'After Trump, the UN needs some extra love': Linda Thomas-Greenfield confirmed as UN ambassador

Linda Thomas-Greenfield will have a high-profile role in the Biden administration's efforts to restore America's standing as a global leader.

WASHINGTON – The Senate approved Linda Thomas-Greenfield's nomination Tuesday to be ambassador to the United Nations, a post that will quickly thrust her into the international spotlight.

At the UN, Thomas-Greenfield will have a high-profile role in the Biden administration's efforts to restore America's standing as a global leader.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, on Capitol Hill on January 27, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Pool, Getty Images).

allies after four years of the Trump administration's "America First" foreign policy. .

But she will also arrive in New York with some pent-up good will, said Richard Gowan, an expert on the United Nations with the Crisis Group, a nonpartisan organization that seeks to prevent conflict.

"The Trump administration's constant sniping at the UN left everyone pretty exhausted" and ready for a change, Gowan said.

Over a 35-year career in the foreign service, Thomas-Greenfield, who is Black, has held numerous diplomatic posts around the world – from Kenya to Pakistan.

Other nations "expect her to be someone who rolls up her sleeves and engages in the hard work of day-to-day diplomacy in a collegial way," Gowan said.

“When America shows up – when we are consistent and persistent – when we exert our influence in accordance with our values – the United Nations can be an indispensable institution for advancing peace, security, and our collective well-being," Thomas-Greenfield told lawmakers during her Senate confirmation hearing.

Gowan said foreign diplomats also hope the Biden administration will dispatch Secretary of State Antony Blinken or other high-level officials to some of the UN Security Council meetings when the U.S.

Thomas-Greenfield is expected to reverse several of the Trump administration's UN policies right out of the box.

Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Thomas-Greenfield has "the expertise, the strength and the character" to reengage with U.S

During her hearing, Thomas-Greenfield said she regretted speaking at the Confucius Institute, calling it a "huge mistake." She she said had agreed to address students at the university as part of her longstanding commitment to encouraging young Black students to consider a career in the foreign service