Back At The Center of the World

I don’t get the sense the media or the American people really grasped the magnitude of what took place yesterday at the U.N. Less than a year after America and the world were finally extricated from the tyranny of George “Coalition of One” Bush, his distain for diplomacy, and his abuse of the United Nations, we saw a historic event take place situating the U.S. at the center of international civility.

I imagine it will be one of Obama’s defining moments, convening only the fifth Summit-level session of the Security Council in its 63 years, and the first one ever chaired by the President of the the United States. If the U.S. draft resolution on nuclear disarmament that the Council passed unanimously is hardly perfect, what a difference from the dungeon-like past eight years.

I should add, by the way — and I’ve been guilty of this, too — it often seems impossible for anyone to credit Obama for anything. (Latest case in point, check the dismal tone surrounding these pretty decent numbers – especially as compared to the opposition.)

(…And then, here’s a better look at the mural by Norwegian artist Per Krohg. According to the UN, it was donated in 1952 by Norway and “symbolizes the changes which the world will undergo because of the efforts of the UN, and of mankind in general, to achieve peace, equality and freedom.”)

(image: UN Photo/Mark Garten. caption: Security Council Summit on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament. The Summit unanimously adopted resolution 1887 (2009), expressing the Security Council’s resolve to create the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons. Location: United Nations, New York Date: 24 September 2009)