US President Barack Obama has promised the nation that they must not create more enemies than they take off the battlefield and said that the nation would still lead, but they would avoid the 'costly mistakes' they made in the past.
While addressing the US Military Academy at West Point in New York, Obama announced a five billion-dollar fund that would be used to fight global terror in order to help other countries fight extremists.
Obama, who is under attack for a weak foreign policy, hailed progress in Ukraine and Iran saying that he feels skeptics are wrong as they often downplay the effectiveness of multilateral action because for them, working through international institutions or respecting international law is a sign of weakness.
After the combat mission in Afghanistan ends this year it would reportedly free up resources to tackle emerging threats elsewhere, like a new five billion-dollar 'terrorism partnership fund' to help other countries fight extremists.
Obama said that US would use the money, which would be freed up after the combat mission in Afghanistan ends this year, in missions such as training security forces in Yemen, supporting a multinational force to keep the peace in Somalia, working with European allies to train a functioning security force in Libya, and helping French operations in Mali, CNN reported.
While turning to the civil war in Syria, the US President also promised to 'ramp up support' for those in opposition to the regime of President Assad, although Obama did not give details about what that would mean in practice.
Obama's speech reportedly attempted to recast US foreign policy as one which would use military force when necessary but primarily acts on a platform of international consensus.
The US President said that the nation must broaden their tools to include diplomacy and development, sanctions and isolation, appeals to international law and multilateral military action, if it is just necessary and effective.
