: Biden Laid Out an Ambitious Global Agenda at the UN General Assembly. Here’s How It Compares to Reality #WorldNEWS Everything is easier said than done, and that’s especially true for big challenges.

Biden Laid Out an Ambitious Global Agenda at the UN General Assembly. Here’s How It Compares to Reality #WorldNEWS
Everything is easier said than done, and that’s especially true for big challenges. Like, for example, trying to establish America’s place in the 21st century world—or persuading other governments to place their confidence in you. But no matter how tall the tasks, we shouldn’t dismiss a presidential speech at the United Nations as only hot air.
With that in mind, let’s look closely at President Biden’s first address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this week and compare it with the choices the Biden administration has actually made.
The agenda Biden laid out at the U. N. was plenty ambitious. His priorities are “ending this pandemic; addressing the climate crisis; managing the shifts in global power dynamics; shaping the rules of the world on vital issues like trade, cyber, and emerging technologies; and facing the threat of terrorism as it stands today. ” Does he mean what he says?
[time-brightcove not-tgx=true]
COVID-19
Biden has pledged to vaccinate the world, and he told the U. N. that the U. S. has “shipped more than 160 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to other countries” with promises to do much more through COVAX, the global vaccine facility. The president also held a virtual COVID-19 summit meeting on the UNGA sidelines this week, to demonstrate his administration’s commitment to leading the ongoing pandemic response.
To date, the U. S. has donated more vaccine than any other country, but to raise the number of people vaccinated worldwide from the current 30 percent to the hoped-for 70 percent by September 2022, experts estimate that 11 billion doses will be needed. Biden has committed the U. S. to donate 500 million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine to developing countries beginning next year, but if that goal is to be met his administration needs a clear stance on booster shots for already vaccinated people and for first shots for less-at-risk young people.
Mixed messages from the Biden administration on this question leave other countries wondering what they can expect from the U. S. and other wealthy governments. If they prioritize providing booster shots for their own people it would make the current goals virtually impossible to reach, extending COVID-19’s life in much of the world. And poorer countries have good reason to be skeptical: Washington has promised 580 million doses but has so far delivered just 160 million.
Climate
U. S. allies and many others were delighted that President Biden recommitted to the Paris Climate Agreement so quickly after he became president. At the UN, Biden promised to double the amount of money (to billion) that the U.