Indonesian President urges UN Assembly to 'push frontiers of nationalism into new globalism'

“Now is the time for all of us to get into the serious business of building a new world of peace, prosperity and justice. The business of making everybody a winner.” He told the Assembly’s annual general debate, adding: “By creating and nurturing the ‘New WE’…that leaves no one behind.”

He said the quest for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) over last 15 years has revealed the necessity of good governance and also reinforced the need for a more robust global partnership. And while there had been plenty of actions taken in that regard, “somehow our work in the World Trade Organization, in the post-Kyoto climate talks, in reforming the global financial architecture, in reforming the United Nations, and many others have proved to be painstakingly slow.”

As Member States set forth a new global agenda for development, he urged drawing on years of trial and error to become more acutely aware of the promise and pitfalls of development – “of what we want and what we do not want. We do not want development that measures progress in terms of material provisions alone, and end up dehumanizing and marginalizing our citizens. What we want is sustainable development with equity.”

And yet, the President continued, the concerns of the day must stretch beyond development to include challenges such as ending the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza and the rest of the occupied territory; resolving the conflict in Ukraine “that is now shaking relations between Russia and the West”; and finding an effective and durable solution to the on-going conflicts in Syria and lraq.

“To do all this, there must be mutual accommodation. There must be a forward looking attitude that embraces a win-win predisposition over zero-sum attitude. Diplomacy must take precedence. Trust deficit must be turned into strategic opportunities and confidence building,”  Bambang Yudhoyono declared, urging delegations to “push the frontiers of nationalism into a new globalism where we can devise solutions to national, regional and global issues all at the same time.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia addresses the General Assembly. UN Photo/Cia Pak