Obama pleads for 'new era'

2009-09-23 17:20

United Nations - President Barack Obama is pleading for "a new era of engagement" on world problems, telling the UN the US shouldn't pursue a go-it-alone stance.

In his first speech to world leaders gathered at the UN, Obama said he understood "an almost reflexive anti-Americanism" in recent years, but said that cannot be the template for America's relations with the world.

He acknowledged there were reasons to justify people's displeasure with US policies in recent years, but said global leaders cannot allow themselves to be defined "by our differences".

He declared "the time has come for the world to move in a new direction ... a new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect".

- AP