Biden set for first major speech

[seemslikeadream]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7876184.stm

US Vice-President Joe Biden is expected to give the first clear indication of the new US government's foreign policy direction in a speech in Germany.

Mr Biden will address a security forum in Munich, with Iraq and Afghanistan likely to be high on the agenda.

He will also meet Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, amid cool relations between the two nations.

Iranian delegate Ali Larijani welcomed the new US government, saying it was a "golden opportunity" to improve ties.

But Mr Larijani, who is Iran's parliamentary speaker, warned it would take more than a change of tone and a few interviews from President Barack Obama's government to mend the fractured relationship between Tehran and Washington.

"The old carrot and stick policy must be discarded," he said, referring to Western threats and offers of rewards to coax Iran to give up nuclear activities.

He said the US needed to change its tactics "to a chess game from a boxing match".

The BBC's defence correspondent, Rob Watson, at the conference, says Mr Larijani's comments are a sign that any efforts at reconciliation with Iran will be difficult and complex.

War backing





http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hcSCyP6ovt4w3Jd0nv3Mh7B31CGgD966933O0

Biden will set US tone in European trip
By LOLITA C. BALDOR – 11 hours ago

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — En route to a security conference in Germany, Vice President Joe Biden warned Friday that the United States faces daunting economic and security problems in Afghanistan and will need help from allies to deal with them.

"We've got to make Afghanistan the world's responsibility, not just the United States' responsibility," Biden told a House Democratic retreat before heading to Munich as the new administration's first envoy to Europe.

Afghanistan will be high on Biden's priority list at the security conference, where he will speak to the gathering of world leaders on Saturday and hold bilateral meetings with Russia, Georgia, Germany, France and Britain. He will be joined by retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, President Barack Obama's national security adviser.

The U.S. has some 33,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, and Obama is expected to send another 30,000 this year as his administration shifts its focus from the war in Iraq to the Afghan conflict.

Coming just over two weeks after Biden and Obama took office, the trip will allow Biden to begin mapping the role U.S. expects to play in simmering issues across the region, and to set the stage for much anticipated policy shifts from the Bush administration.

"It's important to hear from our allies," said Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "and make sure they understand that a very different foreign policy is back and that the United States is prepared to lead ... on issues like global climate change, nuclear proliferation, arms control, Afghanistan, NATO, in ways that aren't quite as unilateral and provocative as the last administration."

In his speech Saturday, Biden is expected to call on allies to join with the U.S. in confronting a wide array of international problems, including Afghanistan. The U.S. routinely presses NATO and others to contribute more military, economic and other aide to the Afghanistan effort.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5679518.ece

US sets out new vision for foreign policy


The Obama Administration will attempt to usher in a new era of détente with Russia tomorrow when Joe Biden, the Vice-President, makes a keynote foreign policy speech at an international conference in Munich.

Mr Biden, presenting the US vision on foreign and security policy, will make a symbolic break with the Bush years by emphasising co-operation, multilateralism, diplomacy and the need for strong partnerships. It will include a concerted effort at thawing relations with Russia, which the White House views as central to tackling a range of global challenges, including Afghanistan and Iran.

“We want to work with Russia, and we want to see if we can get off on the right foot with Russia,” a White House official said when asked if Mr Biden's speech would signal a rapprochement.

Tomorrow Mr Biden will hold a private meeting with Sergei Ivanov, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister. A central part of their discussions is expected to be Washington's plans for a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe, which is opposed fiercely in Moscow and has been a main source of tension between the US and Russia.


The Russians hope that the Obama Administration will order a review of the plan. This would take the issue off the table for a considerable time and allow the US to demand in return Russian help in strengthening UN sanctions against Iran and providing military supply routes into Afghanistan.

[Hope And Change]

1. Biden`s speech will start in 1 hour and 10 minutes.Looking forward to it.