U.S. Vice President Joe Biden announced changes to U.S. foreign policy on Saturday that emphasised diplomacy over military power but also urged allies to shoulder more of the burden in tackling global crises, Reuters reported. "I come to Europe on behalf of a new administration determined to set a new tone in Washington, and in America's relations around the world," Biden told a security conference in Munich, Germany. "We will engage. We will listen. We will consult. America needs the world, just as I believe the world needs America." Delivering the Obama administration's first major foreign policy speech, Biden effectively repudiated former President George W. Bush's "with us or against us" foreign policy. Biden's speech also tried to turn the page on the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and Bush's scepticism over climate change that alienated many Europeans. "America will do more, but America will ask for more from our partners," he said. "The threats we face have no respect for borders. No single country, no matter how powerful, can best meet them alone." In the wide-ranging speech, Biden called for a greater commitment by NATO members in Afghanistan, a united effort to force Iran to scrap its nuclear programme, a sharp reduction in nuclear arsenals and a halt in what he called a "dangerous drift" in relations with Russia. Biden's speech was short on any announcements, but analysts had said beforehand that the vice president's mere appearance at the conference, which is normally attended by the U.S. defense secretary, sent an important signal to Europe that the Obama administration was keen to rebuild strained relations.
