On the World Stage

Barack Obama presides over a UN security council meeting on nuclear weapons. Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP

Although I'm sometimes disappointed in President Obama, there are times that I'm quite glad that we have him. One area that I feel he's handling very well is international diplomacy. Today:

Barack Obama today hailed a UN security council resolution on disarmament and non-proliferation as a milestone along the way to "a world without nuclear weapons".

Obama, the first US president to preside over a security council session, said the next twelve months would be "absolutely critical" in ensuring whether the resolution would succeed in reversing the spread of nuclear weapons and setting the world along the path of multilateral disarmament.

He said he had no illusions about the difficulties ahead, but he added "there will also be days like today" when the world came together for the common goal of disarmament and countering proliferation.

Today's resolution calls for the nuclear weapons states to ratify a ban on nuclear testing - something the US senate has yet to do - and negotiate a new treaty to stop the production of fissile material. It also calls for on them to join the disarmament process being led by the US and Russia, who account for more than 90% of the world's nuclear weapons between them.

The document also endorses a string of measures intended to strengthen the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), ahead of a major review conference next May.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/24/nuclear-weapons-un-security-council

I can't imagine shrub engaging the nuclear proliferation issue, or getting any support if he had attempted to. It's nice to have an articulate President who other world leaders listen to with respect.
I know we're a long way from a nuke free world, but as a child of the cold war 'duck and cover' drills, it's nice to see the world getting a little safer.