NEW YORK (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman to deliver a commencement speech at West Point, lauded graduating cadets Saturday for their noble sacrifice in serving their country, but noted they were entering an “unsettled world” because of Russian aggression and the rising threats from China.
“The world has drastically changed,” Harris told the roughly 950 graduating cadets. She referred to the global pandemic that took millions of lives, as well as the fraught shifts in global politics in Europe and in Asia.
“It is clear you graduate into an increasingly unsettled world where longstanding principles are at risk,” she said.
As the U.S. ended two decades of war in Afghanistan, the longest in the country's history, the vice president said, Russia soon launched the first major ground war in Europe since World War II when it invaded Ukraine.
“At the same time, autocrats have become bolder, the threat of terrorism persists, and an accelerating climate crisis continues to disrupt lives and livelihoods,” she added.
She advised cadets to be wary of China, as it rapidly modernizes its military and muscles for control over parts of the high seas, ostensibly referring to the brewing disputes over the South China Sea.
She spoke about the country's military might and its need to innovate, including the adoption of new technology to change how wars are fought — even using artificial…
