In a signature speech on the US’ foreign policy priorities, US President Barack Obama has exhorted the youth of his country to respond to a new world marked the rise of middle classes in emerging countries like India and Brazil.
Amid off-and-on talk of the decline of American power, Obama sought to prepare his country to grapple with the challenge of a shifting world in which aspirational classes in the developing world are clamouring for a greater say in global affairs.
“From Brazil to India, rising middle classes compete with our own, and governments seek a greater say in global forums. And even as developing nations embrace democracy and market economies, 24 hour news and pervasive social media makes it impossible to ignore sectarian conflicts, failing states and popular uprisings that might have received only passing notice a generation ago,” Obama said in a speech to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.
“It will be your generation’s task to respond to this new world. The question we face – the question you will face – is not whether America will lead, but how we will lead, not just to secure our peace and prosperity, but also to extend peace and prosperity around the globe.”
Obama has spoken many a time about American power facing challenges from the emerging world. This time round, he was talking to graduating cadets, but had his eye on a global audience when he asserted his unwavering faith in American exceptionalism. He vehemently rejected his detractors “who suggest that America is in decline, or has seen its global leadership slip away, are either misreading history or engaged in partisan politics.”
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