14 March 2016•Update: 22 March 2016
By Esra Kaymak Avci
WASHINGTON
U.S. President Barack Obama is confident significant progress on foreign policy can be made during his remaining 10 months in office, he said Monday.
He promised to keep working toward making the world safer and to deal with enormous global challenges.
But first and foremost for the president and his team is to keep the U.S. safe, especially from the threat of terrorism.
"We're going to have to continue to strengthen our global coalition against ISIL, whether it's the air campaign, support for local partners, cutting off ISIL financing, preventing the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, working with partners to counter ISIL's bankrupt, nihilistic ideology," Obama said in remarks to U.S. ambassadors at a conference in Washington.
He said the U.S. would continue to push for a political solution in Syria and help countries like Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen fight terrorism.
Closing the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, ensuring the Minsk agreement is upheld for Ukraine's right to self-determination, holding nations to commitments of the Paris climate change accord, securing the U.S. against cyber attacks and global health issues are on Obama's agenda before he leaves office next January.
"I think over the three-and-a-half years, people have been calling me a lame duck, and somehow, we've gotten a lot done," he said to laughter from the audience.
Noting the U.S. continued to be the world's technological leader and had the most powerful military with the finest fighting forces ever, Obama stressed that America continued "to set the global agenda" because as an element of U.S. power is diplomacy which has made a difference and will continue to do so throughout the world.
"If we're not helping to set that agenda, it doesn't happen," he said. "People look to us for leadership."
As an example, Obama cited the U.S.’s path to normalization of relations with Cuba that was announced in late 2014 and led to the reopening of embassies in Washington and Havana last year. Later this month, Obama will make an historic visit to Cuba – the first for a U.S. president in nearly 90 years.
He will also make a stop in Argentina in a sign of warming relations there, too.
"My trip to Cuba and Argentina will underscore how we're focusing on the future," he said.
U.S. diplomatic power was also on display during negotiations Iran about its nuclear program.
"We're going to have to continue to ensure that Iran fully meets its commitments under the nuclear deal to make sure that we're enforcing effective sanctions on North Korea, that at our upcoming summit here in Washington, we're continuing to increase nuclear security," he said.
