July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, addressing a cheering crowd of 200,000 in Berlin, called for renewed worldwide cooperation to combat terrorism, global warming and poverty, implicitly criticizing the Bush administration for unilateralism.

``Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice,'' Obama said last night. ``It is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.''

Democrats were buoyed by Obama's speech, which packed a throng in the stretch of central Berlin between the historic Victory Column and Brandenburg Gate monuments. The address immediately became a high point of his seven-country tour, which some in his party said risked cementing a perception that he lacked foreign policy expertise.

``The visuals of the whole thing would have warmed Michael Deaver's heart,'' said Democratic media consultant Bill Carrick, referring to the operative who helped craft Republican President Ronald Reagan's public persona.

``A potential American president having an extremely enthusiastic response from a European audience waving American flags: That was all very compelling,'' added Carrick, who isn't working on the Obama campaign, in an interview from Los Angeles. ``I was a little skeptical about all this when I first heard about it, but I think it worked.''

Berlin Wall

Speaking near the site where Reagan in 1987 called for the Soviets to tear down the Berlin Wall, the Illinois senator used similar imagery to call for the end of rivalries between rich and poor countries and between religious groups.

``These now are the walls we must tear down,'' he said. ``Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice and a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century.''

He didn't directly quote from President John F. Kennedy's 1963 ``Ich bin ein Berliner'' speech; instead he echoed the prelude to that famous line, saying that the world's free people are ``citizens of Berlin.''

Obama's call for an inclusive foreign policy appeals to Europeans, said Jan Techau, a transatlantic-affairs expert at the Berlin-based German Council on Foreign Relations.

``And now that change is imminent, and somebody who symbolizes this change in a very drastic way comes to town, it unleashes a lot of goodwill,'' Techau said.

Fifth Stop

Annegret Boesken, 60, who came from the western German town of Pruem to watch the speech, called Obama ``a man of goodwill.''

Obama, 46, on the fifth stop of a tour of the Middle East and Europe, said the U.S. and Europe ``cannot turn inward'' and instead must join together to ``defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it.''

``This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan,'' he said in his 30-minute speech. ``No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours must have a stake in seeing that NATO's first mission beyond Europe's borders is a success.''

Polls show Obama doesn't fare as well among voters on foreign policy issues as his Republican opponent, Arizona Senator John McCain, 71, a Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war.

Change Course

Heeding foreign policy advisers such as former Representative Lee Hamilton, Obama avoided directly criticizing President George W. Bush's approach to international matters while on foreign soil. Yet, his promise to change course was clear as he came close to apologizing for America's flaws.

``I know my country has not perfected itself,'' Obama said. ``We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.''

He called on Europeans to ``reject the Cold War mindset of the past and resolve to work with Russia when we can, to stand up for our values when we must, and to seek a partnership that extends across this entire continent.''

Obama called for reducing trade barriers to ensure that the benefits of globalization are shared ``more equitably.''

``Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development,'' Obama said. ``But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many. Together, we must forge trade that truly rewards the work that creates wealth, with meaningful protections for our people and our planet.''

Sausage Haus

McCain, campaigning at Schmidt's Restaurant and Sausage Haus in Columbus, Ohio, told reporters yesterday that while he'd ``love to give a speech in Germany,'' he would ``much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate for the office of the presidency.''

Obama, who held talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier earlier yesterday, has promised to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office and has said he would shift the military to focus on Afghanistan. In Amman on July 22, Obama said there was a ``growing consensus'' for his planned timeline for troop withdrawal.

``The senator and I share the same views on the crisis spots of the world,'' Steinmeier told reporters after the meeting. ``He outlined his philosophy of a new world in which Europe and the U.S. can act in a common way. In my opinion, they have to do exactly that.''

Soldiers

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has 52,700 soldiers in Afghanistan. The U.S. has about 17,500 under NATO command and about 18,500 in an American-led counterterrorism force.

Germany has about 3,500 military personnel stationed in relatively more peaceful northern Afghanistan, and last month increased the upper limit on its troop numbers to 4,500. At the same time, Merkel has fended off calls from NATO allies to send troops for combat operations in the south, where the U.S., the U.K., Canada and the Netherlands are doing the bulk of the fighting against Taliban insurgents.

``The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation,'' Obama said. ``We have too much at stake to turn back now.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Andreas Cremer in Berlin at acremer@bloomberg.net; Julianna Goldman with the Obama campaign via jgoldman6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 24, 2008 18:55 EDT