United States, 2008

I am pleased to be here to

address the General Assembly. Sixty-three years ago,

representatives from around the world gathered in San

Francisco to complete the founding of the Charter of

the United Nations. They met in the shadow of a

devastating war, with grave new dangers on the

horizon. They agreed on a historic pledge to reaffirm

faith in fundamental human rights and unite their

strength to maintain international peace and security.

That noble pledge has endured trying hours in United

Nations history, and it still guides our work today.

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Yet the ideals of the Charter are now facing a

challenge as serious as any since the United Nations

founding: a global movement of violent extremists. By

deliberately murdering the innocent to advance their

aims, those extremists defy the fundamental principles

of international order. They show contempt for all who

respect life and value human dignity. They reject the

words of the Bible, the Koran, the Torah or any

standard of conscience of morality. They imperil the

values of justice and human rights that gave birth to the

United Nations — values that have fuelled an

unprecedented expansion of freedom across the world.

To uphold the words of the Charter in the face of

this challenge, every nation in this Hall has

responsibilities. As sovereign States, we have an

obligation to govern responsibly and solve problems

before they spill across borders. We have an obligation

to prevent our territory from being used as a sanctuary

for terrorism, proliferation, human trafficking and

organized crime. We have an obligation to respect the

rights and respond to the needs of our people.

Multilateral organizations have responsibilities.

For eight years, the nations in this Assembly have

worked together to confront the extremist threat. We

have witnessed successes and setbacks, and through it

all a clear lesson has emerged. The United Nations and

other multilateral organizations are needed more

urgently than ever. To be successful, we must be

focused, resolute and effective.

Instead of only adopting resolutions decrying

terrorist acts after they occur, we must cooperate more

closely to keep terrorist attacks from happening in the

first place. Instead of treating all forms of Government

as equally tolerable, we must actively challenge the

conditions of tyranny and despair that allow terror and

extremists to thrive. By acting together to meet the

fundamental challenge of our time, we can lead

towards a world that is more secure, more prosperous

and more hopeful.

In the decades ahead, the United Nations and

other multilateral organizations must continually

confront terror. That mission requires clarity of vision.

We must see the terrorists for what they are: ruthless

extremists who exploit the desperate, subvert the tenets

of a great religion and seek to impose their will on as

many people as possible. Some suggest that those men

would pose less of a threat if we would only leave

them alone, yet their leaders make clear that no

concession could ever satisfy their ambitions. Bringing

the terrorists to justice does not create terrorism. It is

the best way to protect our people.

Multilateral organizations must respond by taking

an unequivocal moral stand against terrorism. No cause

can justify the deliberate taking of innocent life, and

the international community is nearing universal

agreement on this truth. The vast majority of nations in

this Assembly now agree that tactics like suicide

bombing, hostage-taking and hijacking are never

legitimate. The Security Council has adopted

resolutions declaring terror unlawful and requiring all

nations to crack down on terrorist financing. Earlier

this month, the Secretary-General held a conference to

highlight victims of terror, where he stated that

terrorism can never be justified.

Other multilateral organizations have spoken

clearly as well. The Group of 8 has declared that all

terrorist acts are criminal and must be universally

condemned. The Secretary-General of the Organization

of the Islamic Conference recently spoke out against

suicide bombing, which he said runs counter to the

teachings of Islam.

The message behind those statements is

resolutely clear. Like slavery and piracy, terrorism has

no place in the modern world. Around the globe,

nations are turning those words into action. Members

of the United Nations are sharing intelligence with one

another, conducting joint operations and freezing

terrorists’ finances. While terrorists continue to carry

out attacks like the terrible bombing in Islamabad last

week, our joint actions have spared our citizens from

many devastating blows.

The brutal nature of the extremists is increasingly

clear and the coalition of nations confronting terrorists

is growing stronger. Over the past seven years,

Afghanistan and Iraq have been transformed from

regimes that actively sponsor terror to democracies that

fight terror. Libya has renounced its support for terror

and its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Nations like Saudi

Arabia and Pakistan are actively pursuing the terrorists.

A few nations, regimes like Syria and Iran, continue to

sponsor terror, yet their numbers are growing fewer

and they are growing more isolated from the world.

As the twenty-first century unfolds, some may be

tempted to assume that the threat has receded. That

would be comforting. It would be wrong. The terrorists

believe time is on their side, so they have made waiting

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out civilized nations part of their strategy. We must not

allow them to succeed. The nations of this body must

stand united in the fight against terror. We must

continue working to deny the terrorists refuge

anywhere in the world, including ungoverned spaces.

We must remain vigilant against proliferation by fully

implementing the terms of resolution 1540 (2004) and

enforcing sanctions against North Korea and Iran. We

must not relent until our people are safe from this

threat to civilization.

To uphold the Charter’s promise of peace and

security in the twenty-first century, we must also

confront the ideology of the terrorists. At its core, the

struggle against extremists is a battle of ideas.

Terrorists envision a world in which religious freedom

is denied, women are oppressed and all dissent is

crushed. The nations represented in this Hall must

present a more hopeful alternative — a vision where

people can speak freely, worship as they choose and

pursue their dreams in liberty.

Advancing this vision of freedom serves our

highest ideals, as expressed in the United Nations

Charter’s commitment to the dignity and worth of the

human person. Advancing this vision also serves our

security interests. History shows that when citizens

have a voice in choosing their own leaders, they are

less likely to search for meaning in radical ideologies,

and when Governments respect the rights of their

people, they are more likely to respect the rights of

their neighbours.

For all these reasons, the nations of this body

must challenge tyranny as vigorously as we challenge

terror. Some question whether people in certain parts of

the world actually desire freedom. This self-serving

condescension has been disproved before our eyes.

From the voting booths of Afghanistan, Iraq and

Liberia to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the Rose

Revolution in Georgia, the Cedar Revolution in

Lebanon and the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, we

have seen people consistently make the courageous

decision to demand their liberty.

For all the suggestions to the contrary, the truth is

that, whenever and wherever people are given the

choice, they choose freedom. Nations represented in

this Hall have supported the efforts of dissidents,

reformers and civil society advocates in newly free

societies through the new United Nations Democracy

Fund, and we appreciate those efforts. As young

democracies around the world continue to make brave

stands for liberty, multilateral organizations like the

United Nations must continue to stand with them.

In Afghanistan, a determined people are working

to overcome decades of tyranny and protect their newly

free society. They have strong support from all 26

nations of the NATO alliance. I appreciate the United

Nations decision this week to renew the mandate of the

International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

The United Nations also has an active civilian presence

in Afghanistan, where experts are doing important

work helping to improve education, facilitate

humanitarian aid and protect human rights. We must

continue to help the Afghan people defend their young

democracy so that the Taliban does not return to power

and Afghanistan is never again a safe haven for terror.

In Iraq, the fight has been difficult, yet daily life

has improved dramatically over the past 20 months

thanks to the courage of the Iraqi people, a determined

coalition of nations and a surge of American troops.

The United Nations has provided the mandate for

multinational forces in Iraq through this December, and

the United Nations is carrying out an ambitious

strategy to strengthen Iraq’s democracy, including

helping Iraqis prepare for their next round of free

elections. Whatever disagreements our nations have

had on Iraq, we should all welcome this progress

towards stability and peace and we should stand united

in helping Iraq’s democracy succeed.

We must stand united in our support of other

young democracies, from the people of Lebanon

struggling to maintain their hard-won independence to

the people of the Palestinian territories, who deserve a

free and peaceful State of their own. We must stand

united in our support of the people of Georgia. The

United Nations Charter sets forth the equal rights of

nations large and small; Russia’s invasion of Georgia

was a violation of those rights. Young democracies

around the world are watching to see how we respond

to this test. The United States has worked with allies in

such multilateral institutions as the European Union

and NATO to uphold Georgia’s territorial integrity and

provide humanitarian relief. Our nations will continue

to support Georgia’s democracy.

In this Hall are representatives of Georgia,

Ukraine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Liberia, Iraq and other

brave young democracies. We admire their courage, we

honour their sacrifices, and we thank them for their

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inspiring example. We will continue to stand with all

who stand for freedom. This noble goal is worthy of

the United Nations and it should have the support of

every member of this Assembly.

Extending the reach of political freedom is

essential to prevailing in the great struggle of our time,

but it is not enough. Many in this Hall have answered

the call to help their brothers and sisters in need by

working to alleviate hopelessness. Those efforts to

improve the human condition honour the highest ideals

of this institution. They also advance our security

interests. The extremists find their most fertile

recruiting grounds in societies trapped in chaos and

despair — places where people see no prospect of a

better life. In the shadows of hopelessness, radicalism

thrives. Eventually, that radicalism can boil over into

violence, cross borders and take innocent lives across

the world.

Overcoming hopelessness requires addressing its

causes: poverty, disease and ignorance. Challenging

these conditions is in the interest of every nation in this

Hall, and democracies are particularly well positioned

to carry out that work because we have experience

responding to the needs of our own people. We are

natural partners in helping other nations respond to the

needs of theirs. Together, we must commit our

resources and efforts to advancing education, health

and prosperity.

Over the years, many nations have made well-

intentioned efforts to promote these goals, but the

success of these efforts must be measured by more than

intentions. It must be measured by results. My nation is

placing insistence on results at the heart of our foreign

assistance programmes. We launched a new initiative,

called the Millennium Challenge Account, which

directs our help to countries that demonstrate their

ability to produce results by governing justly, fighting

corruption and pursuing market-based economic

policies, as well as investing in their people. Every

country and institution that provides foreign assistance,

including the United Nations, will be more effective by

showing faith in the people of the developing world

and insisting on performance in return for aid.

Experience also shows that, to be effective, we

must adopt a model of partnership, not paternalism.

This approach is based on our conviction that people in

the developing world have the capacity to improve

their own lives and will rise to meet high expectations

if we set them. America sought to apply this model in

our Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Every nation that

receives American support through this initiative

develops its own plan for fighting HIV/AIDS and

measures the results.

So far, these results are inspiring. Five years ago,

50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving

treatment for HIV/AIDS; today, that number is nearly

1.7 million. We are taking a similar approach to

fighting malaria, and so far we have supported local

efforts to protect more than 25 million Africans.

Multilateral organizations have made bold

commitments of their own to fight disease. The G-8

has pledged to match America’s efforts on malaria and

HIV/AIDS. Through the Global Fund, many countries

are working to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and

tuberculosis. Lives in the developing world depend on

these programmes, and all who have made pledges to

fight disease have an obligation to follow through on

their commitments.

One of the most powerful engines of development

and prosperity are trade and investment, which create

new opportunities for entrepreneurs, help people rise

out of poverty and reinforce such fundamental values

as transparency and the rule of law. For all these

reasons, many represented in this Hall have conducted

free-trade agreements at the bilateral and regional

levels.

The most effective step of all would be an

agreement that tears down trade barriers at the global

level. The recent impasse in the Doha round is

disappointing, but that does not have to be the final

word. I urge every nation to seize this opportunity to

lift up economies around the world and reach a

successful Doha agreement as soon as possible.

Beyond Doha, our nations must renew our commitment

to open economies and stand firm against economic

isolationism. These objectives are being tested by

turbulence in the global financial markets.

Our economies are more closely connected than

ever before, and I know that many of you here are

watching how the United States Government will

address the problems in our financial system. In recent

weeks we have taken bold steps to prevent a severe

disruption of the American economy, which would

have a devastating effect on other economies around

the world. We promote stability in the markets by

preventing the disorderly failure of major companies.

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The Federal Reserve has injected urgently needed

liquidity into the system. Last week, I announced

decisive action by the federal Government to address

the root cause of much of the instability in our

financial markets by purchasing illiquid assets that are

weighing down balance sheets and restricting the flow

of credit. I can assure the Assembly that my

Administration and our Congress are working together

to quickly pass legislation approving this strategy. And

I am confident that we will act in the urgent time frame

required.

The objectives I have laid out for multilateral

institutions confronting terror, opposing tyranny and

promoting effective development are difficult, but they

are necessary tasks. To have maximum impact,

multilateral institutions must take on challenging

missions, and like all of us in this Hall they must work

towards measurable goals, be accountable for their

actions and hold true to their word.

In the twenty-first century, the world needs a

competent and effective United Nations. This unique

institution should build on its successes and improve

its performance. Where there is inefficiency and

corruption, that must be corrected. Where there are

bloated bureaucracies, they must be streamlined.

Where Members fail to uphold their obligations, there

must be strong action — for example, there should be

an immediate review of the Human Rights Council,

which has routinely protected violators of human

rights. There should be a stronger effort to help the

people of Burma live free of the repression they have

suffered for too long. All nations, especially members

of the Security Council, must act decisively to ensure

that the Government of the Sudan upholds its

commitment to address the violence in Darfur.

The United Nations is an Organization of

extraordinary potential. As it rebuilds its Headquarters,

it must also open the door to a new age of

transparency, accountability and seriousness of

purpose. With determination and clear purpose, the

United Nations can be a powerful force for good as we

head into the twenty-first century. It can affirm the

great promise of its founding.

In the final days of the San Francisco Conference,

the delegates negotiating the United Nations Charter

received a visit from President Harry Truman. He

acknowledged the enormous challenges they faced and

said that success was possible only because of what he

called an unshakable unity of determination. Today, the

world is engaged in another period of great challenge,

and by continuing to work together, that unshakable

unity of determination will be ours. Together we can

confront and defeat the evil of terrorism. Together we

can secure the Almighty’s gift of liberty and justice to

millions who have not known it. Together we can build

a world that is freer, safer and better for the

generations who follow.