Words certainly aren't everything, but President Obama's speech to the United Nations this morning was an important one. It expressed a foreign policy that was both conciliatory and tough. And it reminded me of one of the reasons I hoped Obama would be elected president: he embraces the need for the United States to act with other nations to deal with the world's problems.

In his speech, Obama was not - as some conservatives have tried to paint him - an appeaser. He said the US will "permit no safe haven for al Qaeda to launch attacks from Afghanistan or any other nation." He criticized the governments of Iran and North Korea for pursuing nuclear weapons. "The world must stand together to demonstrate that international law is not an empty promise," he said.

He repeated his commitment that the US will be a leader in addressing climate change. "The days when America dragged its feet on this issue are over," he said.

While he didn't name names, he seemed to take a slap at Iran - and maybe at Afghanistan - noting that the UN Charter embraces the right for "citizens to have a say in how you are governed."

"Just as no nation should be forced to accept the tyranny of another nation," he said, "no individual should be forced to accept the tyranny of their own government."

It was good to hear his insistence that Israel and the Palestinians must find a way to solve their problems. "We continue to call on Palestinians to end incitement against Israel," he said, "and we continue to emphasize that America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements."

And it was good to hear his repeated support for the United Nations, and his insistence that world leaders must support it and to work to improve it.

The United Nations has many problems, and some of them - as Obama noted - prevent it from meeting world challenges that it is best suited to address. But Obama's clear message that the US is no longer thumbing its nose at the UN was important.

Since Obama took office, the United States has paid the UN dues it has owed and has joined the UN's Human Rights Council. The contrast with George Bush could not be starker.

Near the end of his speech, Obama quoted Franklin Roosevelt. "We have learned," Roosevelt said during his fourth Inaugural Address, "to be citizens of the world." To some Americans, those words are abhorrent. But behaving as if we are citizens of the world is the best path not only to our own security but also to the health and security of all countries.