President Joe Biden on Tuesday used his final UN General Assembly address as the American commander in chief to defend the chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan he ordered and to urge world leaders to resist the forces of isolationism.
Just over two months after ending his bid for a second term, Biden appeared to allude to former President Donald Trump and other world figures who echo the Republican presidential nominee’s skepticism of international entities and cooperation among countries. But he also spoke of a Middle East that does not reflect the realities of conflict in Gaza, northern Israel and Lebanon.
“There will always be forces [that try] to pull our countries apart and the world apart through aggression, extremism, chaos and cynicism,” Biden said from the well of the General Assembly hall at UN headquarters in New York. He warned of figures that operate from a “desire to retreat from the world and go it alone.”
