GREATEST THREAT TO GLOBAL UNITY IS 'THAT WE FAIL TO SEE BEYOND OURSELVES', SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS CLEVELAND COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
Press Release
SG/SM/6564
GREATEST THREAT TO GLOBAL UNITY IS 'THAT WE FAIL TO SEE BEYOND OURSELVES', SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS CLEVELAND COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
19980518 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Kofi Annan Stresses Most of Today's Major Problems Cannot be Addressed by Any Single Nation Acting AloneFollowing is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's address to the Cleveland Council on Foreign Relations, in Cleveland, Ohio, today:
Thank you, Ambassador [Charles] Dunbar, for that warm introduction. Allow me to begin by saying how grateful I am for the contributions you are making as President of the Cleveland Council on Foreign Relations and in particular as the United Nations Special Representative for Western Sahara.
It is a distinct pleasure to be here today and to share with you some thoughts about the United Nations and about Cleveland's role in the United Nations global mission.
Yes, the people of Cleveland have a rightful place in our work for peace, development, democracy and human rights. Like the world Organization, Cleveland is a multicultural concert of peoples, voices and faiths. Immigrants helped fuel the city's growth, and diversity remains a hallmark of Cleveland's modern identity. In an increasingly interdependent world, your experience -- your embrace of diversity -- has insights for us all.
It is equally important and revealing that Cleveland is often called the "North Coast". Coastal cities are typically outward-looking, trade-oriented, open to foreign influences and eager to engage with others. Cleveland's coastal reach owes much to the wonders of modern engineering and the building of the Erie Canal. But its coastal state of mind is wonderfully home-grown.
I believe that this is a state of mind that the people of Cleveland share not only with other coastal cities in the United States but also with the American heartland: with Americans in land-locked states and mountain hamlets; with typical Americans on any Main Street. The United States may be something of an island nation, set apart from others -- physically and
psychologically -- by two vast oceans. But America's connection with the world is vital and legendary.
This is not a line you hear much these days. In fact, one hears that isolationism is resurgent. It is being said that at a time of monumental global change and heightened global competitiveness, more and more Americans favour protectionist trade measures; that Americans are less interested in news from overseas; and that they are more likely to study computer languages than foreign languages.
One also hears about so-called unilateralism: the idea that the United States, as a super-Power, need not cooperate with others or need do so only on its own terms.
These views are crystallized in opposition to the United Nations, which is regarded as an encroachment on American sovereignty and prerogatives. Their most tangible expression is the failure of the United States to pay its large and mounting debts to the United Nations: a situation that has persisted for far too long and caused no small amount of resentment and political difficulty for the United States itself.
I am aware that isolationism was once public policy in the United States. So-called "foreign entanglements" were seen as beyond the national interest. International responsibilities were viewed as potential obstacles to the growth of American democracy. After the First World War, the United States remained outside the League of Nations and was not involved in any alliances. Woodrow Wilson's vision of collective security and leadership did not come to pass. In the United States, the forces for "going it alone" prevailed, at least temporarily.
But that was then. Things changed forever with America's entry into the Second World War. Since spearheading the triumph over fascism, the United States has been instrumental in working with other nations to bring about a world of expanding democracy, growth and opportunity.
The words "United Nations" are those of Franklin D. Roosevelt; the Organization was founded in San Francisco; the United Nations Charter and other landmark documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have roots in bedrock American values, such as freedom and equality. For the United States to step back from this commitment to global engagement -- from this historic role -- would not only damage American interests; it would also be out of character.
Isolationism in 1998 is a distinctly minority view, one that reflects not a position of strength but of fear. Perhaps most importantly, it simply does not square with the reality of America's presence in the world: with the
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links and connections of a shared global enterprise and shared global fate. And unilateralism is no more than wishful thinking: most of the major problems we face today are of such complexity that they cannot be addressed by any single nation acting alone.
Most Americans understand this. Consider the results of public opinion polls. According to a 1997 poll by the Pew Research Centre, more than 80 per cent of the United States public want to strengthen the United Nations. And 89 per cent of Americans polled by CBS and The New York Times in 1994 said it is important for the United States to cooperate with other countries through the United Nations. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that the general public is far ahead of some in Washington, D.C., in its understanding of the national identity and the national interest.
My own experience is also instructive. As you may know, I did my undergraduate studies at Macalester College in Minneapolis. Even there, at that small school more than 35 years ago, I found a variety of international societies and clubs dedicated to cross-cultural exchange and understanding.
That commitment was also on display last month in San Francisco, at a forum similar to this one, where I was literally deluged with questions: from an audience of well over 1,000 people, more than 400 questions came forth on cards. The breadth of concern was as striking as the volume.
People wanted to know about the peace process in Guatemala; about famine in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; about ethnic hostilities in Kosovo and post-war reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I was asked about the future of the nation-state and about the future of the environment. I was asked about child labour, capital punishment and the rights of women, indigenous peoples and people with disabilities.
Many people were troubled by the proliferation of nuclear weapons; by the failure of military regimes to respect the will of the people; about the power of multinational corporations; and about the need to reform the United Nations and to make the Security Council more representative.
As you know, in one way or another, the United Nations is seen as the right place to find answers to all of these questions. I was even asked whether the United Nations had a programme to locate asteroids which might be on a trajectory to crash into Earth. The answer is no. But international cooperation at the United Nations does extend into outer space, on issues such as space exploration, damage caused by objects launched into outer space and the peaceful uses of outer space in general.
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In short, no matter what your concern may be, America's concerns are our concerns. There is a simple reason why this is so: you are the United Nations. The Organization is your tool and your vehicle; it is an expression of your values and aspirations. It is where, together with other peoples and other nations, you can and do come together in common cause to address common problems in all their complexity.
I am not one of those who believe that Americans are isolationist, either at heart or at first sight of global trouble. I am not one of those who think that Americans by and large prefer to act unilaterally or impose their will on others.
Over the course of several decades, I have seen American support for the United Nations. I have seen American generosity alleviate suffering around the world. I have seen American solidarity with struggles for democracy and human rights. I have seen American know-how and technology at work for economic and social development. I have seen the United States at the forefront of multilateralism.
Just as there are misconceptions about the international will of the United States, so are there misconceptions about the United Nations, particularly in the United States. One of the most damaging is that the United Nations has no relevance in your daily lives; that the United Nations exists only for the world's poorest countries or as a "fire brigade" when crises erupt.
It is true -- though not, I am sure, of your members -- that the Organization can seem very remote. Our activities take place in conflict zones most Americans will rarely visit; in impoverished areas far from major tourist sites; or behind-the-scenes, in clinics and classrooms where progress occurs slowly, beyond the watch of the world's major media. I would like to suggest, however, that even here in the United States, Americans need look no further than your own day-to-day lives to experience the United Nations system at work.
When, for example, you make an overseas telephone call or watch the Olympics, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has helped make your connection. When you fly abroad, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has helped smooth your way by setting global standards for airplane and airport safety, and for enabling pilots and air traffic controllers to speak to each other in a common language: English.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sets international norms for food additives and limits for pesticide residues. The World Health Organization (WHO) fights infectious diseases. The International Labour Organization (ILO) promotes safe working conditions. The World Intellectual
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Property Organization (WIPO) helps protect copyrights for American exports. The United Nations system also protects and assists refugees, helps the world's vulnerable children and keeps the peace in war-torn regions.
Such work has brought the United Nations and its family of specialized agencies seven Nobel peace prizes. Americans have been part of it from the outset, and my sincere hope is that we can continue this fruitful partnership.
It is also my hope that you will soon wrest the debate away from the minority who misrepresent the great global calling of the United States.
It is my hope that you, the clear majority, will not fall prey to those who would undermine the ability of the United Nations to serve its Member States -- including the United States -- in an era when more, not less, global cooperation is the order of the day.
In closing, allow me to respond here to one of the questions there was not time enough to answer in San Francisco. "What is the greatest threat to global unity?" wrote one high school student.
My answer is as follows: The greatest threat is that we fail to see beyond ourselves. We cannot fail to recognize our common vulnerabilities and interests, or to acknowledge the interconnected nature of our times. We must accept -- as this fine American student did -- that unity itself is the way forward.
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