At the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, President Obama's speech looks to both reassert American global leadership, and establish a clear foreign policy vision that will echo throughout the remainder of the 2012 election season and perhaps beyond. Hot topics that will likely take center stage are America's relationship with Iran, the Syrian civil war, the Iraq war, Afghanistan, and the fight against Al Qaeda.
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor notes that "any time the president goes to the U.N. General Assembly, he has an opportunity to set the agenda on the world stage as the leader of the world's most powerful nation."
"He does so with the credibility of strengthening our alliances, ending the war in Iraq, devastating al Qaeda, and rallying international action on challenges like securing nuclear materials and stopping the spread of nuclear weapons," he adds.
On the tone of the speech, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Stewart Patrick assured CBSNews.com that "It's going to be more of a somber appearance [than Obama's 2011 speech], at a somber time." Patrick expresses that the President needs to focus on the harsh realities of the international community's predicament, and supplement his promotion of human rights with an acknowledgement that the path towards progress "is going to be a long, painful process."
On Iran, Patrick argued that Obama "will have to try to make crystal clear where he stands on the issue" of nuclear weapons, but will refrain from making any military threats.
On Syria, Patrick asserts that President Obama will "castigate China and Russia for failing to step up to the plate and end the bloodshed in Syria." However, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese General Secretary Hu Jintao will be absent from the meeting, limiting their dialogue with the international community.
Ian Bremmer, President of the consulting firm Eurasia Group, concludes, "At the end of the speech, you're going to see a president who is clearly very fluid on international issues. He is much more pragmatic on a lot of issues, especially dealing with China and the Middle East."
Obama Speech Schedue: To be announced soon. Stay tuned.
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