Blinken: A look back at 2023

In a year of profound tests, the world looked to the United States to lead. We did. 

As we head into 2024, we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with those who share our vision for a free, open, prosperous, and secure world.  

When President Biden took office, he promised to deliver for the American people by reinvesting in America’s greatest sources of strength. And since day one, that’s exactly what we’ve done.  

We’ve done it here at home by making historic investments in our competitiveness, in our military, in our infrastructure, in our technology, in our manufacturing base. We’ve also done it around the world, revitalizing and re-energizing our unmatched network of alliances and partnerships.  

In 2023, we continued to show that this strategy is working. First, we will continue to rally countries around the world to support Ukraine’s freedom and independence and to ensure that Russia’s aggression remains a strategic failure. Putin has already failed to achieve his principal objective in Ukraine: erasing it from the map, subsuming it into Russia.   

Russia is weaker militarily, economically, and diplomatically. NATO is bigger and stronger and more united than at any point in its nearly 75-year history. This year, we added our 31st member of NATO – Finland. And Sweden will join soon, bringing even greater potency and capability to our defensive alliance.  

International support has been critical to Ukraine’s success. Europe has contributed more than $110 billion to Ukraine compared to about $70 billion from the United States. Our support hasn’t just helped Ukrainians. Ninety percent of the security assistance that we provided to Ukraine has been spent here in the United States, benefiting American businesses, workers, communities, strengthening our nation’s defense industrial base. 

Second, we will continue to engage with China from a position of strength. Our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, the EU, and with other allies has never been stronger. These efforts have allowed us to engage more effectively when tackling areas of concern, like China’s coercive trade and economic practices, peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China Seas, and human rights.  

At the same time, our efforts to restore high-level diplomacy, starting with my trip to Beijing in July, have allowed us to take practical steps to reduce the risk that competition veers into conflict, as well as to make progress on issues that matter in the lives of our fellow citizens. That was on full display when President Biden met with President Xi last month and made tangible progress on issues that matter to Americans as well as to people around the world.  

We secured China’s cooperation on using the flow of precursor chemicals that are fueling the synthetic drug crisis. We’re restoring military-to-military communications at all levels to reduce the possibility of miscalculation and conflict. And we’ve agreed to discuss risks and safety around artificial intelligence. I look forward to continuing these discussions in the year ahead. 

Third, we will keep shaping and leading coalitions to solve the problems that demand working together with others for the good of our people and for people around the world. That’s exactly what we did in 2023, rallying coalitions of governments, businesses, civil society, regional and multilateral institutions to tackle food insecurity; to promote secure, safe, trustworthy AI systems; to fight the synthetic drug crisis; to stop the scourge of governments that arbitrarily detain foreign nationals for leverage; to mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars to build physical, digital, clean energy, and health infrastructure across developing countries, including some of the most fragile ones.  

On every one of these priorities and on many others, delivering for the American people means improving the lives of people around the world. The reverse is also true. Leading on these global challenges is good for Americans. When we help reduce the flow of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, we’re not only tackling the number one killer of Americans aged 18 to 49, we’re addressing a scourge that hurts families around the world and rooting out the criminal organizations that profit from their suffering.  

When we rally democratic partners and allies to build clean energy infrastructure in countries that can’t afford to build it on their own, we’re preserving our shared planet and creating new opportunities for American workers, American businesses, and American investors.   

Fourth, in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, we will continue to focus intensely on our core priorities: helping Israel ensure that what happened on October 7th can never happen again, bringing the conflict to an end as quickly as possible while minimizing the loss of life and the suffering of civilians, getting the remaining hostages back home to their families, preventing the conflict from spreading, and once and for all breaking the devastating cycle of violence and moving toward durable, lasting peace. We continue to believe that Israel does not have to choose between removing the threat of Hamas and minimizing the toll on civilians in Gaza. It has an obligation to do both and it has a strategic interest to do both. 

We’re more determined than ever to ensure that out of this horrific tragedy comes a moment of possibility for Israelis, for Palestinians, for the region to live in lasting peace and lasting security; that out of this darkness comes light. Realizing that possibility will require all parties to make tough choices about the steps that they’re willing to take, including the United States. We will test this proposition with the urgency and the creativity that it deserves and that America’s interests demand. 

As we’ve heard the President say, we are at an inflection point for our country and for the world. What we do – what we fail to do – in this moment will have profound consequences for decades to come.  

The stakes could not be clearer. If we want to deliver on the issues that affect the lives of the American people, we have to keep investing in ourselves, in our network of allies and partners, in our ability to solve global challenges.  

Over the last year, I’ve had the honor of leading the State Department team as we continue to try to deliver for the American people, to make their lives more secure, create opportunity for them and their families, and tackle the global crises that are increasingly shaping their futures. 

It has been a whirlwind journey that has spanned 250,000 miles and over two dozen countries, and thanks to my dedicated photographer, I have this collection of photos from my 2023 travels that I can share with you. 

 
Αυτό το κείμενο είναι προσαρμογή από από τις παρατηρήσεις του Γραμματέα Blinken κατά τη διάρκεια μιας συνέντευξης τύπου στις 20 Δεκεμβρίου 2023.