Obama Defines His View of the U.S. Role

The annual gathering of world leaders to mark the start of a new session of the U.N. General Assembly provides the U.S. president with an opportunity to clearly define his vision of the U.S. role in the world. Think of it as a State of the Union address, except it’s to the world rather than just the country. And just as the State of the Union speech allows a president to promote his domestic legislative agenda to the U.S. Congress, so this speech allows a president to promote his international agenda before the world body. The White House blog notes that President Obama, “took the opportunity to reflect upon his first nine months in office, highlighting his administration’s priorities and looking forward to challenges ahead [and he] outlined the ‘Four Pillars’ he believes 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.'” The full text of his speech can be found here.