US Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman to deliver a commencement address at the West Point Military Academy, on Saturday praised the cadets for making great sacrifices in the service of their country but warned them that they may be entering an “unstable world” due to Russian aggression. have been And growing threats from China.
“The world has changed dramatically,” Harris declared to the nearly 950 graduates. He talked about the global pandemic that has killed millions and the tense changes in global politics in Europe and Asia. “It is clear that you are entering an increasingly unstable world, where long-held principles are at risk,” he said.
The Vice President recalled the end of two decades of war in Afghanistan, the longest war in the country’s history, and condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the first major land war in Europe since World War II.
He warned the cadets to be aware that China is rapidly modernizing its military and seeking coercive control of maritime territories, apparently in the context of disputes in the South China Sea.
Harris did not mention the ongoing tussle in Washington between the White House and the Republican majority in Congress over how to avoid the debt crisis.
The senior official spoke about the importance of institutions that reflect the diversity of the country. In the four decades since the first graduation of female cadets, the military has made slow progress in diversifying its ranks.
Today about a quarter of the cadets are women. Only a few dozen graduates are black women like Harris, although the number has increased in recent years. The Academy began admitting women in 1976, with the first graduates in 1980.
Upon graduation, cadets enter the military with the rank of second lieutenant.
West Point was established in 1802. Its graduates count military leaders such as Generals Douglas MacArthur and George Patton and Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
