--- title: Barack Obama: Former President Warns Against Nationalism description: Former President Barack Obama spoke on the dangers of nationalism and pulling out of the Paris Agreement canonical: https://time.com/4843080/obama-warns-against-aggressive-nationalism/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-01T18:20:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:24:53.802Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Warns Against an 'Aggressive Kind of Nationalism' og:description: The former president spoke in Jakarta og:url: https://time.com/4843080/obama-warns-against-aggressive-nationalism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8a54652987e271c/6988d446196cf4f748040dee/gettyimages-805201156.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: barack-obama-nationalism og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Warns Against an 'Aggressive Kind of Nationalism' twitter:description: The former president spoke in Jakarta twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8a54652987e271c/6988d446196cf4f748040dee/gettyimages-805201156.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Warns Against an 'Aggressive Kind of Nationalism' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ebba1a74-17a5-4a47-a599-25d970efe920&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Jul 1, 2017 6:20 PM UTC  Former US President Barack Obama attends a panel during the 4th Congress of the Indonesian Diaspora in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 01, 2017\. Obama and his family are currently on a vacation in the country where he lived for several years as a child. Former US President Barack Obama attends a panel during the 4th Congress of the Indonesian Diaspora in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 01, 2017\. Obama and his family are currently on a vacation in the country where he lived for several years as a child. Photograph by Jefri Tarigan—Anadolu Agency/Getty by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Jul 1, 2017 6:20 PM UTC [Former President Barack Obama](http://time.com/4838917/president-barack-obama-donald-trump-stephen-colbert-twitter/) has spoken on the dangers of nationalism and President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement, without actually mentioning him by name. Obama spoke to the Fourth Congress of the Indonesian Diaspora while visiting Jakarta Saturday, [according to the Hill.](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/340342-obama-warns-against-aggressive-nationalism-leaving-paris) “We start seeing a rise in sectarian politics,” Obama said. “We start seeing a rise in an aggressive kind of nationalism. We start seeing both in developed and developing countries an increased resentment about minority groups and the bad treatment of people who don’t look like us or practice the same faith as us.” He also spoke about the importance of the [Paris Climate Agreement.](http://time.com/4814501/paris-agreement-g7-environment-pledge/) “In Paris, we came together around the most ambitious agreement in history to fight climate change,” Obama said. The former president also spoke on preserving religious freedom and [freedom of the press ](http://time.com/4760712/white-house-correspondents-dinner-journalists/)in America saying, “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.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4843080/obama-warns-against-aggressive-nationalism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4843080/obama-warns-against-aggressive-nationalism/"},"headline":"Obama Warns Against an 'Aggressive Kind of Nationalism'","datePublished":"2017-07-01T18:20:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:24:53.802Z","description":"The former president referenced Trump's decision without mentioning him by name","url":"https://time.com/4843080/obama-warns-against-aggressive-nationalism/","keywords":["World","Barack Obama","politics","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8a54652987e271c/6988d446196cf4f748040dee/gettyimages-805201156.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8a54652987e271c/6988d446196cf4f748040dee/gettyimages-805201156.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"barack-obama-nationalism","caption":"Barack Obama in Indonesia","creditText":"Photograph by Jefri Tarigan—Anadolu Agency/Getty","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4843080/obama-warns-against-aggressive-nationalism/","name":"Obama Warns Against an 'Aggressive Kind of Nationalism'"}}]}] ```