President Barack Obama
US President Obama urges world
to eschew division and pursue global integration at UN Assembly [20sep2016]
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US President Barack Obama addresses the general debate of the General
Assembly’s seventy-first session.
UN Photo/Manuel Elias
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20 September 2016 – In his final address to the United
Nations General Assembly as United States President, Barack Obama today
delivered a ringing appeal for global integration in the face of religious
fundamentalism, the politics of ethnicity, aggressive nationalism and crude
populism, even as he called for a course correction.
“At this moment, we all face a choice. We can choose
to press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration. Or we can
retreat into a world sharply divided, and ultimately in conflict, along age-old
lines of nation and tribe and race and religion,” he said, declaring that the spirit
behind the founding of the UN itself shows what is best in humanity.
“As imperfect as they are, the principles of open
markets and accountable governance, ofdemocracy and human rights and
international law that we have forged, remain the firmest foundation for human
progress in this century,” he told world leaders on the first day of the
Assembly’s annual general debate, his eighth.
“The integration of our global economy has made life
better for billions of men, women and children. Over the last 25 years, the
number of people living in extreme poverty has been cut from nearly 40 per cent
of humanity to under 10 per cent. That's unprecedented. And it's not an
abstraction. It means children have enough to eat; mothers don’t die in
childbirth.”
But in order to move forward it has to be acknowledged
that the existing path requires a course correction. “A world in which one per
cent of humanity controls as much wealth as the other 99 per cent will never be
stable,” Mr. Obama stressed, calling for a global economy that works for all
people.
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Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon hosted a luncheon in honour of world leaders attending the general
debate of the seventy-first session of the General Assembly Seen here, Mr.
Ban (right) exchanges a toast with UN President Barack Obama.
UN Photo/Manuel
Elias
|
“Just as we benefit by combatting inequality within
our countries, I believe advanced economies still need to do more to close the
gap between rich and poor nations around the globe. This is difficult
politically. It's difficult to spend on foreign assistance. But I do not
believe this is charity,” he stressed.
“For the small fraction of what we spent at war in
Iraq, we could support institutions so that fragile States don’t collapse in
the first place; and invest in emerging economies that become markets for our
goods. It's not just the right thing to do – it's the smart thing to do,” said
Mr. Obama.
He called for rejection of all forms of
fundamentalism, racism, and belief in ethnic superiority that make traditional
identities irreconcilable with modernity.
While laying out his general vision for a better
world, Mr. Obama touched on specifics including the vital need to combat
climate change by building on the accord reached in Paris last December and the
duty of the wealthiest countries to help poorer nations leapfrog destructive
forms of energy.
The choices of individual human beings
created a United Nations, so that a war like [the Second World War] that would
never happen again. Each of us as leaders, each nation, can choose to reject
those who appeal to our worst impulses and embrace those who appeal to our
best. For we have shown that we can choose a better history.
He also referred to current crises tearing the world
apart, including “Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force” by
interfering in the affairs of its neighbours, and the South China Sea, where “a
peaceful resolution of disputes offered by law will mean far greater stability
than the militarization of a few rocks and reefs.”
In Syria, he said, there is no ultimate military
victory to be won, and the hard work of diplomacy must stop the violence, and
deliver aid to those in need. “And surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be
better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of
Israel, but Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle
Palestinian land,” he added.
But the main thrust of his remarks remained the need
for overall global cooperation as inspired by the founding of the UN itself,
even if this means curbing the power of the strongest countries.
“We can only realize the promise of this institution’s
founding – to replace the ravages of war with cooperation – if powerful nations
like my own accept constraints,” Mr. Obama declared “Sometimes I'm criticized
in my own country for professing a belief in international norms and
multilateral institutions.
“But I am convinced that in the long run, giving up
some freedom of action – not giving up our ability to protect ourselves or
pursue our core interests, but binding ourselves to international rules over
the long term – enhances our security. And I think that's not just true for
us,” he added.
“The choices of individual human beings created a
United Nations, so that a war like [the Second World War] that would never
happen again. Each of us as leaders, each nation, can choose to reject those
who appeal to our worst impulses and embrace those who appeal to our best. For
we have shown that we can choose a better history,” Mr. Obama concluded.
News Tracker: past stories on this issue
OBAMA’s
FINAL ADDRESS TO THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY [20sep2016]
http://time.com/4501910/president-obama-united-nations-speech-transcript/
President
Barack Obama on Tuesday [20sep2016]
delivered
his final address to the
United Nations General Assembly , calling on leaders to work together and
criticizing those who seek a “simple rejection of global integration.”
“I do not believe progress is possible if our desire
to preserve our identities gives way to an impulse to dehumanize or dominate
another group. If our religion leads us to persecute those of another faith, if
we jail or beat people who are gay, if our traditions lead us to prevent girls
from going to school, if we discriminate on the basis of race or tribe or
ethnicity, then the fragile bonds of civilization will fray,” Obama said. “The
world is too small, we are too packed together, for us to be able to resort to
those old ways of thinking.”
Here are his
full remarks from the United Nations headquarters:
PRESIDENT OBAMA:
Mr. President; Mr. Secretary General;
fellow delegates; ladies and gentlemen:
1. As I address this hall as President for
the final time, let me recount the progress that we’ve made these last eight
years.
2. From the depths of the greatest
financial crisis of our time, we coordinated our response to avoid further
catastrophe and return the global economy to growth. We’ve taken away terrorist
safe havens, strengthened the nonproliferation regime, resolved the Iranian
nuclear issue through diplomacy. We opened relations with Cuba, helped Colombia
end Latin America’s longest warm, and we welcome a democratically elected
leader of Myanmar to this Assembly. Our assistance is helping people feed
themselves, care for the sick, power communities across Africa, and promote
models of development rather than dependence. And we have made international
institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund more representative,
while establishing a framework to protect our planet from the ravages of
climate change.
3. This is important work. It has made a
real difference in the lives of our people. And it could not have happened had
we not worked together. And yet, around the globe we are seeing the same forces
of global integration that have made us interdependent also expose deep fault
lines in the existing international order.
4. We see it in the headlines every day.
Around the world, refugees flow across borders in flight from brutal conflict.
Financial disruptions continue to weigh upon our workers and entire
communities. Across vast swaths of the Middle East, basic security, basic order
has broken down. We see too many governments muzzling journalists, and quashing
dissent, and censoring the flow of information. Terrorist networks use social
media to prey upon the minds of our youth, endangering open societies and
spurring anger against innocent immigrants and Muslims. Powerful nations
contest the constraints placed on them by international law.
5. This is the paradox that defines our
world today. A quarter century after the end of the Cold War, the world is by
many measures less violent and more prosperous than ever before, and yet our
societies are filled with uncertainty, and unease, and strife. Despite enormous
progress, as people lose trust in institutions, governing becomes more
difficult and tensions between nations become more quick to surface.
6. And so I believe that at this moment we
all face a choice. We can choose to press forward with a better model of
cooperation and integration. Or we can retreat into a world sharply divided,
and ultimately in conflict, along age-old lines of nation and tribe and race
and religion.
7. I want to suggest to you today that we
must go forward, and not backward. I believe that as imperfect as they are, the
principles of open markets and accountable governance, of democracy and human
rights and international law that we have forged remain the firmest foundation
for human progress in this century. I make this argument not based on theory or
ideology, but on facts — facts that all too often, we forget in the immediacy
of current events.
8. Here’s the most important fact: The
integration of our global economy has made life better for billions of men,
women and children. Over the last 25
years, the number of people living in extreme poverty has been cut from nearly
40 percent of humanity to under 10 percent. That’s unprecedented. And it’s
not an abstraction. It means children have enough to eat; mothers don’t die in
childbirth.
9. Meanwhile, cracking the genetic code
promises to cure diseases that have plagued us for centuries. The Internet can
deliver the entirety of human knowledge to a young girl in a remote village on
a single hand-held device. In medicine and in manufacturing, in education and
communications, we’re experiencing a transformation of how human beings live on
a scale that recalls the revolutions in agriculture and industry. And as a
result, a person born today is more likely to be healthy, to live longer, and
to have access to opportunity than at any time in human history.
10.
Moreover, the collapse of colonialism and communism has allowed more
people than ever before to live with the freedom to choose their leaders.
Despite the real and troubling areas where freedom appears in retreat, the fact
remains that the number of democracies around the world has nearly doubled in
the last 25 years.
11. In remote corners of the world, citizens
are demanding respect for the dignity of all people no matter their gender, or
race, or religion, or disability, or sexual orientation, and those who deny
others dignity are subject to public reproach. An explosion of social media has
given ordinary people more ways to express themselves, and has raised people’s
expectations for those of us in power. Indeed, our international order has been
so successful that we take it as a given that great powers no longer fight
world wars; that the end of the Cold War lifted the shadow of nuclear
Armageddon; that the battlefields of Europe have been replaced by peaceful
union; that China and India remain on a path of remarkable growth.
12.I say all this not to whitewash the
challenges we face, or to suggest complacency. Rather, I believe that we need
to acknowledge these achievements in order to summon the confidence to carry
this progress forward and to make sure that we do not abandon those very things
that have delivered this progress.
13.In order to move forward, though, we do
have to acknowledge that the existing path to global integration requires a
course correction. As too often, those trumpeting the benefits of globalization
have ignored inequality within and among nations; have ignored the enduring
appeal of ethnic and sectarian identities; have left international institutions
ill-equipped, underfunded, under-resourced, in order to handle transnational
challenges.
14.And as these real problems have been
neglected, alternative visions of the world have pressed forward both in the
wealthiest countries and in the poorest: Religious fundamentalism; the politics
of ethnicity, or tribe, or sect; aggressive nationalism; a crude populism —
sometimes from the far left, but more often from the far right — which seeks to
restore what they believe was a better, simpler age free of outside contamination.
15. We cannot dismiss these visions. They
are powerful. They reflect dissatisfaction among too many of our citizens. I do
not believe those visions can deliver security or prosperity over the long
term, but I do believe that these visions fail to recognize, at a very basic
level, our common humanity. Moreover, I believe that the acceleration of travel
and technology and telecommunications — together with a global economy that
depends on a global supply chain — makes it self-defeating ultimately for those
who seek to reverse this progress. Today, a nation ringed by walls would only
imprison itself.
16.So the answer cannot be a simple
rejection of global integration. Instead, we must work together to make sure
the benefits of such integration are broadly shared, and that the disruptions —
economic, political, and cultural — that are caused by integration are squarely
addressed. This is not the place for a detailed policy blueprint, but let me
offer in broad strokes those areas where I believe we must do better together.
17. It starts with making the global economy
work better for all people and not just for those at the top. While open
markets, capitalism have raised standards of living around the globe,
globalization combined with rapid progress and technology has also weakened the
position of workers and their ability to secure a decent wage. In advanced
economies like my own, unions have been undermined, and many manufacturing jobs
have disappeared. Often, those who benefit most from globalization have used their
political power to further undermine the position of workers.
18.In developing countries, labor
organizations have often been suppressed, and the growth of the middle class
has been held back by corruption and underinvestment. Mercantilist policies
pursued by governments with export-driven models threaten to undermine the
consensus that underpins global trade. And
meanwhile, global capital is too often unaccountable — nearly $8 trillion stashed away in tax
havens, a shadow banking system that grows beyond the reach of effective
oversight.
19.A world in which one
percent of humanity controls as much wealth as the other 99 percent will never
be stable. I
understand that the gaps between rich and poor are not new, but just as the
child in a slum today can see the skyscraper nearby, technology now allows any
person with a smartphone to see how the most privileged among us live and the
contrast between their own lives and others. Expectations rise, then, faster
than governments can deliver, and a pervasive sense of injustice undermine
people’s faith in the system.
20.
So how do we fix this imbalance? We cannot unwind integration any more
than we can stuff technology back into a box. Nor can we look to failed models
of the past. If we start resorting to trade wars, market distorting subsidies,
beggar thy neighbor policies, an overreliance on natural resources instead of
innovation — these approaches will make us poorer, collectively, and they are
more like to lead to conflict. And the stark contrast between, say, the success
of the Republic of Korea and the wasteland of North Korea shows that central,
planned control of the economy is a dead end.
21.But I do believe there’s another path —
one that fuels growth and innovation, and offers the clearest route to
individual opportunity and national success. It does not require succumbing to
a soulless capitalism that benefits only the few, but rather recognizes that
economies are more successful when we close the gap between rich and poor, and
growth is broadly based. And that means respecting the rights of workers so
they can organize into independent unions and earn a living wage. It means
investing in our people — their skills, their education, their capacity to take
an idea and turn it into a business. It means strengthening the safety net that
protects our people from hardship and allows them to take more risks — to look
for a new job, or start a new venture.
22.
These are the policies that I’ve pursued here in the United States, and
with clear results. American businesses have created now 15 million new jobs.
After the recession, the top one percent of Americans were capturing more than
90 percent of income growth. But today, that’s down to about half. Last year,
poverty in this country fell at the fastest rate in nearly 50 years. And with
further investment in infrastructure and early childhood education and basic
research, I’m confident that such progress will continue.
23.
So just as I’ve pursued these measures here at home, so has the United
States worked with many nations to curb the excesses of capitalism — not to
punish wealth, but to prevent repeated crises that can destroy it. That’s why
we’ve worked with other nations to create higher and clearer standards for
banking and taxation — because a society that asks less of oligarchs than
ordinary citizens will rot from within. That’s why we’ve pushed for
transparency and cooperation in rooting out corruption, and tracking illicit
dollars, because markets create more jobs when they’re fueled by hard work, and
not the capacity to extort a bribe. That’s why we’ve worked to reach trade
agreements that raise labor standards and raise environmental standards, as
we’ve done with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, so that the benefits are more
broadly shared.
24.
And just as we benefit by combatting inequality within our countries, I
believe advanced economies still need to do more to close the gap between rich
and poor nations around the globe. This is difficult politically. It’s
difficult to spend on foreign assistance. But I do not believe this is charity.
For the small fraction of what we spent at war in Iraq we could support
institutions so that fragile states don’t collapse in the first place, and
invest in emerging economies that become markets for our goods. It’s not just
the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.
25.
And that’s why we need to follow through on our efforts to combat
climate change. If we don’t act boldly, the bill that could come due will be
mass migrations, and cities submerged and nations displaced, and food supplies
decimated, and conflicts born of despair. The Paris Agreement gives us a
framework to act, but only if we scale up our ambition. And there must be a
sense of urgency about bringing the agreement into force, and helping poorer
countries leapfrog destructive forms of energy.
26.
So, for the wealthiest countries, a Green Climate Fund should only be
the beginning. We need to invest in research and provide market incentives to
develop new technologies, and then make these technologies accessible and
affordable for poorer countries. And only then can we continue lifting all
people up from poverty without condemning our children to a planet beyond their
capacity to repair.
27.
So we need new models for the global marketplace, models that are
inclusive and sustainable. And in the same way, we need models of governance
that are inclusive and accountable to ordinary people.
28.
I recognize not every country in this hall is going to follow the same
model of governance. I do not think that America can — or should — impose our
system of government on other countries. But there appears to be growing
contest between authoritarianism and liberalism right now. And I want everybody
to understand, I am not neutral in that contest. I believe in a liberal
political order — an order built not just through elections and representative
government, but also through respect for human rights and civil society, and
independent judiciaries and the rule of law.
29.
I know that some countries, which now recognize the power of free
markets, still reject the model of free societies. And perhaps those of us who
have been promoting democracy feel somewhat discouraged since the end of the
Cold War, because we’ve learned that liberal democracy will not just wash
across the globe in a single wave. It turns out building accountable
institutions is hard work — the work of generations. The gains are often
fragile. Sometimes we take one step forward and then two steps back. In
countries held together by borders drawn by colonial powers, with ethnic
enclaves and tribal divisions, politics and elections can sometimes appear to
be a zero-sum game. And so, given the difficulty in forging true democracy in
the face of these pressures, it’s no surprise that some argue the future favors
the strongman, a top-down model, rather than strong, democratic institutions.
30.
But I believe this thinking is wrong. I believe the road of true
democracy remains the better path. I believe that in the 21st century,
economies can only grow to a certain point until they need to open up — because
entrepreneurs need to access information in order to invent; young people need
a global education in order to thrive; independent media needs to check the
abuses of power. Without this evolution, ultimately expectations of people will
not be met; suppression and stagnation will set in. And history shows that
strongmen are then left with two paths — permanent crackdown, which sparks
strife at home, or scapegoating enemies abroad, which can lead to war.
31.Now, I will admit, my belief that
governments serve the individual, and not the other way around, is shaped by
America’s story. Our nation began with a promise of freedom that applied only
to the few. But because of our democratic Constitution, because of our Bill of
Rights, because of our ideals, ordinary people were able to organize, and
march, and protest, and ultimately, those ideals won out — opened doors for
women and minorities and workers in ways that made our economy more productive
and turned our diversity into a strength; that gave innovators the chance to
transform every area of human endeavor; that made it possible for someone like
me to be elected President of the United States.
32.
So, yes, my views are shaped by the specific experiences of America, but
I do not think this story is unique to America. Look at the transformation
that’s taken place in countries as different as Japan and Chile, Indonesia,
Botswana. The countries that have succeeded are ones in which people feel they
have a stake.
33.
In Europe, the progress of those countries in the former Soviet bloc that
embraced democracy stand in clear contrast to those that did not. After all,
the people of Ukraine did not take to the streets because of some plot imposed
from abroad. They took to the streets because their leadership was for sale and
they had no recourse. They demanded change because they saw life get better for
people in the Baltics and in Poland, societies that were more liberal, and
democratic, and open than their own.
34.
So those of us who believe in democracy, we need to speak out
forcefully, because both the facts and history, I believe, are on our side.
That doesn’t mean democracies are without flaws. It does mean that the cure for
what ails our democracies is greater engagement by our citizens — not less.
35.
Yes, in America, there is too much money in politics; too much
entrenched partisanship; too little participation by citizens, in part because
of a patchwork of laws that makes it harder to vote. In Europe, a
well-intentioned Brussels often became too isolated from the normal push and
pull of national politics. Too often, in capitals, decision-makers have
forgotten that democracy needs to be driven by civic engagement from the bottom
up, not governance by experts from the top down. And so these are real
problems, and as leaders of democratic governments make the case for democracy
abroad, we better strive harder to set a better example at home.
36.
Moreover, every country will organize its government informed by
centuries of history, and the circumstances of geography, and the deeply held
beliefs of its people. So I recognize a traditional society may value unity and
cohesion more than a diverse country like my own, which was founded upon what,
at the time, was a radical idea — the idea of the liberty of individual human
beings endowed with certain God-given rights. But that does not mean that
ordinary people in Asia, or Africa, or the Middle East somehow prefer arbitrary
rule that denies them a voice in the decisions that can shape their lives. I
believe that spirit is universal. And if any of you doubt the universality of
that desire, listen to the voices of young people everywhere who call out for
freedom, and dignity, and the opportunity to control their own lives.
37.
This leads me to the third thing we need to do: We must reject any forms
of fundamentalism, or racism, or a belief in ethnic superiority that makes our
traditional identities irreconcilable with modernity. Instead we need to
embrace the tolerance that results from respect of all human beings.
38.
It’s a truism that global integration has led to a collision of
cultures; trade, migration, the Internet, all these things can challenge and
unsettle our most cherished identities. We see liberal societies express
opposition when women choose to cover themselves. We see protests responding to
Western newspaper cartoons that caricature the Prophet Muhammad. In a world
that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost
glory through force. Asian powers debate competing claims of history. And in
Europe and the United States, you see people wrestle with concerns about
immigration and changing demographics, and suggesting that somehow people who
look different are corrupting the character of our countries.
39.
Now, there’s no easy answer for resolving all these social forces, and
we must respect the meaning that people draw from their own traditions — from
their religion, from their ethnicity, from their sense of nationhood. But I do
not believe progress is possible if our desire to preserve our identities gives
way to an impulse to dehumanize or dominate another group. If our religion
leads us to persecute those of another faith, if we jail or beat people who are
gay, if our traditions lead us to prevent girls from going to school, if we
discriminate on the basis of race or tribe or ethnicity, then the fragile bonds
of civilization will fray. The world is too small, we are too packed together,
for us to be able to resort to those old ways of thinking.
40.
We see this mindset in too many parts of the Middle East. There, so much
of the collapse in order has been fueled because leaders sought legitimacy not
because of policies or programs but by resorting to persecuting political
opposition, or demonizing other religious sects, by narrowing the public space
to the mosque, where in too many places perversions of a great faith were
tolerated. These forces built up for years, and are now at work helping to fuel
both Syria’s tragic civil war and the mindless, medieval menace of ISIL.
41.The mindset of sectarianism, and
extremism, and bloodletting, and retribution that has been taking place will
not be quickly reversed. And if we are honest, we understand that no external
power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic
communities to co-exist for long. But I do believe we have to be honest about
the nature of these conflicts, and our international community must continue to
work with those who seek to build rather than to destroy.
42.
And there is a military component to that. It means being united and
relentless in destroying networks like ISIL, which show no respect for human
life. But it also means that in a place like Syria, where there’s no ultimate
military victory to be won, we’re going to have to pursue the hard work of
diplomacy that aims to stop the violence, and deliver aid to those in need, and
support those who pursue a political settlement and can see those who are not
like themselves as worthy of dignity and respect.
43.
Across the region’s conflicts, we have to insist that all parties
recognize a common humanity and that nations end proxy wars that fuel disorder.
Because until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the
embers of extremism will continue to burn, countless human beings will suffer —
most of all in that region — but extremism will continue to be exported
overseas. And the world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall
and prevent it from affecting our own societies.
44.
And what is true in the Middle East is true for all of us. Surely,
religious traditions can be honored and upheld while teaching young people
science and math, rather than intolerance. Surely, we can sustain our unique
traditions while giving women their full and rightful role in the politics and
economics of a nation. Surely, we can rally our nations to solidarity while recognizing
equal treatment for all communities — whether it’s a religious minority in
Myanmar, or an ethnic minority in Burundi, or a racial minority right here in
the United States. And surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if
Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but
Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian
land. We all have to do better as leaders in tamping down, rather than
encouraging, a notion of identity that leads us to diminish others.
45.
And this leads me to the fourth and final thing we need to do, and that
is sustain our commitment to international cooperation rooted in the rights and
responsibilities of nations.
46.
As President of the United States, I know that for most of human
history, power has not been unipolar. The end of the Cold War may have led too
many to forget this truth. I’ve noticed as President that at times, both
America’s adversaries and some of our allies believe that all problems were
either caused by Washington or could be solved by Washington — and perhaps too
many in Washington believed that as well. (Laughter.)
47.
But I believe America has been a rare superpower in human history
insofar as it has been willing to think beyond narrow self-interest; that while
we’ve made our share of mistakes over these last 25 years — and I’ve
acknowledged some — we have strived, sometimes at great sacrifice, to align
better our actions with our ideals. And as a consequence, I believe we have
been a force for good.
48.
We have secured allies. We’ve acted to protect the vulnerable. We
supported human rights and welcomed scrutiny of our own actions. We’ve bound
our power to international laws and institutions. When we’ve made mistakes,
we’ve tried to acknowledge them. We have worked to roll back poverty and hunger
and disease beyond our borders, not just within our borders.
49.
I’m proud of that. But I also know that we can’t do this alone. And I
believe that if we’re to meet the challenges of this century, we are all going
to have to do more to build up international capacity. We cannot escape the
prospect of nuclear war unless we all commit to stopping the spread of nuclear
weapons and pursuing a world without them.
50.
When Iran agrees to accept constraints on its nuclear program that enhances
global security and enhances Iran’s ability to work with other nations. On the
other hand, when North Korea tests a bomb that endangers all of us. And any
country that breaks this basic bargain must face consequences. And those
nations with these weapons, like the United States, have a unique
responsibility to pursue the path of reducing our stockpiles, and reaffirming
basic norms like the commitment to never test them again.
51. We can’t combat a disease like ZIKA that recognizes no borders —
mosquitos don’t respect walls — unless we make permanent the same urgency that
we brought to bear against Ebola — by strengthening our own systems of public
health, by investing in cures and rolling back the root causes of disease, and
helping poorer countries develop a public health infrastructure.
52.
We can only eliminate extreme poverty if the sustainable development
goals that we have set are more than words on paper. Human ingenuity now gives
us the capacity to feed the hungry and give all of our children — including our
girls — the education that is the foundation for opportunity in our world. But
we have to put our money where our mouths are.
53.
And we can only realize the promise of this institution’s founding — to
replace the ravages of war with cooperation — if powerful nations like my own
accept constraints. Sometimes I’m criticized in my own country for professing a
belief in international norms and multilateral institutions. But I am convinced
that in the long run, giving up some freedom of action — not giving up our
ability to protect ourselves or pursue our core interests, but binding
ourselves to international rules over the long term — enhances our security.
And I think that’s not just true for us.
54.
If Russia continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors, it may
be popular at home, it may fuel nationalist fervor for a time, but over time it
is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure. In the
South China Sea, a peaceful resolution of disputes offered by law will mean far
greater stability than the militarization of a few rocks and reefs.
55.
We are all stakeholders in this international system, and it calls upon
all of us to invest in the success of institutions to which we belong. And the
good news is, is that many nations have shown what kind of progress is possible
when we make those commitments. Consider what we’ve accomplished here over the
past few years.
56.
Together, we mobilized some 50,000 additional troops for U.N.
peacekeeping, making them nimble, better equipped, better prepared to deal with
emergencies. Together, we established an Open Government Partnership so that,
increasingly, transparency empowers more and more people around the globe. And
together, now, we have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are
desperate for a home.
57.
We should all welcome the pledges of increased assistance that have been
made at this General Assembly gathering. I’ll be discussing that more this
afternoon. But we have to follow through, even when the politics are hard.
Because in the eyes of innocent men and women and children who, through no
fault of their own, have had to flee everything that they know, everything that
they love, we have to have the empathy to see ourselves. We have to imagine
what it would be like for our family, for our children, if the unspeakable
happened to us. And we should all understand that, ultimately, our world will
be more secure if we are prepared to help those in need and the nations who are
carrying the largest burden with respect to accommodating these refugees.
58.
There are a lot of nations right now that are doing the right thing. But
many nations — particularly those blessed with wealth and the benefits of
geography — that can do more to offer a hand, even if they also insist that
refugees who come to our countries have to do more to adapt to the customs and
conventions of the communities that are now providing them a home.
59.
Let me conclude by saying that I recognize history tells a different
story than the one that I’ve talked about here today. There’s a much darker and
more cynical view of history that we can adopt. Human beings are too often
motivated by greed and by power. Big countries for most of history have pushed
smaller ones around. Tribes and ethnic groups and nation states have very often
found it most convenient to define themselves by what they hate and not just
those ideas that bind them together.
60.
Time and again, human beings have believed that they finally arrived at
a period of enlightenment only to repeat, then, cycles of conflict and
suffering. Perhaps that’s our fate. We have to remember that the choices of
individual human beings led to repeated world war. But we also have to remember
that the choices of individual human beings created a United Nations, so that a
war like that would never happen again. Each of us as leaders, each nation can
choose to reject those who appeal to our worst impulses and embrace those who
appeal to our best. For we have shown that we can choose a better history.
61.Sitting in a prison cell, a young Martin
Luther King, Jr. wrote that, “Human progress never rolls on the wheels of
inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be
co-workers with God.” And during the course of these eight years, as I’ve
traveled to many of your nations, I have seen that spirit in our young people,
who are more educated and more tolerant, and more inclusive and more diverse,
and more creative than our generation; who are more empathetic and
compassionate towards their fellow human beings than previous generations. And,
yes, some of that comes with the idealism of youth. But it also comes with
young people’s access to information about other peoples and places — an
understanding unique in human history that their future is bound with the fates
of other human beings on the other side of the world.
62.
I think of the thousands of health care workers from around the world
who volunteered to fight Ebola. I
remember the young entrepreneurs I met who are now starting new businesses in
Cuba, the parliamentarians who used to be just a few years ago political
prisoners in Myanmar. I think of the girls who have braved taunts or violence
just to go to school in Afghanistan, and the university students who started
programs online to reject the extremism of organizations like ISIL. I draw
strength from the young Americans — entrepreneurs, activists, soldiers, new
citizens — who are remaking our nation once again, who are unconstrained by old
habits and old conventions, and unencumbered by what is, but are instead ready
to seize what ought to be.
63.
My own family is a made up of the flesh and blood and traditions and
cultures and faiths from a lot of different parts of the world — just as
America has been built by immigrants from every shore. And in my own life, in
this country, and as President, I have learned that our identities do not have
to be defined by putting someone else down, but can be enhanced by lifting
somebody else up. They don’t have to be defined in opposition to others, but
rather by a belief in liberty and equality and justice and fairness.
64.
And the embrace of these principles as universal doesn’t weaken my
particular pride, my particular love for America — it strengthens it. My belief
that these ideals apply everywhere doesn’t lessen my commitment to help those
who look like me, or pray as I do, or pledge allegiance to my flag. But my
faith in those principles does force me to expand my moral imagination and to
recognize that I can best serve my own people, I can best look after my own
daughters, by making sure that my actions seek what is right for all people and
all children, and your daughters and your sons.
65.
This is what I believe: that all of us can be co-workers with God. And
our leadership, and our governments, and this United Nations should reflect
this irreducible truth.
Thank you
very much. (Applause.)
