Biden Vows 'New Tone' in Foreign Policy

In Germany, VP cites 'new tone in Washington'
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 7, 2009 8:49 AM CST
Biden Vows 'New Tone' in Foreign Policy
Biden addresses the participants of the International Conference on Security Policy in Munich, southern Germany, today.   (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Joe Biden offered an outline of "a new tone" in US foreign policy today, one that puts a priority on diplomacy over military force, Reuters reports. The US also will call on allies for help in handling world threats. “We will engage. We will listen. We will consult. America needs the world, just as I believe the world needs America," said Biden, speaking at a security conference in Munich. He emphasized, however, that the US would not hesitate to use force in the name of national security.

The first major Obama administration foreign-policy speech essentially distanced America’s new leaders from President Bush’s “with us or against us” policy, notes Reuters. But “there is no conflict between our security and our ideals,” Biden said. “Throughout our history, the force of arms has protected our freedom. That will not change.”
(More foreign policy stories.)

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