Home
Homepage grid

Three Takeaways from Biden’s Farewell UN Speech

Mark Leon Goldberg

When President Biden approached the General Assembly dais, I expected a bit of a historical tour of his 50-year career in public service. He delivered on that. I also expected him to speak directly to the three most urgent conflicts today: the widening conflict in the Middle East, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the crisis in Sudan. He addressed those crises as well.

What I did not expect was the sheer optimism that punctuated his United Nations address.

“I have hope.” “I know there is a way forward.” “Things can get better.” “Nothing is beyond our capacity of we work together.” And as if to hammer the point home, he even quoted Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it is done.”

To be clear, I share this optimism. But seeing it articulated by the President of the United States before his colleagues from around the world conveyed a sense of reassurance. Everyone in that room knows how dire the state of the world is today. Climate change, conflicts, and economic distress are things that most of the world feels more acutely than those of us in the United States. Yet, in a time of great global crises, Biden fulsomely endorsed the promise of international cooperation as a way to create a better future for all. It was as if he gave the room a giant hug.

Of course, looming in the background is the potential that this kind of optimism, represented by Biden (and by extension, Kamala Harris), may soon be replaced by the dour unilateralism of Donald Trump. For now, though, Biden’s message was something the world needed to hear—especially now.

A Notable Applause Line

Joe Biden knows the United Nations as well as any president since George H. W. Bush (who served as Richard Nixon’s UN Ambassador). Indeed, one of the foreign policy highlights of President Biden’s decades in the United States Senate was a 1999 law known as the Helms-Biden Act, which to this day guides America’s relationship with the United Nations. This is a massively complex piece of legislation that determines how the United States funds the UN, which, in turn, enables the UN to be the kind of institution it is today.

Biden knows the intricacies of the UN. And because of that, he knows what makes the UN tick—and one of those things is Security Council reform.

Perhaps the most newsworthy part of Biden’s address today was his reiteration of a rather detailed plan for Security Council reform that Linda Thomas-Greenfield laid out in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations earlier this month. Under the Biden plan, Africa would get two permanent seats on the Security Council, and another seat would rotate between Small Island States. Perhaps most importantly, the United States would not just announce this proposal but start the process of putting pen to paper to get it done. The veto would remain, yes. But this is the most concrete proposal for Security Council reform ever put forward by the United States. It’s genuinely a big deal around the UN—and popular. The proposal is likely to garner the United States a bit of goodwill among countries of the Global South, which make up the vast majority of UN member states. We saw that on display today when the room erupted in applause at what otherwise would have been a throwaway line about Security Council reform.

Leading By Example

Perhaps the most interesting part of Joe Biden’s UNGA farewell address was his direct acknowledgment of the circumstances under which this became his last UN speech as president. Biden said that he chose not to run again for president because he cares more about democracy than his personal ambitions. “My fellow leaders, let us never forget that some things are more important than staying in power,” he said.

That must have stung many delegations in the room but delighted the people they ostensibly serve.

This year, nearly half of the world’s population will vote in elections. Some of these elections will be free and fair, and some will not. Biden’s personal example of putting country above personal ambition and power is something that deeply resonates across the world, particularly in countries with leaders who are not as selfless as Joe Biden.

There are certain “dinosaurs” who have been in power for generations—think: Paul Biya of Cameroon, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, and Iran’s Ali Khamenei. Then there are also comparatively “younger” leaders, like Putin and Erdogan, who are approaching a quarter-century in power. It was to them and their ilk that Biden’s comments where directed.