US needs your help, Obama tells UN
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday September 24, 2009
LAST year 200,000 Germans turned out in Berlin to hear the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, pledge that the US would enter a new era of re-engagement with the rest of the world if he became president.The speech that President Obama was scheduled to deliver at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly overnight represents his first really public stake in the sand on that promise. But the President was due to make it clear he expected plenty in return for reaching out.According to excerpts released yesterday, Mr Obama planned to call on all nations to take action against terrorism, genocide, climate change, poverty and the spread of nuclear weapons."This cannot be solely America's endeavour," Mr Obama was due to tell world leaders gathered for the UN annual meeting. "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."Mr Obama has already pushed for international efforts to fight climate change, telling a UN conference on Tuesday that rich nations and emerging economies alike must "do what we can, when we can" to promote economic growth without damaging the planet.He was expected to expand his call for nations to work with the US on other crises facing the world. "Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone," Mr Obama was to say."We have sought, in word and deed, a new era of engagement with the world." Mr Obama was to warn of the consequences of failing to take action, including the spread of nuclear weapons and terrorism, "melting ice caps and ravaged populations", and "persistent poverty and pandemic disease ... I say this not to sow fear, but to state a fact: the magnitude of our challenges has yet to be met by the measure of our action."At his speech at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Tuesday, the President foreshadowed some of his themes. "We need a new spirit of global partnership. And that is exactly the spirit that guides this organisation," he said, referring to the humanitarian efforts of the former US president Bill Clinton."I hope that it is the spirit that guides my administration," Mr Obama said."Around the world, even as we pursue a new era of engagement with other nations, we're embracing a broader engagement €“ new partnerships between societies and citizens, community organisations, business, faith-based groups."That's why we've been speaking directly to people around the world, including our friends across the Muslim world with whom we've launched a new beginning based on mutual interests and mutual respect."Instead of pursuing military solutions, Mr Obama said the US was making development assistance a central focus of his foreign policy.The good news for Mr Obama is that the world feels favourably disposed to the UN, and if he chooses to fully re-engage with world leaders through the UN, the world will welcome it.The UN remains a reasonably popular institution throughout much of the world, according to a 25-nation Pew Global Attitudes survey. The poll, conducted in May and June, found largely positive views towards the UN, with people in 19 of 25 countries expressing a positive opinion. Moreover, ratings of the UN have grown more positive since 2007 in 12 of the 25 nations. Europeans overwhelmingly give the UN favourable reviews.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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