WASHINGTON — President Obama on Thursday called on nations around the world to expand human rights, religious tolerance and peaceful dialogue as they struggle to combat a spate of terrorism that has recently struck places as far afield as Australia, Canada and Europe.
In an address to world leaders on the final day of his summit on violent extremism, Mr. Obama said that poverty and political grievances fuel alienation that can lead to bursts of killing like those seen in Paris, Copenhagen, Sydney and Ottawa. In addition to building up security forces, he said nations must “put an end to the cycle of hate” through opportunity and freedom.
“When people are oppressed and human rights are denied, particularly along sectarian lines or ethnic lines, when dissent is silenced, it feeds violent extremism,” Mr. Obama told a gathering of ministers from dozens of countries. “It creates an environment that is ripe for terrorists to exploit. When peaceful democratic change is impossible, it feeds into the terrorist propaganda that violence is the only answer available.
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Their motivations and personal histories, Mr. Neumann said, “are so different” that it will pose very different challenges to the nations of the world.
Mr. Kerry, opening the day’s proceedings, said there was no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem. Military action must be married with political, economic and other methods, he said.
“There’s been a silly debate in the media in the last days about what you have to do,” Mr. Kerry said. “You have to do everything. You have to take the people off the battlefield who are there today. But you’re kind of stupid if all you do is do that and you don’t prevent more people from going to the battlefield.”
