Biden aims to enhance his foreign policy reputation at the UN, with global leaders confronting a globe engulfed in turmoil.
Amidst a severe escalation in a major predicament in the Middle East, the globe is anticipating temporary solutions along with concluding opinions on how Biden's presidency will be judged by history.
Officials from the senior administration have acknowledged that Biden, in his speeches to the General Assembly and interactions with world leaders, must grapple with this reality as Israel conducts widespread military operations across Lebanon, resulting in over 200 fatalities, including children, as per the Lebanese health ministry.
During these meetings, Biden and top US officials will discuss ways to "soothe the situation," as one senior official stated, while also mentioning that Biden plans to "address the Middle East, particularly this very challenging year we have all endured."
Biden is slated to make his stand clear on the necessity of global cooperation to overcome the world's most complex challenges, serving as a counterbalance to the surge of populist ideologies worldwide, including in the United States.
However, "peace initiatives" – with regard to the Middle East, given the potential for a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, in addition to the conflict in Gaza, but also Ukraine – will take center stage, these officials claim, highlighting the growing instability that has surfaced in recent times.
Since Biden's 2023 statement that the world was at a "turning point," a new war between Hamas and Israel has led to an escalating death toll, and US endeavors to negotiate a ceasefire to halt the fighting and secure the release of hostages held by the terror group have hit a wall recently. Israel's bold assault on Hezbollah last week, which ignited an increase in strikes on both sides of Lebanon's border, has further muddied the waters in the region.
"The world has transformed, and the world has become more complicated in numerous ways," one senior administration official said.
He will also be expected to address the Russia and Ukraine conflict in a week when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced his intention to present his plan to win the war to Biden, with his request to Biden to utilize Western-supplied weapons to target Russian positions still pending.
This, in turn, has pushed the perceived threat from China, which the Biden administration has long identified as its "pacing challenge," to the background.
Election approach
In New York, world leaders will find themselves juggling the growing multitude of global flashpoints – all while an election just weeks away casts a shadow over the US's role as the democratic world's guiding light, benefactor, and chief weapons supplier. While Biden will be officially representing the US at the table, former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are separately meeting with world leaders to strengthen relationships and outline their own objectives.
Speaking on Sunday, Biden expressed concern about the escalation in the Middle East. However, he reiterated his belief that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas – which American officials believe would help de-escalate tensions across the region – was still achievable.
“We’ll do everything we can to prevent a wider conflict from erupting. And we’re still pushing hard,” he told reporters at the White House.
White House officials claim that Biden plans to go beyond these concerns, focusing on long-term priorities such as climate change, a subject of a separate standalone speech. The president intends to reinforce the case for US climate leadership and argue for why these efforts should be sustained in the years ahead as he looks towards the end of his presidency.
“He will demonstrate how the United States has transformed the playbook, shifting away from pessimism and focusing instead on the substantial economic potential,” Ali Zaidi, White House national climate adviser, told reporters, adding that the speech will serve as “an opportunity to deliver the decisive decade mid-term report to show the progress we’ve made, the points we've scored, and the roadmap ahead.”
On Tuesday, Biden will host a summit of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, which will include announcements from 11 coalition countries on new initiatives to advance efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking globally as well as a new pledge from all core coalition members. Established by the US last year as part of Biden administration efforts to address the enduring and deadly fentanyl crisis that claims tens of thousands of American lives each year, the group comprises 158 countries and 15 international organizations.
And on Wednesday, Biden will meet with the president of Vietnam on the sidelines of the gathering. This meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss their shared interests in the stability and prosperity of Southeast Asia, according to senior administration officials. This will be followed by a meeting focused on Ukraine reconstruction with world leaders – a critical topic ahead of Biden's meeting with Zelensky later this week.
In just the past two weeks, Biden has engaged in a series of diplomatic activities, holding talks with the UK’s prime minister at the White House; hosting the Quad leaders of Australia, India, and Japan in his hometown of Wilmington; and welcoming Zelensky of Ukraine and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates as conflict rages in their respective regions.
These encounters concentrated on the greatest threats currently facing the world. As has been the case in recent years, the United Nations is once again under pressure from smaller nations to have their voices – and their needs – heard. Top US officials claim they plan to use the week to raise awareness about conflicts in places like Sudan and around the world.
“We’re devoting all our efforts toward peace and security, not just in Gaza and Israel and Lebanon, but we’re also focusing on Sudan, we’re focusing on Ukraine. And so, all of these will be part of our agenda as well as conflicts elsewhere in the world,” US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on CNN.
Questions concerning the UN's efficiency
The UN's effectiveness is once more a topic that's difficult to overlook this year, as it convenes for the third time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The situation in Gaza remains unresolved, and tensions between Israel and Hezbollah are escalating in the north. As permanent members of the UN Security Council, both Russia and the United States hold veto power, making it more challenging for the UN to intervene in either Ukraine or Gaza.
Jon Alterman, senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, commented, "The UN system isn't particularly adept at resolving conflicts when a member of the UN Security Council is heavily engaged." He pointed to the US's relationship with Israel as a reason for the UN's limited role in the conflict.
As the world convenes in New York to discuss the UN's role and international cooperation, the failure to utilize UN structures to make a greater impact on the conflict in Gaza, which is a significant concern for people worldwide, will likely cast a somber tone over the discussions.
Despite acknowledging Russia's veto power's impact on the institution's ability to engage more in the conflict in Ukraine, US officials have still defended the use of the veto in relation to the Gaza conflict.
Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the UN, suggested, "Don't demand what you believe is dysfunctional; demand to work within the system to figure out how to change that." When asked about criticism of the veto, she stated, "We haven't decided to give up on our veto power, but we're open to listening to others' perspectives and will see where it leads us."
Despite holding firm on veto power, the US has expressed support for expanding the UN Security Council with two additional permanent seats for Africa and a rotating seat for small-island developing states.
The Biden administration's policy priorities for this year's gathering include ending global conflicts, revitalizing the UN-led humanitarian system, and creating a "more inclusive and effective" international system, according to Thomas-Greenfield.
She emphasized, "Our UNGA priorities are ambitious, and some might call them overly ambitious or even impossible. But this moment demands ambition. It demands urgency. It demands an opportunity to examine the impossible and see how we can make those things possible."
In light of the current political climate, President Biden will need to address the escalating tensions in the Middle East during his meetings with global leaders, as Israel's military operations have resulted in over 200 fatalities, including children. The world is closely watching how Biden's presidency will handle this politics-driven predicament.
Furthermore, as the US grapples with its own internal politics during an election season, the international community is expecting Biden to maintain the US's role as a leader in global issues, such as climate change and nuclear disarmament, despite the looming shadow cast by the US elections.
