The 68th session of the U.N. General Assembly began in New York this week as members of almost 200 countries converged for a week of diplomacy and dialogue in hopes of reaching important breakthroughs for some of the most important worldly issues.
President Barack Obama spoke on Tuesday morning, delivering his fifth annual speech since becoming president.
World leaders are meeting discussing issues involving terrorism, sectarianism and regional instability. The Syrian civil war may be the most "urgent challenge" for this year's General Assembly.
The U.S. and France have already stated their eagerness to have the option of using force against the Bashar al-Assad regime does not relinquish its its chemical weapons. Russia and China, however said that it would veto any Resolution, which includes any use of the word 'force.'
In his speech, Obama challenged the Security Council to hold Syria accountable if it fails to live up to pledges or dismantle its chemcical weapons stockpiles, The Washington Post reported.
"If we cannot agree even on this," Obama said, "then it will show that the United Nations is incapable of enforcing the most basic of international laws."
Obama also announced that the U.S. will provide $339 million in additional humanitarian aid to refugees and countries affected by the Syrian civil war, bringing the total American aid devoted to that crisis to nearly $1.4 billion, news reports said.
Another topical issue at the this year's General Assembly is Iran and its threats of nuclear enrichment, which may lead to a bomb. The West has applied concerted pressure and sanctions against the Muslim country in recent years. Hasan Rouhani, its new elected president, expressed a growing interest to mend forces with the West.
"We must work together to end the unhealthy rivalries and interferences that fuel violence and drive us apart," Rouhani recently wrote in The Washington Post.
Israel remains skeptical, fearing that Rouhani's outreach may just be a tactic, or distraction from its real ambition of creating a bomb. Iran has used proxy groups, like Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad to wage terrorism against the Jewish State.
The White House, however, has not ruled out a potential meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Rouhani at the U.N. If the do meet, it will be the first meeting between the two presidents of the two countries since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Other Issues, like Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are at the forefront, as are issues pertaining to poverty and regional development in Africa and Latin America.
Brazil recently expressed its displeasure with the U.S. for spying on its country, through the NSA program, as the two countries agreed to postpone President Dilma Rousseff's state visit to Washington in October to a later date.
