Barack Obama urges world to stand against ‘aggressive’ nationalism

Former president makes comments to a crowd in Indonesia, where he lived as a child

Former US President Barack Obama delivers a speech during the 4th Congress of Indonesian Diaspora in Jakarta (AFP/Getty Images )

Barack Obama has urged the world to continue to stand against “aggressive” nationalism.

The former president made the comments while talking to a crowd in Indonesia, where he lived as a child. Mr Obama also spoke of how much Jakarta, the capital, had improved since he had moved back to the United States.

He was greeted by a crowd of thousands, including leaders, students and businesspeople as he opened the Fourth Congress of Indonesian Diaspora.

Mr Obama raised the issue that although the country has seen increased prosperity, there are also new global problems and many nations across the world have adopted a more aggressive and isolationist stance.

“If we don’t stand up for tolerance and moderation and respect for others, if we begin to doubt ourselves and all that we have accomplished, then much of the progress that we have made will not continue,” Mr Obama said.

“What we will see is more and more people arguing against democracy, we will see more and more people who are looking to restrict freedom of the press, and we’ll see more intolerance, more tribal divisions, more ethnic divisions, and religious divisions and more violence.”

Mr Obama lived in Indonesia with his mother, an anthropologist, and his Indonesian stepfather. The couple split up after having his half-sister, and Mr Obama moved back to Hawaii when he was ten to live with his grandparents.

The former president has taken a step back from US politics and chosen not to comment extensively on the Trump administration. He was however keen to speak up one of his own accomplishments.

"In Paris, we came together around the most ambitious agreement in history about climate change, an agreement that even with the temporary absence of American leadership, can still give our children a fighting chance" he told the crowd in Jakarta.

Mr Trump shocked the world by announcing he was pulling out of the accord.

He has also had a difficult relationship with members of the press and was recently condemned by Democrats and Republicans for a tweet that attacked a female MSNBC host.

Mr Obama stressed the importance of stepping away from news sites where only like-minded views are shared and warned about social media giving rise to resentment of minorities and bad treatment of people.