US President Barack Obama said on Monday at a trade fair in Hannover, Germany, that this is the most "peaceful and prosperous era in human history."
Obama's comments came during a visit to Germany where he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and called for Europe and NATO to do more to fight the brutal Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization that has sprung up on his watch, committing mass rapes, beheadings, and genocide.
But according to the president, there's never been a better time for the world, and if someone had to choose a time in history to be born, it would be today.
Even while acknowledging there is suffering and tragedy, he nevertheless called this the "most peaceful era in human history," noting on longer life expectancies and better education, and saying it has been decades since the last time major powers warred against each other.
People should take confidence "in our ability to shape our down destiny," he said.
Ironically, data indicates that Obama's hands-off approach has in fact led to more global war deaths. Under Obama - who was "surprised" when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 just after taking office - global war deaths doubled as compared to George W. Bush's presidency.
During his visit to Germany, Obama on Monday called for Europe to do more to fight ISIS, and called on NATO to pay more to fund the alliance, while urging a "united" Europe.
"This remains a difficult fight and none of us can solve this problem by ourselves. Even as European countries make contributions to ISIL, Europe and NATO can still do more," Obama said, using an alternative acronym for ISIS.
"I'll be honest, sometimes Europe has been complacent about its own defense," he added in a slap at Europe.
"We need to integrate Muslims"
The US president also spoke about a growing nationalistic, euroskeptic and anti-immigration trend sweeping the continent, as seen Sunday when a candidate of Austria's far-right party handily won the first round of presidential elections for the first time ever.
Belittling the backlash to mass Muslim immigration that has brought with it an escalation in rape and sexual assault, he said, "in the vacuum, if we do not solve these problems, you start seeing those who would try to exploit these fears and frustrations and channel them in a destructive way."
He said there was "a creeping emergence of the kind of politics that the European project was founded to reject, an 'us' versus 'them' mentality that tries to blame our problems on the other."
"You see increasing intolerance in our politics. And loud voices get the most attention."
"I want you to remember that our countries are stronger, they're more secure and more successful when we integrate people of all backgrounds and faiths, and make them feel as one. And that includes our fellow citizens who are Muslim," he added.