U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday categorically rejected protracted war as means of achieving enduring security and lasting peace as he kicked off his second four-year term.

"We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war," the president said in his inaugural address.

Declaring that "A decade of war is now ending," he drew attention to the price "paid for liberty" and lessons learned in winning the peace and turning "sworn enemies into the surest of friends."

"And we must carry those lessons into this time as well," Obama stated. "We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully -- not because we are naive about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear."

He reiterated Washington's goal of seeking alliances and strengthening institutions around the world in pursuit of its objectives.

Obama brought U.S. forces home from Iraq in late 2011 and is on the way to exit most American combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, as the two protracted wars have become unpopular in a nation burdened by a whopping size of budget deficit and debt.