Antony Blinken is nominated as secretary of state by President-elect Joe Biden on Nov 24, 2020. WASHINGTON: Antony Blinken, President-elect Joe Biden's choice to be secretary of state, will vow on Tuesday that the United States will"outcompete" a rising China while reviving frayed alliances, in a sea change from Donald Trump's go-it-alone"America First" approach.
He is expected to win Senate confirmation although Republicans have vowed to press him hard on his consulting work since leaving Barack Obama's administration four years ago.In a sharp shift in tone from Trump's secretary of state Mike Pompeo - who spoke of"swagger", "American exceptionalism" and global conflict with China - Blinken said he would show"humility".
Biden is expected to seek a return to the Iran nuclear accord negotiated under Obama, believing that Trump's exit and imposition of sanctions backfired badly with Tehran escalating its contested program. In its final days, the Trump administration has taken a slew of major decisions seen as attempting to box in the next team.
Biden's inauguration will take place in a far darker atmosphere with virtually no crowd - due both to the pandemic that has claimed two million lives worldwide and ultra-tight security after the pro-Trump mob's Jan 6 attack on the very building where Biden will take the oath.
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