Obama’s UN Speech

I have some comments, in italics, on President Obama’s UN speech yesterday. My comments immediately follow Obama’s direct quotes.

I am well aware of the expectations that accompany my presidency around the world. These expectations are not about me. . .

But in truth, he believes it’s all about him.

I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. . .America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. . .

After the Bush darkness, the Obama light.

more than at any point in human history - the interests of nations and peoples are shared.

“We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

I have carried this message from London to Ankara; from Port of Spain to Moscow; from Accra to Cairo. . . Speeches alone will not solve our problems - . . .

But my speeches really do help solve problems.

The people of the world want change. They will not long tolerate those who are on the wrong side of history.

The people move governments, and I move people.

No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. No balance of power among nations will hold. The traditional division between nations of the south and north makes no sense in an interconnected world. Nor do alignments of nations rooted in the cleavages of a long gone Cold War.

We are now beyond alliances, beyond the “balance of power” politics that generates alliances, and have reached toward “one world.”

Together, we must build new coalitions that bridge old divides - coalitions of different faiths and creeds; of north and south, east and west; black, white, and brown.

(Paraphrasing Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech,) we will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro civil rights song, “Black and white together! Black and white together!”

Today, I put forward four pillars that are fundamental to the future that we want for our children: non-proliferation and disarmament; the promotion of peace and security; the preservation of our planet; and a global economy that advances opportunity for all people.

Yet again, Obama’s “pillars”.

determined to act boldly and collectively on behalf of justice . . .

we will support honest police and independent judges. . .

transformative change can be forged by those who choose the side of justice.

Though “justice” wasn’t one of his “four pillars,” it remains a key concern of former law professor Obama, who also believes terrorism is a police problem good courts could handle.

democracy and human rights are essential to achieving each of the goals that I have discussed today. Because governments of the people and by the people are more likely to act in the broader interests of their own people, rather than the narrow interest of those in power

no individual should be forced to accept the tyranny of their own government.

A ringing endorsement of democracy, except that. . .

Democracy cannot be imposed on any nation from the outside.

One of the “Panchsheel”, the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence” is “non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.” Given Obama’s post-alliance, one world views, it seems as if Obama wants to bring back and put in place the 1950s-1970s nonaligned movement foreign policy, essentially folding the First and Second World into the Third, or now dominant “One World”. The “Second World,” that of Communism, has disappeared, and Obama, as U.S. President, leads the old “First World.” So Obama may believe he can make “One World” happen.

we can be a generation that . . . finally gives meaning to the promise embedded in the name given to this institution: the United Nations.

We have ... re-engaged the United Nations. We have paid our bills. We have joined the Human Rights Council. . . And we address our priorities here, in this institution . . . through the Security Council meeting that I will chair tomorrow

imperfections are not a reason to walk away from this institution . . . The United Nations . . . can be indispensable in advancing the interests of the people we serve.

In his speech, Obama says, “I am not naïve.” But as we have said at length in this blog, the UN in its current format doesn’t work. The General Assembly is just a hall for speeches, and the Security Council doesn’t have the membership needed to take action. One hopes Obama is merely paying lip service to the idea of using the UN to achieve peace. The G-20 will work better.