"We cannot make this journey unless we all move forward together."

Just wanted to throw out a quick response to President Obama's speech to the U.N. General Assembly this morning. News links and more feedback to follow.

*spoiler alert!* It's speeches like this that remind me why I voted for Obama in the first place. If I tried to put down all the worthwhile quotes I would basically have transcribed the speech. What the President offered was a true departure from the often contentious relationship between previous administrations and the U.N., which we've been guilty of treating like the red-headed stepchild of international relations rather than a forum for true global governance.

In his speech, President Obama took responsibility for our past shortcomings but also reminded other states of theirs. He advocated for a forward-looking attitude when overcoming the huge issues that we face today. And he underscored the importance of engagement and cooperation between states and within the international organizations that we've helped to establish: "We cannot make this journey unless we all move forward together."

News links and further commentary to follow.

**UPDATE**

As promised...first up, coverage from Reuters:
Israel's Netanyahu welcomes Obama UN call for talks

First, PM Netanyahu, were we listening to the same speech? I'm pretty sure that President Obama's call for a two-state solution and his comments on the ongoing Israel-Palestine dispute weren't exactly pinpointing Palestinian authorities as the problem... Not to mention, my daily Torah emails yesterday included a censure of the President for his seemingly anti-Israel stance. All of that aside, however, the two-state solution is the only viable one, and once you all put aside your prejudices and (let's face it) greed you can actually begin working toward a sustainable peace for your people.

President Obama was right: the people who pay for these conflicts aren't the politicians or the military, but the innocent civilians who fear for their lives day after day, and who are separated from their loved ones by arbitrary boundaries.


Next up: The New York Times counts the visit a success, highlighting not only the President's speech to the General Assembly, but gains made through talks with foreign leaders throughout the day. Most notably, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev verbally committed to standing with the United States on pursuing tougher sanctions for Iran should they not make further progress in next month's talks.

I don't believe I have ever seen a piece in the NYT that was openly critical of the President, but in this case I have to agree with them wholeheartedly. The speech was an important first step in amending our approach to international relations, but it was not a complete departure from our past foreign policy. Rather, it demonstrated a pragmatic approach to the issues facing the world, and established our position on those issues as well as a commitment to work with the international community rather than against it.

For more coverage of the speech and the rest of President Obama's first day at the U.N., check out these stories from The Boston Globe, the BBC, and (for "balance") some interesting commentary from Sean Hannity.

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