RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.
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For the past several years, the annual Munich Security Conference has been the scene of trans-Atlantic friction. European leaders used it as a venue to roundly criticize American foreign policy. This year, Vice President Joe Biden attended the forum with a new message. And, as NPR's Rob Gifford reports, that turned the conference into an entirely different affair.
ROB GIFFORD: Even the Russians couldn't help noticing a tone of cooperation in the discussion of the possible U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe that Moscow's consistently opposed. Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.
SERGEI IVANOV: If we assess the threat jointly and come to the conclusion that the threat is there, we may jointly approach it. We're eager to continue talks on that subject, and I hope it will bring or yield some results.
GIFFORD: And it was not just Vice President Biden who was presenting a new way of engaging. Chief of U.S. Central Command General David Petraeus was in Munich, too, speaking softly about how to speak softly in Afghanistan.
DAVID PETRAEUS: First and foremost, our forces and those of our Afghan partners have to strive to secure and serve the population. We have to recognize that the Afghan people are the decisive terrain. A nuanced appreciation of local situations is essential. This requires listening and being respectful of local elders and mullahs. And it also requires, of course, many cups of tea.
GIFFORD: Petraeus is expected to oversee the transfer of up to 30,000 extra U.S. troops to Afghanistan in coming months, as the Obama administration beefs up its military presence. General Petraeus was clear that softer elements of the approach do not mean the U.S. must forego carrying a big stick as well.
PETRAEUS: Having said that, we must pursue the enemy tenaciously. True irreconcilables again must be killed, captured or driven out of the area, and we cannot shrink from that any more than we can shrink from being willing to support Afghan reconciliation.
GIFFORD: There was no doubt among European observers that something had changed in Washington. Oreka Girreaux(ph) of the European Council on Foreign Relations liked what she heard on Russia and Iran, especially the way the U.S. dealt with the speech by Iran's representative Ali Larijani.
OREKA GIRREAUX: There was a strong commitment to improve NATO-Russia relations, to improve the EU-Russian relations, and a commitment also to treat Russia, if possible, as a partner. On Tehran, I mean, let's say it openly, the last year the American delegation left the room when Larijani spoke. This year, at least they remained seated. So, this is at least the acceptance that there's a new commitment to listening, and that dialogue should start.
GIFFORD: Rob Gifford, NPR News, Munich. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
