UNITED NATIONS: President Barack Obama on Wednesday promised a new era of US engagement with the world, saying that only by acting together can mankind overcome pressing global challenges.
Obama urged international leaders to join him, saying the United States could not shoulder the responsibility alone.
‘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,’ he said.
The US leader, who will host a Group of 20 nations summit in Pittsburgh this week, also pledged to work with allies to strengthen financial regulation to ‘put an end to the greed, excess and abuse that led us into disaster.’
Obama was among the first major speakers at this year’s UN gathering, which brings more than 100 heads of state and government together to thrash out issues ranging from nuclear proliferation and international terrorism to climate change and global poverty.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, all critics of US foreign policy, are due to address the meeting, guaranteeing a challenge to Obama’s worldview.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, opening the meeting, urged delegates to put their differences behind them.
‘If ever there were a time to act in a spirit of renewed multilateralism, a moment to create a United Nations of genuine collective action, it is now,’ he said.
Obama has brought a new tone in US foreign policy, stressing stressing cooperation and consultation over the unilateralism of his predecessor, George W. Bush. -Reuters
