“America is back”: Biden promises renewal of US-Europe ties at Munich Security Conference

The last time Joe Biden spoke at the Munich Security Conference – the key event for US and European security and foreign policy elites to meet – he made a promise: “We will be back.”

Today, two years later, Biden strode onto the conference stage and declared, “I’m a man of my word, America is back. The trans-Atlantic alliance is back.” He went on to praise the importance of the European-American partnership, declare his commitment to America’s alliances, and propose cooperation on the key challenges of the day from the pandemic to climate change. For Europeans bruised by four years of Donald Trump threatening to withdraw from NATO, sinking the Iran deal and pulling out of the Paris climate agreement – Biden’s words were reassuring.