President Barack Obama Wednesday offered the clearest view so far of his progressive-style national security strategy, when he told graduating cadets that the U.S. will be stronger if it entangles itself in a net of international organizations and treaties.
Institutions such as the World Bank and the United Nations should be strengthened, he said. “Evolving these institutions to meet the demands of today must be a critical part of American leadership,” he said.
And the United States will gain by relying on these international groups, he said. ”We can’t call on others to make commitments to combat climate change if so many of our political leaders deny that it is taking place. It’s a lot harder to call on China to resolve its maritime disputes under the Law of the Sea Convention when the United States Senate has refused to ratify it,” he claimed, according to the White House transcript.
“That’s not leadership; that’s retreat. That’s not strength; that’s weakness,” he insisted.
The deference to international norms also requires the closure of the prison on Guantanamo and curbs on intelligence gathering, he said.
Yet Obama’s rhetoric suggested — perhaps inadvertently — that any U.S. reliance on international groups is unique.
“I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being,” Obama told the graduating class the U.S. Army’s college in West Point. ”But what makes us exceptional is not our ability to flout international norms and the rule of law; it’s our willingness to affirm them through our actions,” he declared.
Obama’s speech also downplayed his foreign policy failures.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/28/obama-calls-for-more-cooperation-with-the-un/#ixzz333ed43i4
CNN: West Point Gave Obama ‘Icy’ Reception
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/cnn-west-point-gave-obama-icy-reception/
Rove: Putin Is 'Laughing' After Obama Speech
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Rove-Obama-Putin-Russia/2014/05/28/id/573784/#ixzz3332qFKGn
No comments:
Post a Comment