U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is emphasizing cooperation and diplomacy in a major weekend foreign policy speech in Germany, U.S. officials said. The remarks on Saturday to the Munich Security Conference, a gathering of defense and security experts, will be scrutinized for more details on the new administration of President Barack Obama's policies on Russia, Afghanistan, the Middle East and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) expansion. Analysts said Biden's trip to Munich could work to repair ties with Europe that were severely strained by former U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, his policies on climate change and his confrontational approach to Russia. “It is critical in setting the tone between this administration and the Europeans. Clearly they (Europeans) want him to say the transatlantic relationship is central,” said Sam Brannen, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Biden, on his first trip abroad as vice president, will head a delegation including retired General James Jones, Obama's national security adviser; the U.S. military commander for the Middle East and Afghanistan, General David Petraeus; and Richard Holbrooke, newly appointed special envoy for Afghanistan. Biden, who headed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a long time, will hold bilateral talks with other leaders at the conference. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are on the guest list.
