China, India remain on path of ‘remarkable growth’, says Obama

“In the eyes of innocent men and women and children.we have to have the empathy to see ourselves”, Obama said.

“Indeed our global order has been so successful that we take it as a given that great powers no longer fight world wars”.

He told the United Nations General Assembly that world leaders, notably Germany and Canada, have vowed to double the number from past year.

He lamented that while the world has become a safer and more prosperous place by many measures, people have lost faith in public institutions amid frightening problems like terrorism and a devastating refugee crisis.

“In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russian Federation attempting to recover lost glory through force”, Obama said.

The president concluded by returning, as he often did in the earliest days of his presidency, to his personal story.

He called for more work to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict, an unfulfilled goal of his presidency, and for more diplomacy to try to halt the bloodshed in Syria.

By the same token, Obama warned China’s increasingly powerful leader Xi Jinping that adhering to the rule of law offers “far greater stability than the militarization of a few rocks and reefs” in the South China Sea.

While there was no mention of the bitterly fought USA presidential contest, this year’s General Assembly opens amid uncertainty over who will succeed Obama, and perhaps less crucially, who will succeed former South Korean diplomat Ban at the United Nations.

“It is an ugly lie that must be rejected in all our countries”, Obama said, “the world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall and prevent (extremism) from affecting our own societies”. “I am here today, I called this summit because this crisis is one of the most urgent tests of our time”.

The key driver of the modern crisis has been Syria’s long-running civil war, though large numbers have also fled instability in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We can not avert our eyes or turn our backs”.

In addition to the increased resettlement commitment, those participating countries in Tuesday΄s US-led summit pledged to increase their humanitarian aid in 2016 by $4.5 billion compared to previous year, Obama added.

“I believe we can not allow ourselves to stop here”.

This year’s United Nations gathering has played out against the backdrop of the deepening civil war in Syria and the renewed failure of USA and Russian diplomatic efforts to stem the violence for any meaningful period of time.

Obama cited his family story as evidence of the existence of universal ideals and principles that are increasingly under assault in a globalizing world.

“I want to help change people’s perceptions of what a refugee is”, she said in her speech.