From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Aug 13 2009 - 05:28:38 EDT
US vows to embrace UN in break with Bush-era policy
Thu Aug 13, 2009 3:25am GMT
* Rice says United Nations needs reforms
* Obama administration to cooperate with U.N. (Adds details from Rice's
speech, quotes)
By Louis Charbonneau
NEW YORK, Aug 12 (Reuters) - The Obama administration will work with the
United Nations to fight terrorism and other major world challenges, U.S.
envoy Susan Rice said on Wednesday, marking a clear shift from the Bush
administration's disregard for the world body.
Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said in a speech at New
York University Washington must lead by example, acknowledge its mistakes,
change its policies and strategies when necessary and treat others with
respect.
"The global challenges we face cannot be tackled without U.S. leadership,"
Rice said. "But while U.S. leadership is necessary, it is rarely sufficient.
We need the effective cooperation of a broad range of friends and partners."
Among these challenges, Rice said, are the nuclear programs of Iran and
North Korea, the global financial crisis, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,
pandemics and global warming.
President Barack Obama has promised a "new era of engagement" with the
United Nations, which was often criticized and occasionally ridiculed by
members of the administration of former President George W. Bush.
In the new Obama administration's most detailed statement on its U.N.
policy, Rice said Washington would avoid the "condescension and contempt"
that she said had crept into U.S. government attitudes toward the
international community. She did not specifically mention Bush or his
administration.
"We have seen the costs of disengagement," she said. "We have paid the price
of stiff-arming the U.N. and spurning our international partners. The United
States will lead in the 21st century-not with hubris, not by hectoring, but
through patient diplomacy."
She noted that Washington had decided to join the U.N. Human Rights Council,
which the Bush administration spurned as an anti-Israel forum, as an example
of the new approach to world issues. She also mentioned the Obama
administration's determination to improve relations with the Muslim world.
"We work for change from within rather than criticizing from the sidelines,"
Rice said. "We stand strong in defense of America's interests and values,
but we don't dissent just to be contrary. We listen to states, great and
small. We build coalitions. We meet our responsibilities. We pay our bills."
U.N. PROBLEMS
Last week Rice announced that Washington would hand over more than $2
billion in new and old contributions owed to the U.N. peacekeeping
department.
Relations between the United States and the United Nations reached a low
point in 2003, the year of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Former U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan branded the war an illegal act by the Bush
administration.
Rice said the U.N. administration and the 192-nation General Assembly both
needed reform. The assembly continues to single out Israel for criticism and
let "political theater distract from real deliberation."
Among the problems at the United Nations, she said, are a Security Council
that remains divided on the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region,
Zimbabwe's reconstruction efforts, the military government in Myanmar and
other issues.
After her speech, Rice was asked how U.S. relations with China and Russia
were now that Washington was reaching out to both superpowers to improve
cooperation on the Security Council on issues like Iran and North Korea.
"It's not perfect, but it's a lot better," she said.
(Editing by Paul Simao and Jackie Frank)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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