The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Summit came to Wilmington today.
The summit featured speakers from across the globe, discussing issues such as diplomacy, international trade, national security, and global health.
The war in Ukraine, occurring almost 5,000 away, was one topic.
“What is global is also local. And our economic security, our energy security, and our national security are all impacted by peaceful, Democratic resolutions to international affairs, and that includes the crisis in Ukraine,” said State Senator Sarah McBride.
She noted that global investments in security are vital to ensuring both local security and economic stability.
State Senator Spiros Mantzavinos echoed that point, emphasizing the negative economic impacts that the war in Ukraine is already having in Delaware.
“Let’s just look back at the increase in gas prices that we had earlier this year, and that’s a direct result from the war in Ukraine. Let’s take a look at food prices. Ukraine is one of the world’s largest suppliers of grain,” Mantzavinos explained. “So we cannot just put the blinders on and think that’s just something that’s occurring thousands of miles away.”
And Delaware Senator Chris Coons, a leading member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the violence and destruction in Ukraine in itself is enough to move any Delawarean to back the US’s choice to support the fight against Russia’s occupation.
“The costs of allowing Putin’s aggression to win in Ukraine are far greater than the costs to us in supporting Ukraine as they fight for their freedom,” Coons emphasized.
Coons, who participated in each panel discussion at the summit, noted that the war in Ukraine, as well as rising tensions between China and Taiwan, would continue to have an impact on rising costs in Delaware.
But he added that there were several reasons why Delawareans should be concerned about how they intersect with the rest of the world.
“There are real challenges that could impose some costs and harms on us here in Delaware coming at us from the rest of the world. And there are great opportunities. There are markets for us to export our products from chicken to soybeans to pharmaceuticals to financial services. And there are partnerships that can allow us to innovate and develop the solutions to the challenges of this century.”
On a positive note, Coons pointed to Delaware's reputation as a strong business hub - which drew global companies like Air Liquide and Barclays here - a trend Coons hopes continues to bring jobs to the First State.
And McBride said that a main takeaway from the summit was that Africa must be given a place at the table in order to realistically discuss global partnerships on both a local and national level.
Mantzavinos, Chair of the Senate’s Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology Committee, expressed excitement at the US strengthening their partnership with and investing more heavily in Africa.
“We can’t just look and stay within our borders. So opportunities to understand where emerging markets are, and how Delaware can be a market for others internationally, would benefit us and all Delawareans in the future,” said Mantzavinos.
Finally, echoing both the actions and words of Coons following his panel discussion with former Republican Senator Rob Portman, McBride noted that overall, a successful approach to global affairs is similar to what’s needed in local affairs: “We need a bipartisan approach. We won’t always agree, but we need to be able to work across differences to tackle the issues in our communities, because our security rests on democracy working here at home. But also we need to be able to work together so that we have a united front on the issues on the global stage.”
A recording of the full event can be found here.
