President Obama is the first U.S. leader to head a United Nations Security Council meeting.

Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor

The president had his first foray into the byzantine world of U.N. politics last week and walked away cheered on by the anti-America crowd.

He appeased the delegations led by tyrants and petty dictatorships by condemning President Bush and spelling out how his administration is going to be different.

President Obama was applauded by Castro, Chavez, and Gadhafi (no friends of ours) when he said he wanted a "new era of engagement in the world." Are either of those three dictators going to be better world citizens or kinder, gentler leaders as a result of Obama's outreach? Put me in the doubtful column.

No American president has ever stood before the U.N. body and condemned his predecessor or American foreign policy in such a way. President Bush, like every president before him made some mistakes, but he did not deserve this put down. And let's not forget America was attacked on September 11, 2001, and thousands of American lives were lost. President Bush and his team got us through all that and kept us safe for the rest of his terms. And I hope Mr. Obama realizes the "haters" of America are still out there.

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Arsalan Iftikhar | BIO
AC360° Contributor
Founder, TheMuslimGuy.com

The United Nations this week hosted two of the world's most notorious dictatorial clowns.

The world body gave a prominent forum to Col. Moammar Gadhafi of Libya and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, who preside over repressive regimes dominating the nearly 73 million helpless people of Libya and Iran.

In his rambling and nonsensical 96-minute tirade at the podium of the General Assembly, Gadhafi deemed it wise to use this opportunity to call the H1N1 flu virus a "military tool," refer to the U.N. Security Council as the "terrorist council" and spew other absurdly ridiculous conspiracy theories.

Not to be outdone, Ahmadinejad stuck to his usual ridiculous script of railing against the United States and Israel for all of the world's woes during his U.N. speech that shed no new light on the Iranian state's nuclear strategy.

Several delegations, including that of the United States, walked out of the hall in protest during Ahmadinejad's speech. The speech drew little reaction from U.N. delegates.

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President Obama addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.

Bill Richardson
CNN

President Obama, in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, announced the next phase in America's efforts to finally end the decades-long Israeli-Arab conflict and remove one of the greatest destabilizing elements to America's national security interests from the Middle East playing field.

Like health care reform, this is a daunting task, and in order for the president to be the last one confronting this, Congress and Americans of all stripes should be supporting him.

The president made it clear that the United States wants permanent status negotiations to begin without preconditions based on the parameters from past negotiations: security for Israel and Palestine, refugees, borders and Jerusalem. The president added that the United States seeks peace agreements on all fronts, including with Syria and Lebanon.

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the 64th United Nations General Assembly Wednesday.

Program Note: Tune in tonight to hear from Reza Aslan on AC360° at 10p.m. ET.

Reza Aslan
The Daily Beast

Iran’s presumptive president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, heads to New York today to once again address the United Nations General Assembly. And once again, he has prefaced his address to the world body with yet another jibe at Holocaust history.

Last Friday, during Iran’s annual Jerusalem Day festivities—an occasion for Iranians to show solidarity with Palestinians—Ahmadinejad told an assembled crowd at the University of Tehran that “the pretext for establishing the Zionist regime is a lie ... a lie which relies on an unreliable claim.”

“The occupation of Palestine has nothing to do with the Holocaust,” Ahmadinejad continued. “The very existence of this regime is an insult to the dignity of the people, but it won't last long. The Israeli regime’s days are numbered and it is on its way to collapse. This regime is dying. Fighting it is a national and religious duty. The West has launched the myth of the Holocaust but it’s a lie.”

Right on cue, the U.S. media went into hysterics—“Ahmadinejad Denies Holocaust… Again!” was the headline at The Daily Beast—just as Ahmadinejad hoped they would.

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Program Note: Tune in tonight to hear more about the addresses of Libyan Leader Moammar Ghadafi and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

AC360°

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly. His visit has provoked protests around the country.

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Iranian President Ahmadinejad addresses a Friday prayer sermon at Tehran University on Quds (Jerusalem) Day.

World Public Opinion.org

A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll finds that two-thirds of Iranians would favor their government precluding the development of nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against Iran.

Only one-third would be ready to halt enrichment in exchange for lifting sanctions. However, another third, while insisting on continuing enrichment, would agree to grant international inspectors unrestricted access to nuclear facilities to ensure that that there are no bomb-making activities.

The WPO poll also finds that six in 10 Iranians believe that economic sanctions, imposed by the United States and the United Nations over fears that Iran's nuclear program might produce an atomic weapon, are having a negative impact. Seven in 10 say they believe sanctions will be tightened if Iran continues its current nuclear program.

Steven Kull, director of WPO, comments: "Though most Iranians are feeling the bite of economic sanctions and expect them to tighten, only a third are willing to negotiate away the right to enrich uranium. However, two-thirds are willing to make a deal that would preclude the development of nuclear weapons."

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Timothy Wirth says upcoming Copenhagen summit is prompting progress on global climate change measures.

Timothy E. Wirth
CNN

On Tuesday, more than 100 world leaders gathered at the United Nations for a climate summit. They were called together by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to build momentum for the U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December.

There were no breakthroughs on Tuesday, no specific agreements - but those who despair of progress in the international negotiations are missing the point. Copenhagen has already been a success.

Two years ago, the negotiating process was truly foundering. The secretary-general, who surprised many observers by making climate change one of his top priorities, put his prestige on the line that September by holding an unprecedented climate summit at the U.N.

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Program Note: Tune in tonight for special coverage of World Refugee Day tonight at 10 p.m. ET. And learn more about how you can help by visiting Impact Your World.

Pakistani displaced battle severe winds and dust at Jalozai refugee camp near Peshawar.

CNN

The number of uprooted people across the world dropped slightly last year, but new displacement this year in conflict zones like Pakistan, Somalia and Sri Lanka so far "has already more than offset the decline," the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday.

"Today, we are seeing a relentless series of internal conflicts that are generating millions of uprooted people," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a news release.

This is one of the main points in Global Trends, an annual report by the U.N. agency on developments regarding refugees, internally displaced people, asylum seekers and stateless people.

The number of "uprooted people worldwide" in 2008 was 42 million, a drop of about 700,000 from 2007, according to the report.

"In 2009, we have already seen substantial new displacements, namely in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Somalia," Guterres said.

"While some displacements may be short-lived, others can take years and even decades to resolve. We continue to face several longer-term internal displacement situations in places like Colombia, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia. Each of these conflicts has also generated refugees who flee beyond their borders."

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Program Note: The U.N.H.C.R. released their annual report on the refugee crisis Tuesday. Tune in tonight for special coverage of World Refugee Day tonight at 10 p.m. ET. And learn more about how you can help by visiting Impact Your World.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The number of people forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide stood at 42 million at the end of last year amid a sharp slowdown in repatriation and more prolonged conflicts resulting in protracted displacement. The total includes 16 million refugees and asylum seekers and 26 million internally displaced people uprooted within their own countries, according to UNHCR's annual "Global Trends" report released today.

The new report says 80 percent of the world's refugees are in developing nations, as are the vast majority of internally displaced people – a population with whom the UN refugee agency is increasingly involved. Many have been uprooted for years with no end in sight.

Although the overall total of 42 million uprooted people at year's end represents a drop of about 700,000 over the previous year, new displacement in 2009 – not reflected in the annual report – has already more than offset the decline.

"In 2009, we have already seen substantial new displacements, namely in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Somalia," UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said. "While some displacements may be short-lived, others can take years and even decades to resolve. We continue to face several longer-term internal displacement situations in places like Colombia, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia. Each of these conflicts has also generated refugees who flee beyond their own borders."

The report counts 29 different groups of 25,000 or more refugees in 22 nations who have been in exile for five years or longer and for whom there are no immediate solutions in sight. This means at least 5.7 million refugees are living in limbo.

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UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon plays soccer with other world diplomats on Saturday in New York City.

Mona Lisa Mouallem
Associate Producer, Fareed Zakaria GPS

Jakob Lund, a 26 year-old student from Denmark, never thought about the issue of child’s play until last year when he was living in Sierra Leone. At the time, he was working with a non-profit organization when one day, walking back from work, he stumbled upon a couple of children who invited him to play soccer with them.

Jakob soon realized that their soccer ball was completely destroyed so a couple of days later, when he presented them with a new one, they responded with great excitement. Many of these children in Sierra Leone have been affected personally by an 11-year civil war that left thousands of citizens killed and millions displaced. Based on their reaction to this simple soccer ball, Lund saw the amazing potential of healing that the sport could bring to these young lives.

So Lund got the idea to found the organization Play31, which uses the unifying power of soccer to bring together people whose lives have been torn apart by armed conflict. As stipulated in Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, one of the very basic rights of a child is the right to play. This article, Lund maintains, is what inspired him to carry out his idea; by encouraging people to donate soccer balls and funds to facilitate community gatherings, one could help contribute to the creation of peaceful societies where children can exercise this right.

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