WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will take a mere day out of his reelection bid for the UN General Assembly this week, and his flying visit will be shorn of the usual flurry of visits with world leaders.
Obama will hope to win a few domestic political points by cutting a statesman like figure with his annual speech to the United Nations, and will offer his most detailed explanation yet of the US response to the rash of anti-American protests in the Arab world.
While in New York, he will also repay former president Bill Clinton for his acclaimed speech lauding the Obama presidency at the Democratic National Convention, by appearing at the annual Clinton Global Initiative meetings.
And while his schedule does not allow time to meet the likes of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Myanmar leader Thein Sein, Obama is expected to record an appearance on popular American daytime talk show “The View.” The programme is a favourite with women voters, a key demographic in the November 6 election, as Obama seeks to cement a narrow lead over Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney.
After one night and 24 hours in New York spanning Monday and Tuesday, Obama will be out on the campaign trail again, travelling to swing state Ohio on Wednesday and battleground Virginia later in the week as he gears up for three head-to-head debates with Romney next month.
Obama’s in passing election-year appearance at the annual UN meetings contrasts with the early years of a presidency which prized grand foreign policy gestures on the global stage.
In an election in which the sluggish economy is the prime issue —despite the emergence of foreign policy challenges in Libya, Egypt and the Middle East — Obama’s focus is clearly on his domestic audience.
In his place, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will conduct meetings normally on the presidential portfolio, with talks expected with leaders of Israel, Myanmar, Pakistan and other nations vital to US foreign policy.
When Obama steps up to deliver his big speech to the UN on Tuesday, he will be addressing a sudden chill in the Arab Spring, following the murder of the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans this month. “We were reminded this past week, this is a world still full of serious threats,” Obama said on a campaign trip to Wisconsin on Saturday.
“We’re going to have to work to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. We’re going to have to make sure that not only our diplomatic posts are safe, but we go after folks who threaten or try to kill Americans.”
The president will tell the world from the General Assembly Hall, once again, that the United States rejects a video made by extremist Coptic Christians aired on YouTube which sparked violence across the Arab world, officials said.
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said the UN General Assembly always “provides an opportunity for the President to put the international situation in context, and to put forward a vision of US leadership.”
“I would certainly expect the President to address the recent unrest in the Muslim world, and the broader context of the democratic transitions in the Arab world,” Vietor said.
AFP
