World Bulletin
 The President’s Corner: Tom Miller
Obama Leads by Example
Sept. 23 -- Since I have taken the helm of UNA-USA in May, I have been traveling extensively across the country visiting our chapters and talking to our many members. From the beginning, my mission has been to re-energize and expand UNA’s base. I also want to use this digital space regularly to discuss important issues concerning the United States and the United Nations, to respond to your inquiries and to share with you what I hear and what I know.
Many of you have been asking me why President Obama’s visit to the General Assembly and to the Security Council this week is so important. A couple of reasons: In the last few years, multilateral diplomacy has not been used sufficiently to advance US foreign policy interests. The United Nations -- home to 192 countries and the only organization with near universal membership -- often represents the best venue and opportunity to move US interests forward, particularly involving issues that are global in nature. Heads of states, ministers and, yes, activists, from all over the world are also gathered this week in New York, not far from our door, making their voices heard on ways to address the most pressing matters of our time.
That’s why the US is at the UN, too, playing a part in deciding on actions that could make the world a safer, more livable place. Events like the summits and meetings at the UN this week can help the US advance its own global priorities.
The key issues are clear from President Obama’s schedule at the UN: pushing for discussions to address the threat of climate change; preventing the spread of nuclear weapons; searching for ways to help Africa sustain itself while reaching out to the poorest; and strengthening alliances to stabilize hot spots like Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Take global warming and energy: the president cannot persuade, let alone force, other countries to reduce their emissions, particularly the developing world and China, if he cannot show that we in America are serious about reducing our own emissions. If China and the US can’t agree on the numbers for these goals, there is little prospect for meaningful progress on climate change.
The all-day summit that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held yesterday at the UN on climate change offered a valuable opportunity for mobilizing political momentum to agree on an international treaty in December in Copenhagen. With participation by President Obama and Hu Jintao of China, among others heads of state, yesterday’s well-attended summit provided a central forum for frank exchanges that would not occur at lower levels, making this event particularly worth watching.
The president’s efforts to persuade non-nuclear states to fulfill their obligations to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, another major topic to be addressed tomorrow at the Security Council, will be strengthened if the US meets its own obligations to disarm as a nuclear state. Indeed, it is our desire to see that when President Obama chairs the council on Thursday, he will not only inject confidence in the international nuclear non-proliferation regime but also win over Russian and Chinese support to achieve compliance from North Korea and Iran.
This same “do as I do” diplomatic approach applies to human rights as well. US efforts to persuade other countries to heed America’s policies on human rights can be enhanced if the US ratifies such international treaties as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Critics contend that signing such treaties will diminish US sovereignty because the treaties would establish compliance-monitoring mechanisms. Nothing could be further from the truth. Such treaty-monitoring bodies have no enforcement authority and can make only nonbinding recommendations. Treaties, on the contrary, enhance our sovereignty. Without ratifying the Convention on the Law of the Sea, for example, the US could lose a crucial role in debating the freedom of maritime navigation and the health of our oceans.
Signing such treaties would also reinforce the US’s ability to lead by example -- which is why UNA-USA has been furthering the cause of the International Criminal Court since 1999. Our hope is to see the US reinstate its signature on the Rome Statute as soon as possible. To this end, beginning in 2001, we have convened a coalition of 32 nongovernmental organizations to work collectively to solicit support for the ICC in the United States nationally and locally.
We were encouraged to hear President Obama mention Sudan in his address to the General Assembly this morning, saying that “we will pursue a lasting peace in Sudan through support for the people of Darfur and the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, so that we secure the peace that the Sudanese people deserve.” Indeed, as the chances of an all-out conflict between the north and south re-emerge, it is a critical time to stay focused on this country’s ills. And while it is true that the atrocities in Darfur have decreased somewhat in the last year and a half, I have visited the place and can attest that it remains hell on earth. We should not take our eyes off Darfur – or the rest of Sudan -- too soon.
One last thing: the financial crisis. The fact that the US is participating in the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh tomorrow and Friday does not mean that the UN is irrelevant on this global crisis. A recent UN report voiced concerns on the effects of the global financial crisis specifically on poor countries – particularly the number of unemployed and hungry -- and while we in the West work to fix our own domestic economies we must not forget that there is much worse suffering far beyond our borders.
The 64th session of the GA’s general debate is a perfect time to reinforce the valuable partnership between the US and the UN. To do that, President Obama needs support from Congress, and to get that support, we need you. None of these issues that I’ve discussed in this column will be solved soon, which is why your participation is so important. Many of the problems have been with us for a decade or even longer. Let us know what you think of Obama’s speech by sending your e-mail to yourviewsmatter@unausa.org.
Until next time,
Tom
To read a UNA-USA op-ed published today in The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, go to www.unausa.org/oped/treaties.
To read a recent interview with Tom Miller in the Council on Foreign Relations,
click here.
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