President Obama called for a new chapter in the long history between the United States and Britain, saying Wednesday that global economic, military and climate challenges require "remaking ourselves to meet the demands of a new era."
Even as he spoke of how much the world has changed since the allies emerged victorious from World War II, Obama told a joint session of Parliament that U.S.-British cooperation - in military, diplomatic, economic and humanitarian efforts - remains essential to ensuring global security.
"As new threats spread across borders and oceans, we must dismantle terrorist networks and stop the spread of nuclear weapons, confront climate change and combat famine and disease," Obama said. "And as a revolution races through the streets of the Middle East and North Africa, the entire world has a stake in the aspirations of a generation that longs to determine its own destiny."
Obama said that despite the need for both countries to reduce public debt that could "sap the strength and vitality of our economies," the United States and Britain must continue to remain engaged in the world.
"It's become fashionable in some quarters to question whether the rise of these nations will accompany the decline of American and European influence around the world," Obama said. "That argument is wrong. The time for our leadership is now."
Although he did not make new policy declarations or articulate a different relationship between the United States and its European allies, Obama celebrated a partnership that, in the past decade, has waged war in three Muslim nations and suffered through the global economic downturn.
Obama delivered his address in the historic Westminster Hall, becoming the first U.S. president to speak there. More than 1,000 lawmakers, government officials and other dignitaries attended.
The audience gave Obama a standing ovation when he concluded the 34-minute speech, the most substantive element of his two-day state visit to London, where he and the first lady, Michelle, have dined with royalty and barbecued with military veterans from both nations.
Obama leaves today for Deauville, France, and the Group of Eight summit.
Source: http://www.sfgate.com
Even as he spoke of how much the world has changed since the allies emerged victorious from World War II, Obama told a joint session of Parliament that U.S.-British cooperation - in military, diplomatic, economic and humanitarian efforts - remains essential to ensuring global security.
"As new threats spread across borders and oceans, we must dismantle terrorist networks and stop the spread of nuclear weapons, confront climate change and combat famine and disease," Obama said. "And as a revolution races through the streets of the Middle East and North Africa, the entire world has a stake in the aspirations of a generation that longs to determine its own destiny."
Obama said that despite the need for both countries to reduce public debt that could "sap the strength and vitality of our economies," the United States and Britain must continue to remain engaged in the world.
"It's become fashionable in some quarters to question whether the rise of these nations will accompany the decline of American and European influence around the world," Obama said. "That argument is wrong. The time for our leadership is now."
Although he did not make new policy declarations or articulate a different relationship between the United States and its European allies, Obama celebrated a partnership that, in the past decade, has waged war in three Muslim nations and suffered through the global economic downturn.
Obama delivered his address in the historic Westminster Hall, becoming the first U.S. president to speak there. More than 1,000 lawmakers, government officials and other dignitaries attended.
The audience gave Obama a standing ovation when he concluded the 34-minute speech, the most substantive element of his two-day state visit to London, where he and the first lady, Michelle, have dined with royalty and barbecued with military veterans from both nations.
Obama leaves today for Deauville, France, and the Group of Eight summit.
Source: http://www.sfgate.com
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