In what will be his last speech at the UN General Assembly as President of the United States, Barack Obama outlined what he sees as the great successes in the international sphere of his eight-year term as President.
At the beginning of the speech, President Obama spoke about how the world has become a more prosperous place during his tenure in office, but emphasized that the world still faces a long list of serious issues.
"We must go forward and not back. I believe that the principles of free markets, democracy, human rights, and international law, are the basis for the progress of mankind," said the President in an oft recurring theme of "moving forwards not backwards".
Obama mentioned "backward looking" movements of "populism" several times throughout his speech, in what is most probably a thinly veiled criticism of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
During a section of the speech listing accommodations he thinks can easily be made on the international level, Obama mentioned Israel, saying that the Palestinians should certainly end incitement to terror and recognize Israel but also that "Israel must understand it can't permanently continue to build on Palestinian land."
President Obama also spoke about the Syrian civil war, once again rejecting the notion of a military solution to the conflict. US and Russian officials are meeting in New York together with representatives of dozens of other countries to discuss further strategy after the recent truce brokered in Syria completely collapsed over the past few days.
"There's no ultimate military victory to be won," Obama told the General Assembly, "we're going to have to pursue the hard work of the diplomacy that aims to stop the violence and
deliver aid to those in need."