we imposed unprecedented sanctions on Iran, to create the possibility to peacefully address the threat posed by their nuclear program. But whatever means, they will not acquire nuclear weapons," he said.
"It's why we stand up against bullying and aggression in international waters and airspace in the Pacific, why we condemn Russia's violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity and the illegal annexation of Crimea, and why we will continue to support a democratic Ukraine, and why we're determined to complete international trade agreements to raise the standard of economic conduct in the Atlantic and Pacific, and why we believe it's essential that we make progress on a global framework for climate change," the Vice President said.