NEW YORK -- GOP nominee Mitt Romney assailed President Obama's leadership on foreign policy issues this morning, while drawing broad outlines of what his foreign policy would look like if he wins the White House.

Romney's comments to the Clinton Global Initiative, a collaboration of CEOs and leaders of non-governmental organizations spearheaded by former president Bill Clinton, came before President Obama's address to the United Nations General Assembly. Obama will address CGI this afternoon, marking a rare occasion in the campaign when both the president and Romney have appeared before the same audience on the same day.

In his remarks, Romney looked to bolster his image as someone who would be ready on Day One to serve as commander in chief, while noting a series of recent setbacks to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

"Many Americans are troubled by the developments in the Middle East," Romney said. "Syria has witnessed the killing of tens of thousands of people. The president of Egypt is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Our ambassador to Libya was assassinated in a terrorist attack. And Iran is moving toward nuclear weapons capability. We feel that we are at the mercy of events, rather than shaping events."

Romney outlined plans to rework the U.S. foreign aid system, tying development money to requirements that countries allow U.S. investment and remove trade barriers. The former Massachusetts governor said that under his watch, foreign aid would be shaped into "an assistance program that helps unleash free enterprise creates enduring prosperity."

"We should do it because it's the right moral course to help others," Romney said. "But it is also economically the smart thing to do. In our export industries, the typical job pays above what comparable workers make in other industries, and more than one-third of manufacturing jobs are tied to exports. Sadly, we have lost over half a million manufacturing jobs over the last three and a half years."

Romney was introduced by Clinton, who has taken to the campaign trail on behalf of Obama and has been one of the president's most effective surrogates.

Romney joked after Clinton's introduction that he hoped to get the same sort of bounce in the polls Obama enjoyed after Clinton addressed the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte this month.

"If there's one thing we've learned this election season, it's that a few words from Bill Clinton can do any man a lot of good," Romney said. "After that introduction, I guess all I have to do is wait a day or two for the bounce."