It is difficult to imagine a more inopportune moment for Joe Biden to debut on the largest world stage of his presidential term.
Biden goes before the annual United Nations General Assembly this week on a mission to restore credibility and trust in the U.S. as a reliable global partner following a series of disparate crises involving the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a nuclear weapons deal, the alliance with France, and COVID-19 vaccinations.
Administration officials insist that partnerships have not suffered permanent damage despite recent setbacks.
“Good friends have disagreements, but that’s the nature of friendship and that’s — because you’re friends, you can have disagreement and continue to work on those areas of cooperation,” the United States ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told reporters ahead of the start of the General Assembly meeting.
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