"Liberty as a security policy challenge"

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The ISC Symposium has acquired an excellent reputation in fosteringconstructive dialogue between nations, generations and cultures. It isa real pleasure for me to participate in this year’s Symposium, and anhonour to share the stage this morning with such eminentrepresentatives from the world of politics and business.

Let me add right away that I am pleased with the involvement in thisSymposium of so many young people. Their interest in the themes thatare being discussed at this Symposium is absolutely vital. And thatcertainly applies to the theme that I have been asked to address, whichis “Liberty as a Security Policy Challenge”.

There has been considerable attention this month to the 60 thanniversary of the end of World War Two. That was a conflict in whichthe basic values, and hence the very future, of this entire continentwas at stake. A struggle for a Europe in which freedom, democracy,pluralism and ethnic tolerance would once again prevail.

Luckily, in the end, these values did prevail. And for almost sixdecades now, our continent has been at peace, our economies haveflourished, and our standards of living have steadily grown. Indeed, wehave been living in peace and prosperity for so long that we almosttake it for granted. My own generation still remembers the post-warhardships. But it is obvious that younger generations do not.

Even the Cold War, which defined my generation’s outlook at the world,means very little to young people today. For us, the Cold War was astruggle about essential values – the freedom to speak your mind, thefreedom to travel, the freedom to elect your own government. It wasabout the freedom to listen to the music, to go to the church, read thebooks, and see the movies of your own choice – not what anyone forcedupon you.

Of course, things were verydifferent in Central and Eastern Europe. An occasional look behind theIron Curtain reminded us here in the West how lucky we were. Howprecious an achievement an open, pluralistic society really is. Howprecious our liberty is.

Today, not justWorld War Two, but also the Cold War, is history. For a twenty yearold, that dark period of Europe’s history might appear just as far backas the Stone Age. The freedoms that we so carefully guarded havespread. So why, one might ask, should we be concerned about protectingour liberty?

Back in the 1950s, there wasa report by the American Civil Liberties Union called “Liberty isalways unfinished business”. I believe that description is veryaccurate indeed. Because we can never take our liberty for granted.Security, freedom and prosperity are not humanity's natural state.These achievements are vulnerable, and they still have to be workedfor, day in and day out.

At the beginning of this newcentury, 60 years after World War Two and 15 years after the Cold War,we still face a number of very serious challenges to our liberty, andto our security -- the emergence of a new, lethal breed of terrorism;the risk of weapons of mass destruction falling in the hands ofirresponsible regimes or individuals; and “failed states” that causeinstability in their own region and well beyond. And we are faced withthe difficult question of how to respond to these risks and threats –and how to secure our liberty.

There is noeasy answer, but I believe that we should focus on two things. We mustbe prepared, if the need arises, to use military means to protect ourliberty and security. But our first line of defence must be to promoteour values – to uphold them in our own countries, and to advocate themabroad.

During the Cold War, we focussed on wardingoff possible attacks against our territory. Today, our security can beput at risk by developments that happen entirely within the borders ofanother country. This is true for the violence and instability that wesaw in the former Yugoslavia during the1990s. And it is true for thekind of terrorism that the Taliban regime allowed to breed inAfghanistan before it hit us on 11 September 2001. In light of suchserious challenges, we can no longer afford a passive, reactiveapproach to protecting our security. Unless we tackle these threatshead-on, they risk escalating and blowing up in our face.

NATO has acted in line with that logic. If the Balkans are largely atpeace today, and if countries in that region are now firmly on theirway to an integrated Europe, it is because NATO got engaged. NATOsoldiers stopped the bloodshed in Bosnia. NATO stopped and thenreversed the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. NATO’s presence created thesafe environment for other institutions to do their part in helpingreconstruction and reconciliation. And we continue to engage thecountries of the region – by offering them advice and assistance, andkeeping open the door to NATO membership.

NATO has also assumed a major role in bringing back security andstability to Afghanistan. Today, that country is no longer under theTaliban boot. Al Qaida has lost a safe haven from which to plan attacksagainst us. NATO is extending its presence in the country, to help theGovernment of President Karzai to assert its authority. And we willhelp to provide security for this year’s parliamentary and provincialelections, as we did for the presidential elections last year. Becausewe are determined to continue to help the Afghan people to realisetheir dream of a better future.

Morerecently, NATO has started a mission to train Iraqi security forces.After successful elections, but protracted negotiations, Iraq now has aGovernment. Yet it is clear that it will take time for the politicalprocess to take root in Iraq, to build strong and effectiveinstitutions, instill respect for the rule of law, and encourageeconomic progress. All those efforts will depend critically on theability of the Iraqi authorities to provide basic security for theirpeople. And NATO is determined to help them to meet that challenge.

In defending our liberty today, we must be prepared, if the needarises, to make use of the military means at our disposal. We mustensure that those means are suitable to the task at hand, and deployedwith due caution and respect for international law. And NATO has beenacting in line with that logic.

It isclear, at the same time, that the best way to secure our liberty is bynourishing it – by upholding our values at home, and advocating themabroad. It is absolutely vital that we continue to believe in the powerof open, democratic societies and liberal economic systems -- and thatwe continue to invest in those achievements. If we do, the vitality andprosperity of our societies will continue to resonate, and to serve asa shining example for other countries to follow.

Rather than to impose our own beliefs, we should help countries thatare interested in emulating our success -- and there are many. Weshould encourage these countries to open up their societies too -- asthe only way to meet the challenge of globalisation, to provide theirpeople with the basic needs of modern life, and prevent lawlessness andterrorism from taking root. And we should advise and assist interestedcountries in breaking free from the past, by introducing democratic,economic and also military reforms.

NATOhas acted in line with this logic, as well. Over the past fifteenyears, the Alliance has built up a wide network of securityrelationships -- all over Europe and into Central Asia. Switzerland isa part of this network, and an active NATO Partner, but so arecountries like Moldova and Sweden. Through this network of securityrelationships, we have not only been able to promote our values. Wehave also fostered a genuine Euro-Atlantic security culture -- a strongdisposition to tackle common security problems by working together. Andwe have greatly improved the ability of our military forces tocooperate in meeting, and defeating, such common challenges.

NATO’s enlargement process, alongside that of the European Union, hasalso enhanced our own liberty by extending it to others. NATO hasextended a unique zone of security throughout our continent. Bothenlargement processes of NATO and the EU have given – and continue togive – our eastern neighbours new confidence in their own future. Andin so doing, they enhance prosperity and security for us all.

I have mentioned the European Union. Especially here in Switzerland, Iattach importance to highlighting the role of other internationalorganisations too – notably the United Nations, and the Organisationfor Security and Cooperation in Europe.In today’ssecurity environment, we will increasingly need to apply political,military, economic and other instruments in a well-coordinated way.That means we have to achieve a new level of cooperation between theworld’s established international organisations, in which we reallycomplementand reinforce each other’s efforts. And I would like to add that thisalso goes for the private enterprises and business sector that has itsown special responsibility in this field.

For the past ten years, we have worked effectively on the ground inbringing peace and stability to the Balkans. However, we must be moreambitious, and develop more structured relationships at theinstitutional level as well – to coordinate strategically, not justcooperate tactically. The opportunity that I had last year to addressthe UN Security Council was an important step in this direction. KofiAnnan’s recent proposals for UN reform provide a further stimulus forfresh thinking. And we also need closer contacts between NATO and theOSCE, where progress has been rather slower.

Above all, however, we need a truly strategic partnership between NATOand the European Union. Following the latest round of enlargement ofour organisations last year, we now have 19 members in common. I amconfident that that commonality in our membership will also forgestronger institutional relations between us. What we need -- and what Ibelieve is within reach -- is a strong partnership that recognises theunique contribution which NATO and the EU each make to the stabilityand security of this continent. A partnership that will help us notmerely to protect, but also to strengthen and advance the liberty thatwe hold so dear.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the beginning of this 21 st century, we face several threats thatare far more complex than anything we were up against in the past --but at least as deadly. If the threats we face are more complex, so ourresponse must be more comprehensive. A modern security policy must bebased on a strong determination to uphold our values at home. But itmust also include a willingness to actively promote those values abroad-- with political, economic and other means -- as well as apreparedness to protect them -- with military means if necessary. Andthe new security environment demands a new level of cooperation betweeninternational organisations.

NATO has a big part toplay. The Alliance has long ceased to be a static, “Eurocentric”organisation, geared exclusively towards deterrence and defence. Sincethe end of the Cold War, the Alliance has become a very flexible,political and military instrument, which we can use wherever oursecurity interests demand it. That enormous potential is far fromexploited. Which is why I am convinced that – well over half a centurysince its creation – NATO will continue to play a major role inprotecting and promoting our liberty, and our security.

Thank you.