UNITED NATIONS - President Obama makes his debut appearance at the United Nations this week, attending and presiding over a breathless array of events far beyond the usual schedule for U.S. presidents. A standing ovation is not out of the question among the world body's 192 member stations, drowning out much of the U.S. bashing since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Whether any of his foreign policy aims will be accomplished in three days is doubtful. For one, his meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday is not expected to yield any immediate results in restarting peace talks. But the personal contact with world leaders and his anticipated reception may be invaluable for long-term aims.
And it is not for lack of trying. On Tuesday, Obama speaks at a summit meeting on climate change, followed by private sessions aimed at giving impetus to a new international pact to reduce carbon emissions. China is expected to present new proposals, but Obama's commitments will be difficult before the Senate approves a cap and trade bill.
During a break, the president hosts a lunch for "responsible" leaders (not all are invited) from sub-Sahara Africa. He also intends to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and attend a dinner hosted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In between he scoots over to former President Bill Clinton's Global Initiative forum, making sure no surface transport will move in mid-town Manhattan.
On Wednesday, Obama addresses the General Assembly in the morning -- followed directly by Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi. He meets privately with Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama for the first time, chairs a sessions with countries contributing troops to the U.N. peacekeeping operations, attends Ban's annual lunch for all participants, meets Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and ends the day hosting the traditional U.S. reception visiting world leaders.
On Thursday, September 24, Obama chairs a summit-level meeting of the 15-member U.N. Security Council on nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear disarmament, the first time for a U.S. president. It is also the first time in years that the Council presidency, which rotates monthly according to the English alphabet, falls to the United States in September. A draft resolution would voice support for a treaty to ban the production of fissile material, ban nuclear tests, support intrusive inspection by the International Atomic Energy Commission and encourage nuclear disarmament, among other measures. Then he and 19 other world leaders fly off to Pittsburgh for a crucial evening meeting on the international financial crisis.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has her own non-stop schedule, including a meeting of the quartet of advisers on the Middle East, the six nations meeting on Iran's nuclear programs, a Security Council session on rape as a weapon of war and many others.
Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, insists the Democrats have a new approach to the world body from the Bush administration (which sometimes scorned the U.N. but still used it when it was in its interest to do so)
"In the 21st century America's security and well-being is in fact inextricably linked to the security and well-being of people elsewhere. So we've changed course. We've embraced as our own the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which we had previously shunned. We've rescinded the Mexico City Policy that barred U.S. assistance to programs that support family planning and reproductive health services. We signed the first new human rights convention of the 21st century, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We reversed course to back a statement at the General Assembly opposing violence and discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation. We no longer balk at mentions of reproductive health, or oppose references to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women."
"Circus of the Dictators"
The list is long since the purpose of the General Assembly is to invite each government leader in the world, which is also its value as corridor conversation and bilateral events abound.
Not to be outdone by Obama's busy schedule Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York nearly all week, ending with a UN press conference on Friday. He is trying to meet everyone he can, hosting a series of dinners and appearing on TV shows. Obama is one person who will attempt to avoid him at every event.
Last year Ahmadinejad was chastised by many world leaders for his country's nuclear ambitions and his openly anti-Semitic seminars in Iran questioning the Holocaust. This year his nuclear ambitions remain on the table, he prefaced his appearance in New York by calling the Holocaust "a lie" (Tehran rally, Sept 18) and achieved office through a rigged election, drawing protests in the jammed New York streets from Iranian exiles.
In what Human Rights Watch media director Minky Worden calls the "circus of the dictators," Myanmar's (Burma) ruling junta is sending Prime Minister Gen. Thin Sein. In anticipation of criticism, the country (planning its own rigged elections next year) has just released 7,114 prisoners of the 65,000 it has put in jail. But no one knows how many political prisoners the amnesty includes.
And among the disputed election winners, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, who, like Ahmadinejad, uses the military to enforce political objectives, is expected to plead for Western countries to lift sanctions following the country's new unity government. In the past his General Assembly speeches have blamed Britain for his nations' ills.
And then there is Gaddafi, who is attending his first General Assembly. Libya is also a member of the Security Council. Asked if he might use the occasion to make a speech that went beyond the theme of nuclear disarmament, Susan Rice said leaders were asked to speak no more than five minutes.
"And we expect no less from President Gaddafi should he come."
