The international community’s commitment in Afghanistan is undoubtedly a tough one. It places great demands on all of us, and it must be taken into the next phase as soon as the new Afghan government is in office. Our objective must be to develop a strategy to transfer responsibility, which we want to do early next year at a joint UN conference. We will be successful if, as we have done up to now, we continue travel this road together in the Alliance, every step of the way. Germany is ready to shoulder that responsibility.
There is no doubt that NATO is and will continue to be the crucial corner-stone of our collective defense. Its Security Concept is being constantly developed and adapted to new challenges. Its foundation and clear compass for peace and freedom will, however, remain unchanged.
It is my firm belief that we Europeans can contribute even more in the future. For we Europeans are currently working towards giving our European Union a new contractual basis. The final signature has just been added. This will make the EU stronger and more capable of action, and thus make it a strong and reliable partner for the United States.
On this basis we can build stable partnerships with others, first and foremost with Russia, China and India. This is because our world is freer and more networked than ever. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the revolution in information and communication technology, the rise of China, India and other countries to become dynamic economies – all this has made the 21st century world a different place from the world we knew in the 20th century. That’s a good thing, because freedom is the very essence of our economy and society. Without freedom the human mind is prevented from unleashing its creative force.
But what is also clear is that this freedom does not stand alone. It is freedom in responsibility and freedom to exercise responsibility. For that reason the world needs order. The near-collapse of the international financial markets showed what happens when there is no such order.
If there is one lesson the world has learned from last year’s financial crisis, it is that there is no alternative to a global framework for a globalized economy. Without universally-binding rules for transparency and supervision there can be no greater freedom but rather we risk the abuse of freedom and thus instability. In a way this is a second wall that has to fall: A wall standing in the way of a truly global economic order, a wall of regional and exclusively national thinking.
The key to cooperation between the major industrialized countries and emerging economies lies in the G20. Here again cooperation between America and Europe is a crucial corner-stone. It is a cooperation that is not exclusive but rather inclusive.
The G20 has shown that it can take action. We need to resist the pressure of those who almost led the nations of this world into the abyss. That means no more and no less than that international economic policy must become more sustainable. This crisis was also an expression of too much short-term thinking. Millions of people all over the world might lose their jobs or even suffer poverty and starvation because of this. To achieve prosperity and justice we must do all we can to prevent such a crisis in the future.
That also means not giving in to the temptation of protectionism. This is why the WTO Doha negotiations are so important. The success of the Doha Round would send a valuable message of the openness of the world economy, particularly in the current crisis.
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