{"id":33238,"date":"2021-03-24T12:20:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T19:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=33238"},"modified":"2021-03-24T12:20:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T19:20:45","slug":"reaffirming-and-reimagining-americas-alliances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=33238","title":{"rendered":"Reaffirming and Reimagining America\u2019s Alliances"},"content":{"rendered":"
03\/24\/2021 02:58 PM EDT<\/div>\n
\n

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State<\/p>\n

Brussels, Belgium<\/p>\n

NATO Headquarters Agora<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN:<\/strong>\u00a0 Good afternoon.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, not long after becoming Secretary as State, I spoke directly to the American people.\u00a0 I said that my number one job is to ensure that America\u2019s foreign policy delivers for them \u2013 that it makes their lives more secure, creates opportunities for their families and communities, and addresses the global challenges that are increasingly shaping their futures.<\/p>\n

And I said that a key way we will deliver for the American people is by reaffirming and revitalizing our alliances and partnerships around the world.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I\u2019ve come to Brussels this week.\u00a0 I\u2019m speaking to you now from the headquarters of NATO, the treaty alliance that has defended the security and freedom of Europe and North America for nearly 75 years.<\/p>\n

Now, Americans disagree about a few things, but the value of alliances and partnerships is not one of them.\u00a0 According to a recent poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, nine in ten Americans believe that maintaining our alliances is the most effective way to achieve our foreign policy goals.\u00a0 Nine in ten.\u00a0 It\u2019s not hard to see why.\u00a0 They look at the threats we face \u2013 like climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, economic inequality, an increasingly assertive China \u2013 and they know that the United States is much better off tackling them with partners, rather than trying to do it alone.\u00a0 And all our allies can say the same.<\/p>\n

Now, the world looks very different than it did decades ago, when we forged many of our alliances \u2013 or even than it did four years ago.\u00a0 Threats have multiplied.\u00a0 Competition has stiffened.\u00a0 Power dynamics have shifted.\u00a0 Trust in our alliances has been shaken \u2013 trust in each other and trust in the strength of our commitments.\u00a0 Across and even within our alliances, we don\u2019t always see eye to eye on the threats we face or how to confront them.\u00a0 Our shared values of democracy and human rights are being challenged \u2013 not only from outside our countries, but from within.\u00a0 And new threats are outpacing our efforts to build the capabilities we need to defend against them.<\/p>\n

Yet none of this changes the fact that we need alliances \u2013 now as much and maybe even more than ever.\u00a0 The challenge we face is to adapt and renew those alliances so that they can meet today\u2019s threats, and continue to deliver for our people now, as they have in the past.<\/p>\n

Today, I\u2019ll make the case for how to do that.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll first define the common threats we face.\u00a0 Next, I\u2019ll speak to what we need to do to reaffirm and revitalize our alliances so they cannot only defend against these threats, but also protect our shared interests and values.\u00a0 And finally, I\u2019ll set out what our allies can expect from the United States, and what we in turn expect of our allies.<\/p>\n

It starts by identifying the most urgent threats we face today.<\/p>\n

As I see it, there are three categories.<\/p>\n

The first is military threats from other countries.\u00a0 We see this in China\u2019s efforts to threaten freedom of navigation, to militarize the South China Sea, to target countries throughout the Indo-Pacific with increasingly sophisticated military capabilities.\u00a0 Beijing\u2019s military ambitions are growing by the year.\u00a0 Coupled with the realities of modern technology, the challenges that once seemed half a world away are no longer remote.\u00a0 We also see this in the new military capabilities and strategies Russia has developed to challenge our alliances and undermine the rules-based order that ensures our collective security.\u00a0 These include Moscow\u2019s aggression in eastern Ukraine; its build-up of forces, large-scale exercises, and acts of intimidation in the Baltic and Black Sea, the Eastern Mediterranean, the High North; its modernization of nuclear capabilities; and its use of chemical weapons against critics on NATO soil.<\/p>\n

And beyond China and Russia, regional actors like Iran and North Korea are pursuing nuclear and missile capabilities that threaten U.S. allies and partners.<\/p>\n

The second category is non-military threats from many of these same countries \u2013 the technological, economic, and informational tactics that threaten our security.\u00a0 These include the use of disinformation campaigns and weaponized corruption to fuel distrust in our democracies, and cyberattacks that target our critical infrastructure and steal intellectual property.\u00a0 From China\u2019s blatant economic coercion of Australia, to Russia\u2019s use of disinformation to erode confidence in elections and in safe, effective vaccines \u2013 these aggressive actions threaten not only our individual countries, but also our shared values.<\/p>\n

And the third category are global crises like climate change and COVID-19.\u00a0 These aren\u2019t threats posed by specific governments \u2013 they\u2019re global.\u00a0 Higher temperatures, rising sea levels, and more intense storms affect everything from military readiness to human migration patterns to food security.\u00a0 As the COVID-19 pandemic has made abundantly clear, our health security is intertwined, and only as strong as our weakest link.<\/p>\n

We also face global terrorism, which often cuts across these categories.\u00a0 While we have significantly degraded the threat of terrorism, it remains significant, especially when groups and individuals enjoy support and safe harbor from governments, or find havens in ungoverned spaces.<\/p>\n

Now, many of these threats weren\u2019t front of mind when our alliances were formed.\u00a0 Some didn\u2019t exist at all.\u00a0 But that\u2019s the great strength of our alliances: they were built to adapt \u2013 to keep evolving as new challenges emerge.<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s how we can adapt them today.<\/p>\n

First, we must recommit to our alliances \u2013 and to the shared values that sustain them.<\/p>\n

When America was attacked on 9\/11, our NATO Allies immediately and unanimously invoked Article 5 \u2013 an attack on one is an attack on all.\u00a0 This is still the only time in history that Article 5 has been invoked \u2013 and it was to protect the United States.\u00a0 We will never forget it.\u00a0 And our allies can expect the same from us today.\u00a0 As President Biden said to the Munich Security Conference last month, you have our unshakable vow: America is fully committed to NATO, including Article 5.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a vow I reaffirmed to our allies at NATO this week.<\/p>\n

And Secretary of Defense Austin and I expressed that same commitment to our allies in Japan and South Korea, where we recently concluded negotiations on burden-sharing agreements that will help maintain peace and prosperity in a free, open Indo-Pacific for years to come.<\/p>\n

Our alliances were created to defend shared values.\u00a0 So renewing our commitment requires reaffirming those values and the foundation of international relations we vow to protect: a free and open rules-based order.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got our work cut out for us on this front.\u00a0 Virtually every democracy in the world is dealing with challenges right now \u2013 including the United States.\u00a0 We\u2019re up against deep inequities, systemic racism, political polarization, each of which makes our democracy less resilient.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s on all of us to show what has always been the system\u2019s greatest strength \u2013 our citizens, and the faith we put in them to improve our societies and institutions.\u00a0 The biggest threat to our democracies isn\u2019t that they are flawed \u2013 they\u2019ve always been.\u00a0 The greatest threat is that our citizens lose trust in democracy\u2019s ability to fix those flaws \u2013 to follow through on our founding commitment to form a more perfect union.\u00a0 What separates democracies from autocracies is our ability and willingness to openly confront our own shortcomings \u2013 not to pretend they don\u2019t exist, to ignore them, to sweep them under the rug.<\/p>\n

We also have to hold one another to the values at the heart of our alliances \u2013 to confront the democratic recession around the world.\u00a0 We all must speak up when countries backslide from democracy and human rights.\u00a0 That\u2019s what democracies do: we deal with challenges out in the open.\u00a0 We also must help those countries move back in the right direction, by strengthening the guardrails of democracy \u2013 like a free and independent press; anti-corruption bodies; and institutions that protect the rule of law.<\/p>\n

This, too, is what it means to recommit to our alliances.<\/p>\n

Second, we must modernize our alliances.<\/p>\n

That begins with improving our military capabilities and readiness, to ensure that we maintain a strong and credible military deterrent.\u00a0 For example, we must ensure that our strategic nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure, and effective, particularly in light of Russia\u2019s modernization.\u00a0 That\u2019s critical to keeping our commitments to our allies strong and credible, even as we take steps to reduce further the role of nuclear weapons in our national security.\u00a0 We\u2019ll also work with our Indo-Pacific allies to address a wide range of complex security challenges in the region.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got to broaden our capacity to address threats in the economic, technological, and informational realms.\u00a0 And we can\u2019t just play defense \u2013 we have to take an affirmative approach.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen how Beijing and Moscow are increasingly using access to critical resources, markets, and technologies to pressure our allies and drive wedges between us.\u00a0 Of course, each state\u2019s decision is its own, but we must not separate economic coercion from other forms of pressure.\u00a0 When one of us is coerced, we should respond as allies and work together to reduce our vulnerability by ensuring our economies are more integrated with each other than they are with our principal competitors.\u00a0 That means teaming up to develop cutting-edge innovations; ensuring that our sensitive supply chains are resilient; setting the norms and standards that will govern emerging technologies; imposing costs on those who break the rules.\u00a0 History tells us that, when we do, more countries will opt for the open and secure spaces that we build together.<\/p>\n

And we must expand our ability to address transnational threats \u2013 especially climate change and pandemics like COVID-19.\u00a0 These challenges are so vast \u2013 and the measures needed to address them so far-reaching \u2013 that tackling them must be integrated into virtually everything we do and coordinated across a wide array of partners.<\/p>\n

Third, we must weave together broader coalitions of allies and partners.<\/p>\n

Too often, we put our alliances and partnerships into siloes.\u00a0 We don\u2019t do enough to bring them together.\u00a0 But we should.\u00a0 Because the more that countries with complementary strengths and capacities can unite to achieve shared goals, the better.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the idea behind the group of countries we call \u201cthe Quad\u201d \u2013 Australia, India, Japan, and the United States.\u00a0 President Biden recently hosted the Quad\u2019s first ever leader-level summit.\u00a0 We share a vision of a free, open, inclusive, and healthy Indo-Pacific region, unconstrained by coercion, and anchored by democratic values.\u00a0 We make a good team.\u00a0 And our cooperation will strengthen parallel efforts to ensure security in the East and South China Seas and to expand safe, affordable, and effective vaccine production and equitable access.<\/p>\n

Deepening NATO-EU cooperation is another example.\u00a0 Greater collaboration on issues like cybersecurity, energy security, health security, and safeguarding critical infrastructure will help build our resilience and preparedness against present-day threats.\u00a0 It also makes us stronger when we stand up for our values.<\/p>\n

Consider the sanctions that the United States just imposed in unity with Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom on individuals engaged in the atrocities being committed against Uyghurs in Xinjiang.\u00a0 The retaliatory sanctions that China then imposed on members of the European Parliament and the EU\u2019s Political and Security Committee, academics, and think tanks make it all the more important that we stand firm and stand together, or else risk sending the message that bullying works.\u00a0 This includes sticking by our non-NATO partners in Europe, many of whom continue to stand firm with us on the alliance\u2019s front lines.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019ll look beyond national governments to the private sector, civil society, philanthropies, cities, and universities.\u00a0 Diverse, broad-based cooperation is essential to protecting the global commons \u2013 those resources that all people have a right to share and benefit from, and which are now being encroached upon by our adversaries.<\/p>\n

Consider\u00a05G, where\u00a0China\u2019s technology brings serious surveillance risks. We should bring together\u00a0tech\u00a0companies\u00a0from\u00a0<\/wbr>countries like\u00a0Sweden,\u00a0Finland,\u00a0South Korea,\u00a0the United States,\u00a0and use\u00a0public and private investment to foster a secure and trustworthy alternative.\u00a0 We\u2019ve\u00a0spent decades developing relationships\u00a0with countries that share our values\u00a0in every part of the globe.\u00a0 This is why we invested so much in\u00a0these partnerships\u00a0\u2013 so we can come together in innovative ways to solve new\u00a0challenges like these.<\/p>\n

To any who doubt what we can achieve when we work together in this way, I\u2019d point to the unprecedented cooperation by scientists who shared hundreds of viral genome sequences across institutions and borders \u2013 research that was indispensable to the discovery of several safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines, in record time.\u00a0 The very first of those vaccines to be approved by the World Health Organization was pioneered by a doctor born in Turkey, who grew up in Germany, and who co-founded a European pharmaceutical company that partnered with an American counterpart to produce the vaccine.<\/p>\n

Now, America\u2019s allies and partners may be listening to my words today and saying, \u201cWe need to know what we can expect from you.\u201d\u00a0 Because as I said, trust has been shaken to some degree over the past few years.<\/p>\n

So let me be clear about what the United States can promise to our allies and partners.<\/p>\n

When our allies shoulder their fair share of the burden, they\u2019ll reasonably expect to have a fair say in making decisions.\u00a0 We will honor that.\u00a0 That begins with consulting our friends early and often.\u00a0 This is a key part of the foreign policy in the Biden-Harris administration, and it\u2019s a change our allies already see and appreciate.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll treat the efforts of our allies to develop greater capacity as an asset, not a threat.\u00a0 Stronger allies make for stronger alliances.\u00a0 And as the U.S. develops our capacities to address the threats I\u2019ve outlined today, we\u2019ll make sure they remain compatible with our alliances \u2013 and that they contribute to strengthening our allies\u2019 security.\u00a0 We\u2019ll ask the same of our allies in return.<\/p>\n

The United States won\u2019t force our allies into a \u201cus or them\u201d choice with China.\u00a0 There\u2019s no question that Beijing\u2019s coercive behavior threatens our collective security and prosperity, and that it is actively working to undercut the rules of the international system and the values we and our allies share.\u00a0 But that doesn\u2019t mean that countries can\u2019t work with China where possible, for example, on challenges like climate change and health security.<\/p>\n

We know that our allies have complex relationships with China that won\u2019t always align perfectly.\u00a0 But we need to navigate these challenges together.\u00a0 That means working with our allies to close the gaps in areas like technology and infrastructure, where Beijing is exploiting to exert coercive pressure.\u00a0 We\u2019ll rely on innovation, not ultimatums.\u00a0 Because if we work together to make real our positive vision for the international order \u2013 if we stand up for the free and open system that we know provides the best conditions for human ingenuity, dignity, and connection \u2013 we\u2019re confident that we can outcompete China or anyone else on any playing field.<\/p>\n

We will always pull our weight, but we\u2019ll also recognize when our allies are pulling theirs.\u00a0 And let me be frank:\u00a0 This has often been a contentious issue, particularly in the transatlantic relationship.\u00a0 We recognize the significant progress many of our NATO allies have made in improving defense investments, including progress toward meeting the Wales commitment of spending two percent of GDP on defense expenditures by 2024.\u00a0 The full implementation of these commitments is crucial.\u00a0 But we also recognize the need to adopt a more holistic view of burden sharing.\u00a0 No single number fully captures a country\u2019s contribution to defending our collective security and interests, especially in a world where a growing number of threats cannot be confronted with military force.\u00a0 We must acknowledge that because allies have distinct capabilities and comparative strengths, they will shoulder their share of the burden in different ways.\u00a0 Now, that doesn\u2019t mean abandoning the targets we\u2019ve set for ourselves or doing less.\u00a0 In fact, the common threats we face demand that we do more.<\/p>\n

We need to be able to have these tough conversations \u2013 and even to disagree \u2013 while still treating one another with respect.\u00a0 Too often in recent years, we in the United States seem to have forgotten who our friends are.\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s already changed.<\/p>\n

The United States will be judicious about our use of power, particularly our military power, as a means of addressing conflicts abroad.\u00a0 We will avoid imbalances between our principled ambitions and the risks we\u2019re willing to take to achieve them, in no small part because when we\u2019re overextended, we hamper our ability to focus on other challenges that can have the biggest impact on the lives of the American people.<\/p>\n

Finally, some of our allies are wondering whether our commitment to their security is a lasting one.\u00a0 They hear us say \u201cAmerica is back\u201d and they ask \u2013 for how long?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fair question.\u00a0 So here\u2019s my answer.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason the vast majority of the American people \u2013 from both political parties \u2013 support our alliances, even if they\u2019re divided along party lines on many other issues.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same reason why Republicans and Democrats in Congress have consistently reassured our allies that our commitments are resolute.\u00a0 It\u2019s because we see our alliances not as burdens, but as a way to get help from others in shaping a world that reflects our interests and our values.<\/p>\n

But to keep that support strong, we who have the privilege of representing the United States on the world stage have to make sure that our alliances deliver for the American people.\u00a0 We can\u2019t lose sight of this.<\/p>\n

We must demonstrate not only what our alliances defend against, but also what they stand for, like the right of all people everywhere to be treated with dignity and have their fundamental freedoms respected.\u00a0 Just because we make our foreign policy to reflect the world as it is does not mean we have to give up on shaping the world as it might be \u2013 a world that\u2019s more secure, more peaceful, more just, more equitable, a world with greater health, stronger democracies, and more opportunity for more people.<\/p>\n

In short, we need to have a positive vision that can bring people together in common cause. That\u2019s something our adversaries can\u2019t offer.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of our greatest strengths.<\/p>\n

This is where our interest in being trustworthy allies is bound up in fulfilling the needs of our citizens.\u00a0 We can\u2019t build a foreign policy that delivers for the American people without maintaining effective alliances.\u00a0 And we can\u2019t sustain effective alliances without showing how they deliver for the American people.<\/p>\n

Seventy years ago, a U.S. Army private training at Fort Dix in New Jersey sent a letter to Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was then serving as the very first supreme commander of the Allied Forces in Europe.\u00a0 In his letter, the private asked Eisenhower whether there was anything more to his service than to \u2013 quote \u2013 \u201ckill or be killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eisenhower was a seasoned realist.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen up close the devastation of war.\u00a0 He was clear-eyed about the life-and-death consequences of putting American lives on the line to defend our allies.\u00a0 Yet he still believed, as he responded in a letter to that soldier, that \u2013 quote \u2013 \u201cTrue human objectives comprise something far richer and more constructive than mere survival of the strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United States and its allies, he wrote, had to work together to build a system rooted in shared values.\u00a0 And these words were not so different from the values that guided our everyday life in the United States \u2013 as Eisenhower put it, \u201cAttempting to solve in decency, in fairness, and in justice the multitude of problems that constantly present themselves to us.\u201d\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean trying to solve every problem in the world.\u00a0 Rather, it means that when we must address a problem, we do not lose sight of our values, which are simultaneously a source of our strength and humility.\u00a0 Eisenhower told the soldier that he hoped his words would provide \u201ca small bit of optimism and faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Eisenhower couldn\u2019t have imagined many of the challenges we face today.\u00a0 But he knew that whatever new threats emerged, we would want to face them with partners who shared our values.<\/p>\n

The last year has been one the most challenging times in the history of our nations, and still we\u2019ve not emerged from the crisis \u2013 even if we see real reason for hope.\u00a0 But our cooperation with allies and partners provides us with more than a small bit of optimism and faith.\u00a0 It shows us the way forward: together, rooted in our shared values, and committed not only to rebuilding our alliances and partnerships, but to building them back better.\u00a0 If we do this, there are no challenges we cannot and will not overcome.\u00a0 Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

03\/24\/2021 02:58 PM EDT Antony J....<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s-a","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33239,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33238\/revisions\/33239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}