Obama argues for global governance in last U.N. address

“There are those who argue the ideals in the U.N. charter are out of date,” Obama said, rejecting arguments that “strong states must impose their will” or that “might makes right” and “order must be imposed by forced.”

 

“We can not look backwards,” he insisted, emphasizing that global integration is an agenda that transcends the narrowly defined interests of nation states.

 

“If we cannot all work together, we will suffer the consequences,” he said. “The United States cannot solve the world’s problems alone, regardless how strong our military is.”

 

He used Iraq to illustrate that U.S. military power is not sufficient to produce cohesion in a divided population.

 

“Unless we work with other nations under the mantle of international law, we will not succeed,” he insisted.

 

He said tyranny around the world cannot succeed when technology opens the world to peoples in oppressed nations.

 

“It is not a conspiracy of U.S.-backed NGOs that produced democracy, it is technology,” he said.

 

“I believe we must go forward in belief of our ideals. We must give expression to our hopes, not our fears.”

 

Obama argued that the change in U.S. policy toward Iran and Cuba represented a fundamental shift toward working with previously sanctioned nations. The objective, he said, is to bring former enemies into a new world order characterized by respect for the principals of the United Nations charter.

 

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