UNGA: What to expect as President Joe Biden addresses the General Assembly for the first time

Just by turning up Joe Biden will be re-writing the recent relationship between the United Nations and the President.

If he manages to leave without causing grave offence he will also be doing better than his predecessor.

This won’t, however, be the easy chat to a receptive audience it might have been just a few weeks ago.

Back then Biden would certainly have been guaranteed a homecoming hero reception by an audience keen to hear more about how “America is back….” than “America First”.

The ruthless foreign policy of the past weeks, however, has left many shocked and questioning just how much of a friend they really have in this administration.

The shambolic departure from Afghanistan, the failure to share vaccine’s with the developing world, the pivot of policy towards national protection from China and Russia and the AUKUS defence contract has certainly taken some of the shine from the presidency.

When he addresses the audience demanding global partnership to tackle climate change, coronavirus and human rights abuses many will be questioning just how much partnership they can expect from the President in return.

Pledges are all very well but if the politics don’t match up, all the talk of America being back is likely to feel an awful lot like America First all over again.