Background on the candidate’s statements, positions, and record on diplomacy, global development, and U.S. international affairs programs.

As the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, Kamala Harris has long believed “it is in the fundamental interest of the American people for the United States to fulfill our longstanding role of global leadership.”

Speaking this year to the Munich Security Conference for the third time in a row, Vice President Harris rejected isolationism and “committed to pursue global engagement, to uphold international rules and norms, to defend democratic values at home and abroad, and to work with our allies and partners in pursuit of shared goals.”

As a young girl, Harris traveled to India and has described how those trips “made me who I am today” and how she was inspired by her grandfather’s fight for freedom, democracy, and civil rights in the country. As District Attorney for San Francisco and later California Attorney General, she worked to combat human trafficking, including traveling to Mexico with other state attorneys general to sign a bilateral accord improving coordination to combat this transnational threat.

Serving on the Senate Budget, Homeland Security, and Select Intelligence Committees, she consistently opposed cuts to the International Affairs Budget and worked to strengthen global health and pandemic preparedness, combat human trafficking, improve rights for women and girls, and tackle climate change. She called for a “robust diplomatic corps” and pushed to elevate civilian-led tools of diplomacy to achieve a “strong, progressive foreign policy that keeps Americans safe at home and promotes our values abroad.”

On a wide range of global challenges, she has called for reinvigorating American engagement in the world—from addressing terrorism to nuclear threats to climate change to infectious disease—stating “we must do everything we can to protect our nation and our allies from the threats we face around the world.”

As Vice President, Harris has played a critical role in reassuring U.S. allies and boosting relationships with key U.S. partners. She has travelled to more than 21 countries, meeting with more than 150 world leaders throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, and Latin America and has represented the Administration at the Munich Security Conference, Summit on Peace in Ukraine, U.S.-ASEAN Summit, and U.S.-Caribbean Leaders Meeting.

The Biden-Harris Administration has put forward budget requests that seek robust and strategic investments in development and diplomacy through regular and emergency funding to strengthen our alliances, including an enduring commitment to NATO and Ukraine in the face of President Putin’s violent expansionism.

On U.S. global leadership:

• As the Administration’s lead representative to the Munich Security Conference for the last three years, the Vice President has sought to engage and to rally our NATO allies. In her address to the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, Vice President Harris underscored the importance of U.S. global leadership and engagement to our national security and economic prosperity, stating “I strongly believe America’s role of global leadership is to the direct benefit of the American people. Our leadership keeps our homeland safe, supports American jobs, secures supply chains, and opens new markets for American goods.”
• The Vice President expressed that our commitment “to uphold international rules and norms, to defend democratic values and stand up to dictators, and to stand with our allies and partners… has provided for our security and prosperity for generations… [and] makes America strong, and it keeps Americans safe.”
• In her 2016 campaign for the U.S. Senate, her foreign policy platform called for preventing the need for military action through “the power of smart diplomacy” and embracing multilateral engagement and alliances saying “our country is strongest when we stand together with our allies and when we rally the world to act instead of simply acting alone.”

On diplomacy and global development:

• In voicing support for the bipartisan National Security Supplemental agreement in the Senate, the Vice President said that “this package will also ensure that the United States can continue to fulfill its role of global leadership by supporting the people of Ukraine in their brave fight against unprovoked Russian aggression; providing Israel what it needs to defend itself against Hamas terrorists; ensuring life-saving humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people; and strengthening our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.”
• Highlighting the critical role of development and diplomacy, the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Security Strategy states, “Across our development work, we will continue to employ best practices that distinguish the United States and our partners from our competitors: transparency and accountability; high environmental, social, labor, and inclusion standards; respect for human rights; and local partnerships supported by foreign assistance and sound, sustainable financing.”
• Elevating water security as a foreign policy priority, Harris announced the White House Action Plan on Global Water Security emphasizing the link between water scarcity and national security, stating “many of our most fundamental national security interests depend on water security” and that “water insecurity makes our world less stable… also makes our world less safe.”
• In the Senate, Harris was a steadfast voice for strengthening foreign assistance and diplomacy as key pillars of U.S. national security and foreign policy, saying that “foreign aid isn’t charity – it’s in our interest.” She highlighted the need to “speak up for full funding” for America’s development and diplomacy programs that “while less than 1% of the overall federal budget… these investments make us safer and more secure, because they strengthen vulnerable societies and help us avoid military interventions.” 

On global health:

• Following the outbreak of COVID-19, Harris introduced new legislation in the Senate—the Improving Pandemic Preparedness and Response Through Diplomacy Act—to designate a presidential envoy to focus on global pandemic preparedness. In announcing the bill, she stated that “no country can beat this pandemic by itself. We must use every tool we have, including diplomacy, to protect the life and livelihoods of all our people.”
• In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden-Harris Administration launched the U.S. Global Health Security Strategy to “protect the health, lives, and economic well-being of the American people and people throughout the world” through “a whole-of-government, science-based approach to strengthening global health security.”
• In announcing $250 million in global funding to fight future pandemics at the inaugural Global COVID-19 Summit, Vice President Harris stressed the urgency that “we need to act so that our world will be ready to respond before and not after the next pandemic emerges.”
• As Senator and presidential candidate, Harris has called for bipartisan leadership on global health programs, noting that “combating AIDS and HIV has been something that presidents—Democrats and Republicans—have prided themselves and us on as something that is part of our values as a nation.”

On engagement with Africa:

• Building on the Africa Leaders’ Summit, she travelled to Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia where she reaffirmed that “our Administration will be guided not by what we can do for Africa but what we can do with Africa” and helped mobilize more than $8 billion in public-private partnership investments across the continent.
• In Ghana, Harris spoke to the importance of Africa to the United States, emphasizing that “We are all in… because African nations play such a critical role on issues of global importance, issues that matter to the American people and to the world… because the fates of the American people and of America and the continent of Africa are interconnected and interdependent.”
• Touting the empowerment of women and closing gender gaps, Harris said “when you lift up the economic status of women, you lift up the economic status of families, of communities, and all of society benefits.” She also announced $1 billion in public-private commitments for women’s economic empowerment and closing the gender digital divide on the continent, including announcing the Women in the Digital Economy Fund (WiDEF).
• On her final stop in Zambia, the Vice President recounted her personal story travelling to Lusaka as a child visiting her grandfather who served as a civil servant, stating “there is a long and enduring history of the relationship with Zambia. And it reinforces what you [President Hichilema] and I have continued to discuss during our time together, which is our collective commitment to principles of freedom, justice, and democracy.”

On engagement with Central America:

• A topic of intense and ongoing scrutiny, Vice President Harris was first tasked in 2021 with diplomatic efforts to address the root causes of migration from Central America, specifically in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, where she met with regional leaders and travelled to Guatemala and Honduras. She stated, “we believe and are guided by the principle that governments must collaborate to manage migration, and that means through bilateral, trilateral, multilateral relationships and dialogue… what we must do to address the issue requires that we partner with the private sector if we are to have a lasting impact or even profound impact.”
• While some have criticized her for her role regarding the border, Vice President Harris worked to engage the private sector in public-private partnerships to help create greater economic opportunity. She launched a Call to Action for Northern Central America that challenged U.S. private corporations to “increase investments in northern Central America to help us create economic opportunity and address the root causes of migration.” To date, the public-private partnership has provided more than $5.2 billion in private sector commitments for Northern Central America.

On women and girls:

• A passionate advocate for women and girls, Harris traveled to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Jordan early in her career in the Senate, visiting with women in the Za’atari refugee camp. Reflecting on her experience, she wrote an open letter to women around the world, stating, “There are countries where women who engage in the political process face not only slurs or whisper campaigns or comments about their appearance — they face rape and violence and death… You better believe we’ve got to change that.”
• Earlier this year, in celebration of International Women’s Day, Vice President Harris spoke out on the Administration’s commitment to empowering women and girls around the globe, “We are committed to lifting up women and girls everywhere because their ambitions and aspirations will change the world.”
• At the Generation Equality Forum, the Vice President highlighted the connection between gender equality and strengthening democracy, emphasizing that “if we want to strengthen democracy, we must fight for gender equality. Because here is the truth: Democracy is strongest when everyone participates, and it is weaker when people are left out.”
• In her first address to the United Nations, Harris declared that “the status of democracy also depends fundamentally on the empowerment of women. Not only because the exclusion of women in decision-making is a marker of a flawed democracy, but because the participation of women strengthens democracy.”
• While addressing the Women’s Economic Participation in the Industries of the Future Meeting during APEC Leaders’ Week, the Vice President launchedthe Women in the Sustainable Economy Initiative. As part of the launch, she announced more than $900 million in commitments by governments, private sector companies, foundations, and civil society to bolster women’s economic participation, saying “let us all agree that when we lift the economic status of women, children, their families, and all of society benefits.”

On competition with China:

• The Vice President has reiterated the Administration’s position on China, “we seek competition, but not conflict or confrontation.” In answering a question on whether or not the U.S. and China are engaged in a Cold War, she said “no,” adding, “there shouldn’t be a conflation between that point and what we are willing to do to compete and how clear-eyed we are about where there is a divergence of values and priorities.”
• Following her trip to Jakarta for the U.S.-ASEAN Summit, she framed the U.S. relationship with China saying “it is about de-risking. It is about understanding… It’s not about pulling out, but it is about ensuring that we are protecting American interests, and that we are a leader in terms of the rules of the road, as opposed to following others’ rules.”
• In 2022, Harris traveled to the APEC Summit in Bangkok, where she spoke to President Xi Jinping and said “we must maintain open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries.”
• At the same, Harris has spoken out forcefully on China, asserting “China is undermining key elements of the international rules-based order… China has flexed its military and economic might to coerce and intimidate its neighbors. And we have witnessed disturbing behavior in the East China Sea and in the South China Sea, and most recently, provocations across the Taiwan Strait.”
• During a trip to Southeast Asia, she took aim at China’s actions in the South China Sea. In an address in Singapore, she said “we know that Beijing continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea,” and that China’s actions continue “to undermine the rules-based order and threaten the sovereignty of nations.”
• The Vice President has voiced support for Taiwan in-line with the Administration’s policy, saying “we will continue to oppose any unilateral change to the status quo… And we will continue to support Taiwan’s self-defense, consistent with our long-standing policy.”

On alliances:

• The Biden-Harris Administration’s National Security Strategy outlines the vital role alliances play: “our alliances and partnerships around the world are our most important strategic asset that we will deepen and modernize for the benefit of our national security.”
• On the importance of alliances to American and global stability, Harris said “I firmly believe our commitment to build and sustain alliances has helped America become the most powerful and prosperous country in the world — alliances that have prevented wars, defended freedom, and maintained stability from Europe to the Indo-Pacific. To put all of that at risk would be foolish.”
• On the key role of NATO in Ukraine, she stated that “the NATO Alliance is stronger now than ever before, and the United States commitment to NATO and to its Article 5 is ironclad. Just look at our track record over the past year. Just look at our multilateral cooperation. Together, we have provided historic assistance to Ukraine… dealt Russia a strategic failure… pursued energy security and reinvested in our collective defense.”
• Speaking to the critical role of alliances in the Indo-Pacific to America’s national security and economic prosperity, the Vice President stated “our world is more interconnected and interdependent. And in order, then, to embrace this new era, nations must be willing to take on challenges together and create opportunities together. That is why our partnerships in Singapore, in Southeast Asia, and throughout the Indo-Pacific are a top priority for the United States… And this region is critically important to our nation’s security and prosperity.”
• At the U.S.-Caribbean Leaders Summit, Harris prioritized strengthening the U.S.-Caribbean relationship, “we are neighbors in the Western Hemisphere. And the security and prosperity of this region requires the type of collaboration and partnership that we have developed and continued to grow over the last two years.”
• At the Inaugural Ceremony of the Ninth Summit of Americas, Harris emphasized that “the challenges facing our hemisphere in the months and years ahead are significant: the climate crisis, food insecurity, economic inequality, corruption, and gender-based violence” and “to realize a more prosperous future for our hemisphere, partnerships between those assembled here are essential.”
• During her campaign for the Democratic nomination for President in 2020, Harris declared on a wide range of foreign policy challenges that “our country is strongest when we stand together with our allies and when we rally the world to act instead of simply acting alone.” She has warned that “withdrawing from international agreements and institutions, shunning our allies” makes the world less safe.

On the war in Ukraine:

• Vice President Harris has been a steadfast supporter of Ukraine, recently traveling to the Summit on Peace in Ukraine to reaffirm “our unwavering commitment to support the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia’s brutal aggression,” and stating that “President Joe Biden and I will continue to support Ukraine and continue to impose costs on Russia.”
• At the Munich Security Conference, the Vice President emphasized the costs of abandoning Ukraine and our allies, stating “if we stand by while an aggressor invades its neighbor with impunity, they will keep going – and in the case of Putin, that means all of Europe would be threatened. If we fail to impose severe consequences on Russia, other authoritarians across the globe would be emboldened because you see, they will be watching – they are watching – and drawing lessons.”
• She also stressed the importance of bipartisanship in providing continued support, saying “in partnership with supportive bipartisan majorities in both Houses of the United States Congress, we will work to secure critical weapons and resources that Ukraine so badly needs. And let me be clear, the failure to do so would be a gift to Vladimir Putin.”