WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden government on Wednesday paused or revised a wide range of Trump-era foreign policies, when America’s new diplomat took over the direction of the State Department.
The government has maintained, at least temporarily, several high-cost arms sales to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, while the newly inaugurated Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said he is urgently looking for a terrorism designation against the Hutile rebels Yemen that his predecessor enacted shortly before leaving office.
On his first full day of work, Blinken said the government has initiated a comprehensive review of the U.S. relationship with Russia and is examining details of a peace agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban signed almost a year ago. He said the government has, however, asked Trump’s special envoy to Afghanistan, former UN ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, to remain in office for the sake of continuity.
Speaking to reporters just hours after his ceremonial, but limited by the coronavirus, entry into the State Department’s main lobby, Blinken also said the government is ready to return to commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, of which the former President Donald Trump has withdrawn, but only if Iran returns to full compliance with the agreement.
In his comments to a demoralized diplomatic corps that has often been denigrated or ignored in the past four years, Blinken has pledged to rebuild the ranks of foreign service and rely on his experience as the Biden government tries to restore America’s global position. He said the world is watching America follow its foreign policy after Trump’s “America First” doctrine, which has alienated many U.S. allies.
Blinken spoke to foreign ministers from Britain, France, Germany and Israel on Wednesday after calls on Tuesday to his counterparts in Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea.
Appearing in the press conference room, which had rarely been used during the Trump administration, Blinken promised to respect and be accessible to journalists and to restore the State Department’s daily press conferences starting next week.
On political issues, Blinken said he was particularly concerned about the designation of a “foreign terrorist organization” for Iran-backed Houthis, which former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced just 10 days before the end of the Trump administration. Many fear that the move, which comes with strict U.S. sanctions, needlessly exacerbate what is already one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Of all the steps that Trump and Pompeo took in their final days, “that’s the priority in my book,” said Blinken of the assignment. “We are watching this very urgently and closely.” The Treasury Department has already moved to lift some of the sanctions associated with the designation, but aid groups say mass starvation can result if they are not all suspended.
The pause in arms sales to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, announced just days after the November 6 election that Trump lost to current President Joe Biden, is also related to Yemen. Critics fear that the two Arab countries could use advanced US weapons to continue the Saudi-led war in Yemen, with a significant risk of civilian casualties. The department called for the temporary suspension, which includes suspending a transfer of $ 23 billion of F-35 stealth fighters to the United Arab Emirates, as “a routine administrative action” for a new government.
Blinken said sales are under review to determine whether they meet U.S. national security objectives.
On Afghanistan, Blinken said the Biden government wanted to take a detailed look at the February 2020 peace deal negotiated between the Trump administration and the Taliban to try to pull American troops out of the country after almost 20 years of war. “We need to understand exactly what is in the agreement” before deciding how to proceed, he said. Khalilzad, the chief negotiator for the United States, has been asked to remain in office so that he can “continue the vital work he is doing.”
On Iran, Blinken repeated comments that Biden previously made and that he himself made to lawmakers at his confirmation hearing last week. Blinken said the government is prepared to ease the sanctions the Trump administration has imposed on Iran, as long as Iran returns to full compliance with the 2015 agreement. At that point, Blinken said the government would seek to strengthen and lengthen the terms of the agreement. But, he said, “we are a long way from that point.”
Biden promised to reverse Trump’s approach, which alienated many traditional US allies, who saw it as a unilateral, hard-line approach that left no room for negotiation. Blinken said that after four years, the United States would again engage with allies on a reciprocal basis, rather than purely transactional.
“The world is watching us closely now,” said Blinken. “They want to know if we can heal our nation. They want to see if we will lead with the power of our example and if we will value diplomacy with our allies and partners to face the great challenges of our time – such as the pandemic, climate change, economic crisis, threats to democracies, struggles for justice racial and the danger to our global security and stability posed by our rivals and opponents. “
Blinken, a 58-year-old Biden confidant, has been confirmed to be the 71st secretary of state by the Senate on Tuesday in a 78-22 vote. The position is the most senior cabinet position, with the secretary fourth in the presidential succession line. Former assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration, Blinken has promised that global US leadership is back and that the State Department will be “central” to this.
Blinken inherited a profoundly demoralized and depleted professional workforce at the State Department. Neither of his two immediate predecessors under Trump, Rex Tillerson or Pompeo, offered strong resistance to repeated attempts to destroy the agency. These were thwarted only by Congressional intervention.
Blinken said he will promote and protect foreign service, which was marginalized during the Trump era, and that, after four years of atrophy, the State Department will once again take a leading role in America’s relations with the world.