The peaceful overcoming of Europe’s division was a result of a far-sighted common policy. Policy of Europe and the United States on the basis of the so-called NATO Harmel Report of 1967.
The story of success was at the same time the overcoming of global division though the end of the Cold War has paved the way for a new quality of political and economic cooperation as well in the whole of Europe as all over the world. It has opened the door for a new world order as rightly stated by former American President George Bush early in the 1990s, an American President to whom we Europeans, in particular we Germans owe great gratitude for his major contribution to the unity of our continent and unity of my own country.
But how this new world order would look like depends on the capability of statesmanship around the globe. This is a crucial challenge we are facing at the beginning of the 21st century, a century of high speed globalisation process. The new century will be characterised by global competition, global interdependence and by the need for global cooperation according to the principles of just and fair chances for all regions of the world.
The new world order should be based on the fundamental western principles: freedom, democracy, human rights, human dignity, market economy and social justice. It’s the responsibility of state and of regional cooperations to create a worldwide framework in which the development can proceed according to these principles. The European Union’s contribution can be a major one. One of the results of the historical lesson in Europe is the principle of equal rights for all states, whether big or small. Another lesson learned is that cultural diversity and the respect of human rights do not contradict.
It only depends on our readiness to be tolerant, to show global tolerance. Sixteen years ago we overcame the old world order characterised by bipolarity between Washington and Moscow. The question now is will this world order be replaced by a unipolarity which will be focused or even dominated by Washington or will it be a world order with several centres of strength based on the principles of mutual understanding, the quality of rights and the readiness for cooperation.
I think in this connection it will be of great relevance if the United States, the strongest centre in the world on the one hand, and Europe, the strongest regional organisation on the other hand, will be closely connected in the future as they have been in the past. To give the right answer, and that means yes, is a common responsibility of the Americans and Europeans. It is obvious the world of the 21st century will be characterised by several centres of economic and political strength. Large and populous countries such as China and India which for decades have stood in the shadow of world politics and of world economy now want to sit at the global table on an equal footing.
The same is true for the new Russia, the largest country, in terms of geographical extension and the country which has the most important energy resources and mineral resources. This is even true taking into account the present problems Russia has to face. Japan, which is the second strongest national economy in the world, will play an important role. Indeed it did so in recent decades and will in the future. Small and medium sized countries are following the EU’s example and forming regional economic grouping, such as MERCOSUR, ASEAN or the Gulf Cooperation Council, NAFTA and APEC are organisations which encompass the most populous regions in the world.
Concerning European and American relations it is my deep conviction the new world order has to be based on our joint responsibility and on the closest possible cooperation between Europe and the US. Global competition now means competition in all fields as well as services, trade, production, capital markets, it's true for labour markets, there are standards of flexibility for the standard of deregulation. Global competition means competition between the national tax systems, global competition, and this is in the first line, is a competition in education, competition between the school systems, competition of science and research and the competition of universities.
Global competition affects not only companies but even more individuals. Our children have to compete with the children all over the world. At the same time globalisation means global interdependence. The policy of every single country produces effect for the rest of the world. There are no more distant territories or distant events which are of any relevance to us. What happens in China, if the Chinese economy is improving or decreasing, it affects the economic situation in Greece as well as the United States and Argentine or in the whole of Europe.
At the same time global interdependence means the stronger a country is the more it is bearing responsibility but not owing more power or even the right or predominance. That is why globalisation demands for global competition on the basis of an equal footing. We Europeans have to realise only united we can influence global developments in line with our principles and our interests.
So the new world order requires more Europe, not less. In the new era of global interdependence America as well as Europe are interested in global stability and global security in the broader sense. That is why we need global rules in all fields of cooperation. Taking into account global condition Europe and the US have to realise that no relationship with other partners in the world can substitute EU’s and America’s transatlantic partnership and transatlantic ties. America and Europe together remains a cornerstone of global stability and security so it would be a fatal mistake to define Europe’s identity in contradiction to the United States. Or in other words to misunderstand Europe’s role as a counterweight to our American friends.
On the other hand the United States have to understand, that they, even being and for the foreseeable time remaining by far the strongest nation in the world need reliable partners. It has to cover all practice and challenges of global stability we are facing today and we have to face for the next decades. The broad scope of responsibility we share includes politics and security in the broader sense of the word. The international fight against terrorism, closely linked to the fight against international organised crime and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, providing for a prospering, liberised and just economic development in world trade and for social security, also fighting against poverty and the lack of knowledge.
In addition we need cooperation for protecting our natural resources and improving the environment and we need cooperation for clear determined disarmament negotiations including nuclear weapons. The question is are Europeans and are Americans ready to discuss these global prospects as they did successfully in the past. The answer has to be a clear yes. It was Henry Kissinger who thought his country’s, America, special responsibility as a most powerful nation in the world is to work toward and international system that rests on more than military power, indeed that drives power into cooperation. And he continues reminding any other attitude will gradually isolate and exhaust us.
And it was the former President of the United States Bill Clinton who stated that present America is the dominant political and economic and military power but at the same time he continues, that the American people should be aware that there are other regions and countries in the world, as for example China and India which might have equal or even more economic weight in the future. Therefore Clinton is asking his nation that today the United States should do everything to make the world a place to feel at home even if in future times America may not be longer the most powerful country in the world. And Clinton's answer to this challenge is to accept to build upon an interdependent world, moving step by step from interdependence to integration.
And I think these are the challenges we have to face during the next decades. What Clinton suggests is to take into account what Europeans have learned from history. Our new culture of cooperation in Europe is proving to be the most modern and the most successful way of coexistence of peoples and states and the best way to create through cooperation a showing of confidence, of security, of peace and stability. And I think Europe’s enlargement, recent enlargement in particular, is a major contribution not only to European stability but also to global stability. We need a world order that has to be based on the rule of law and does not depend on the power of the powerful.
We need a global legal system ensuring the same rights for all. Every single people’s dignity has to be respected and the new world order must be an order of global cooperation that also reflects other regions' interest. The new world order must be a just one, allowing all countries all over the globe to take advantage of the potential benefits of globalisation according to their own capabilities and opportunities, this is crucial, especially for the developing countries. Here too the United States and Europe share a common responsibility to avoid a new bipolarity now between North and South, between rich and poor. It is a duty of western statecraft to define the framework of a new world order.
What we need is a new linking in our elites, in our peoples, in our policy. On the one hand that demands strengthening the United Nations organisation and the international law. At the same time we have to improve the world trade organisation, as well as to support the reforms proposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This in particular means transparency for the world financial markets. We also have to strengthen the substance of the G8 concept. It is my deep conviction that G8 could play a more active role in shaping a new world order. It is high time to invite China, India and Brazil to join G8.
We have to find means and ways how to include the other regional organisations as we did already in the past with the European Union. We have to find ways how to include Africa.
It was a great British historian, Arnold Toynbee who showed that the future of nations and civilisations depend on their ability to find viable answers to new challenges. And this today is the challenge of globalisation.
It is a common responsibility of Europe and the United States to act together in building a new world order in the spirit of the new culture of coexistence. If we succeed in fulfilling this obligation this will be the best way to strengthen the transatlantic ties to the good of the whole world. Thank you very much.
- Adapted from his speech at the “Economist Conference” in Athens, Greece
By: N. Peter Kramer
