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At U.N., Obama calls for unified approach to tackle Islamic State, Ebola, Ukraine crises At U.N., Obama calls for unified approach to tackle Islamic State, Ebola, Ukraine crises
(35 minutes later)
UNITED NATIONS — President Obama challenged world leaders Wednesday to rally around a unified international order, warning that “there is a pervasive unease” amid a series of global crises that require urgent attention. UNITED NATIONS — President Obama challenged world leaders Wednesday to join the United States in confronting a series of global crises that had bred a “pervasive sense of unease,” as he sought to reassert American leadership abroad at a critical juncture.
“There is much that must be done to meet the tests of this moment,” Obama said in an address at the annual United Nations General Assembly. He cited the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine and the threats of the Islamic State group in the Middle East.“There is much that must be done to meet the tests of this moment,” Obama said in an address at the annual United Nations General Assembly. He cited the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine and the threats of the Islamic State group in the Middle East.
“We come together at a crossroads between war and peace; between disorder and integration; between fear and hope,” the president declared.“We come together at a crossroads between war and peace; between disorder and integration; between fear and hope,” the president declared.
In an address that served as the centerpiece of his three-day visit here, Obama cast the crises on three different continents as part of a broader breakdown in international institutions charged with maintaining peace and security. With representatives of more than 150 countries in attendance this week, Obama repeatedly asserted the United States’ leadership role in confronting those global challenges, urging others to join America “on the right side of history.” In a 40-minute address that served as the centerpiece of his three-day visit here, Obama delivered a forceful, and at times searing, critique of the threats to international order that he said required collective attention and action from the more than 150 nations assembled at the U.N.
Republicans, and some Democrats, have accused him of failing to assert U.S. power and influence more decisively, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East. And Obama’s approval ratings on foreign policy are at an all-time low.
Obama and his advisers have cautioned that the president is prepared to act with force to defend American interests but seeks to build international support ahead of time. His appearance on stage Wednesday was a bid to recruit more nations to support a U.S.-led coalition in combating the radical Islamist fighters who have taken control of large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
In his remarks, the president cast the crises on three different continents as part of a broader breakdown in international institutions charged with maintaining peace and security. He repeatedly asserted the United States’ leadership role in confronting those global challenges, urging others to join America “on the right side of history.”
“Too often, we have failed to enforce international norms when it’s inconvenient to do so,” he said. “And we have not confronted forcefully enough the intolerance, sectarianism, and hopelessness that feeds violent extremism in too many parts of the globe. . . . On issue after issue, we cannot rely on a rule-book written for a different century.”“Too often, we have failed to enforce international norms when it’s inconvenient to do so,” he said. “And we have not confronted forcefully enough the intolerance, sectarianism, and hopelessness that feeds violent extremism in too many parts of the globe. . . . On issue after issue, we cannot rely on a rule-book written for a different century.”
[Read: Transcript of Obama’s speech][Read: Transcript of Obama’s speech]
Aides had cast Obama’s speech at the assembly hall as an opportunity for him to lay out his vision of American leadership for a global audience. Obama spent the second half of his address focused on the problem of confronting terrorism and radical ideology that has led to the rise of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. Obama spent the second half of his address focused on the problem of confronting terrorism and radical ideology that has led to the rise of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. He authorized U.S. military action to degrade the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and the Pentagon launched the first airstrikes in Syria this week in conjunction with five Arab nations — Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Republicans, and some Democrats, have accused him of failing to assert U.S. power and influence more decisively, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East. Obama and his advisers have cautioned that the president is prepared to act with force to defend American interests but seeks to build international support ahead of time.
Obama authorized U.S. military action to degrade the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and the Pentagon launched the first airstrikes in Syria this week in conjunction with five Arab nations — Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
“I have made it clear that America will not base our entire foreign policy on reacting to terrorism,” Obama told the U.N. delegates. But, referring to the radical Sunni militants, he added that “the only language understood by killers like this is the language of force. So the United States of America will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death.”“I have made it clear that America will not base our entire foreign policy on reacting to terrorism,” Obama told the U.N. delegates. But, referring to the radical Sunni militants, he added that “the only language understood by killers like this is the language of force. So the United States of America will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death.”
Toward the end of his speech, Obama also touched on problems in the United States, highlighting the racial unrest in Ferguson, Mo., this summer after an unarmed African American teenager was shot and killed by a police officer after a scuffle. Obama also castigated Russian President Vladi­mir Putin, who skipped the U.N. summit, by denouncing the Russian-backed incursion of rebel fighters in eastern Ukraine, which the president said demonstrated a “vision of the world in which might makes right.”
Toward the end of his speech, Obama also touched on problems in the United States, highlighting the racial unrest in Ferguson, Mo., this summer after an unarmed African American teenager was shot and killed by a police officer after a scuffle. Protests on the streets of the community lasted for nearly two weeks, leading to scores of arrests and a visit from U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who is overseeing a federal civil rights probe into the Ferguson police department’s actions.
“I realize that America’s critics will be quick to point out that at times we, too, have failed to live up to our ideals; that America has plenty of problems within our own borders. This is true,” Obama said. “In a summer marked by instability in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, I know the world also took notice of the small American city of Ferguson, Missouri — where a young man was killed, and a community was divided. So yes, we have our own racial and ethnic tensions. And like every country, we continually wrestle with how to reconcile the vast changes wrought by globalization and greater diversity with the traditions that we hold dear.”“I realize that America’s critics will be quick to point out that at times we, too, have failed to live up to our ideals; that America has plenty of problems within our own borders. This is true,” Obama said. “In a summer marked by instability in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, I know the world also took notice of the small American city of Ferguson, Missouri — where a young man was killed, and a community was divided. So yes, we have our own racial and ethnic tensions. And like every country, we continually wrestle with how to reconcile the vast changes wrought by globalization and greater diversity with the traditions that we hold dear.”
The tone of the remarks contrasted with Obama’s address here last year, during which he said that “the world is more stable than it was five years ago.”The tone of the remarks contrasted with Obama’s address here last year, during which he said that “the world is more stable than it was five years ago.”
The foreign policy crises have dominated the White House’s attention in recent months, at a time when the president and his advisers had expected to be focused on a domestic agenda ahead of the midterm elections in November. The intrusion of world affairs on Obama’s domestic agenda was evident Tuesday evening when he attended a Democratic fundraiser at a private New York residence.The foreign policy crises have dominated the White House’s attention in recent months, at a time when the president and his advisers had expected to be focused on a domestic agenda ahead of the midterm elections in November. The intrusion of world affairs on Obama’s domestic agenda was evident Tuesday evening when he attended a Democratic fundraiser at a private New York residence.
After citing achievements of his administration — including an improving economy and his health-care law — Obama said: “Despite that, I think there’s some anxiety across the country, and the question is: Why? And I offer three reasons. The first, which is most prominent in the news right now, is that there is great disorder in the world.”After citing achievements of his administration — including an improving economy and his health-care law — Obama said: “Despite that, I think there’s some anxiety across the country, and the question is: Why? And I offer three reasons. The first, which is most prominent in the news right now, is that there is great disorder in the world.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Obama is scheduled to preside over a U.N. Security Council meeting at which member nations are expected to vote on a resolution that would require countries to enact laws aimed at preventing their citizens from traveling to foreign countries to join terrorist insurgencies. U.S. officials estimate that 15,000 foreigners have traveled to Syria to aid the Islamic State group, including 2,000 Europeans and 100 Americans.On Wednesday afternoon, Obama is scheduled to preside over a U.N. Security Council meeting at which member nations are expected to vote on a resolution that would require countries to enact laws aimed at preventing their citizens from traveling to foreign countries to join terrorist insurgencies. U.S. officials estimate that 15,000 foreigners have traveled to Syria to aid the Islamic State group, including 2,000 Europeans and 100 Americans.
Fears that they could return to their homelands and perpetrate domestic terrorist attacks spurred Obama to raise the issue to international attention at the summit, aides said.Fears that they could return to their homelands and perpetrate domestic terrorist attacks spurred Obama to raise the issue to international attention at the summit, aides said.