UNITED NATIONS: US President Barack Obama declared at the UN General Assembly on Monday that the world can no longer return to the old ways of conflict and coercion.

No matter how strong the militaries of the major world powers were “any order that our militaries can impose will be temporary”, he said.

In his address to the UN General Assembly, Mr Obama forcefully presented a case for diplomacy and blamed Russia, China and Iran for stirring troubles across the world.

In an indirect reference to his Republican opponents, the US president said that there were people in America who wanted Washington to use its military might for resolving disputes.

“We see an argument made that the only strength that matters for the United States is bellicose words and shows of military force; that cooperation and diplomacy will not work,” he said.

Defending his strategy of diplomatic engagement, as opposed to military intervention, Mr Obama said: “No matter how powerful our military, how strong our economy, we understand the United States cannot solve the world’s problems alone.”

Unless the United States worked together with the rest of the world, it would not succeed in resolving disputes, he said.

He acknowledged that despite sending more than 100,000 troops and spending trillions of dollars, the United States failed to stabilise Iraq.

He informed the world body that after he assumed office, he declared his intention to resolve the nuclear dispute with Iran.

“But we also understood that the goal of (US) sanctions was not simply to punish Iran. Our objective was to test whether Iran could change course,” he said.

Mr Obama recalled that for two years, the US and five other world powers negotiated with Iran to end the nuclear dispute with the Islamic Republic, “The result is a lasting, comprehensive deal that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while allowing it to access peaceful energy,” he said.

“And if this deal is fully implemented, the prohibition on nuclear weapons is strengthened, a potential war is averted, our world is safer.”

Mr Obama also conceded that previous US policies towards Cuba had been wrong and that’s why decided to restore diplomatic relations with island state.

He also said that in places like Syria, the world will have to take into account the brutality of the Assad regime, which had been combating its own people for the last four years.

Such violence makes it impossible for the vast majority of Syria’s population to accept Assad as their leader, Mr Obama said.

He said the US also understood the long history that Russia had with Crimea and Ukraine but it had to respond forcefully to Russia’s intervention in these places.

“We cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated,” he said.

Mr Obama made a forceful case for democracy and pointed out that “dictatorships are unstable”.

“You can jail your opponents but you can’t imprison ideas,” he said.

Published in Dawn September 29th, 2015

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