ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday warned that “true civil discourse” is under threat around the world while speaking to graduates at NYU Abu Dhabi, an event that the school blocked journalists from filming.
While obliquely criticizing President Donald Trump, Kerry did not mention the 2015 Iran nuclear deal he secured with other world powers, an accord of which Trump now has pulled America out.
It likely was courtesy to his hosts in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which long opposed the deal as not going far enough to limit Iran’s power in the greater Mideast. Kerry shared the stage with Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, who long had led the UAE’s criticism of the deal.
“True civil discourse is also under threat all around the planet, eroding rights alongside trust,” Kerry said. “Certainly in my country, our politics has become almost all accusatory and all bombastic.”
While never naming Trump, Kerry began his remarks by saying: “Given what’s going on today, I’m glad to be invited anywhere folks.” He quickly added that the U.S. “needs to build partnerships and cannot turn its back on the world.”
Andrew Hamilton, president of New York University, also made a point to criticize “disturbing trends of anti-intellectualism and anti-factualism” in the world.
NYU Abu Dhabi invited reporters to cover Kerry’s speech, then just before the ceremony said journalists from The Associated Press and others could not film his full remarks. They said the school would offer video that it would editorially control after the event.
