Obama to say US can't confront world's problems alone

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 23 - President Barack Obama will tell world leaders on Wednesday the United States cannot solve the most pressing global problems alone and will urge them to shoulder more responsibility for confronting the challenges.

"If we are honest with ourselves, we need to admit that we are not living up to that responsibility," Obama will say in his debut before the United Nations General Assembly, according to advance excerpts of his speech released by the White House.

Obama will take the U.N. stage widely credited with vast improvement in the tone of U.S. foreign policy after eight years under George W. Bush, but with few tangible accomplishments to show for it on major issues.

He is struggling to shore up support among NATO allies as well as the U.S. public for the war in Afghanistan. Nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea remain unresolved. And his effort to jumpstart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks has met resistance from both sides.

Pressing the international community to take a larger stake, Obama will insist, "This cannot be solely America's endeavor. Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone."

"We have sought -- in word and deed -- a new era of engagement with the world. Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges," he will say, alluding to his reversal of the Bush administration's more go-it-alone approach to world affairs.