Securing US interests while supporting Russian reform - Secretary of State Warren Christopher speech - Transcript

Secretary Christopher

Address before the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, the Executives' Club of Chicago, and the Mid-America Committee, Chicago, Illinois, March 22, :[993

It is a pleasure for me to be here today. This might surprise you, but I am happy to be here on a white and snowy morning. It reminds me of growing up in North Dakota--walking home from school and having my mother greet me with a cup of hot chocolate. You can see I have happy memories of the Midwest, so I'm especially happy to be here.

I'm particularly pleased to be speaking to this very audience. Secretaries of State spend probably too much of their time explaining American foreign policy to foreign diplomats, and they might tend to take for granted audiences such as this, the audiences that really count: the American people.

I want to say a special welcome today to the students that are here from the congressional districts of Congressmen Reynolds and Rush. You students have a tremendous stake in our foreign policy. After all, you are the ones that will have to live with the consequences of all that we do. So it's critical that your voice be heard, and I am particularly glad that you're here today.

My trip today is only the first of many that I hope to be making to the cities and towns of the United States. My mission is quite a simple one: to begin an ongoing conversation with the people here in America about the world we live in and our country's proper role in it.

It is fitting that I launch this process, I think, here in Chicago. Your city is a city that symbolizes America in so many ways--by its location here in the country's heartland, by its fighting spirit, by its broad shoulders, and most of all by its good common sense. Yet at the same time, Chicago is very much at the center of the world--with its mighty industries exporting goods around the globe, with its commodity markets linking international investors near and far.

Chicagoans and all Americans have a right to a foreign policy that serves their interests in very concrete ways. They want a foreign policy that will build a safer world, a more prosperous world, and a world where their values can be secure. That is exactly the kind of foreign policy that Governor-- that President Clinton--I still call him Governor Clinton sometimes-has charged me to carry out.

At the State Department, we have a desk responsible for every foreign country, or virtually every foreign country--the China desk, an Argentine desk, a Russia desk. As Secretary of State, I am determined that the State Department will also have an "American desk" and I want to be sitting behind that desk. My foremost mission is to advance the vital interests of the citizens of the United States. Today, and over the coming weeks and months, I want to outline how the Clinton Administration plans to pursue that objective--pursue the objective of furthering the interests of the American people.

America In a New World

As you all know, our world has changed fundamentally in recent years. Walls have come down. Empires have collapsed. Most important, the Cold War is over, and the Soviet Union is no more. Soviet communism is dead. But with it so is the reference point that guided our policies for over 40 years. It was easy when we could simply point to the Soviet Union and say that what we had to do was to contain Soviet expansion. That reference point explained why our international leadership was so necessary, why our defense burden was so heavy, and why assistance to other countries was so critical.

Today, we face a vastly more complicated world. It is a world of breathtaking opportunities to expand democracy and free markets. But it is also a world of grave new perils. Longsimmering ethnic conflicts have flared up anew in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere. Weapons of mass destruction are falling into the hands of very dangerous dictators. And new global challenges cry out for attention around our entire world-challenges like the environment, overpopulation, drugtrafficking, and AIDS.

Like the last generation's great leaders who met the challenges of the Cold War, we need a new strategy for protecting and promoting American interests in this new era. We need a strategy that will face the questions that Americans are asking, and most understandably asking: Why, they say, with the threat of Soviet expansionism gone, do we need to be active on the international front? Why must America continue to carry the heavy burdens of leadership? Why, when we so urgently need renewal here at home, should we continue to dedicate large resources abroad? The Three Pillars: Renewing America's Foreign Policy President Clinton has responded to these challenges by laying out an American foreign policy based upon three pillars:

First, building American prosperity;

Second, modernizing America's armed services; and

Third, promoting democracy and human rights abroad.

This policy's fundamental premise is that in today's world foreign and domestic policy are inseparable. If we fail to maintain our strength at home, we will be, certainly, unable to lead abroad. If we retreat into isolationism, it will be impossible to revitalize our domestic strength. America cannot thrive in a world of economic recession or violent conflicts or a world which is driven with dictatorships.

It is no accident that President Clinton has identified promotion of America's economic security as the first pillar of our foreign policy. We've entered an era where economic competitiveness is vital to our ability to succeed abroad. As an essential first step, as you know, the President has put forward a bold, new program to get America's own economic house in order. It's a comprehensive strategy that will invest in the needs of our people, reduce our deficits, and lay the foundation for long-term economic growth. The single most important step that we can take to strengthen our foreign policy, to strengthen our position in the world, is to enact the President's economic program--and to do so just as soon as possible.

But steps at home cannot ensure America's prosperity. Today, we are irreversibly linked to the global economy. Our lives are constantly touched by huge flows of trade and finance that cross many borders. To take another example, over 7 million Americans are now employed in export-related jobs--many of them here, of course, right in the Chicago area.

Our ability to prosper in this global economy depends upon our ability to compete. That means harnessing our diplomacy to serve our economic goals. We must ensure that foreign markets are open to US goods and US investments. We must fight unfair competition against US business and labor. And we must press the world's other financial powers to enact responsible policies that foster growth.

The second pillar of our foreign policy will be to modernize our armed forces to meet new needs around the world and to meet continuing threats. The collapse of the Soviet Union enables us to significantly scale back our military establishment. But, nevertheless, our power must always be sufficient to counter any threat to our vital interests. We must be able to deter and, when necessary, to defeat any potential foe. That's why we are taking steps to make our military more agile, mobile, flexible, and smart. Let me emphasize that President Clinton is determined to have the best-equipped and best fighting force in America to defend America.

As we talk about our armed forces, I think it's important for me to say that America cannot be the world's policeman. We cannot be responsible for settling every dispute or answering every alarm. We are indispensable, but we certainly must not be indiscriminate. America's leadership will require that we wisely marshal the West's collective strength.

Ethnic conflicts--and the humanitarian disasters they generate-deeply offend our conscience. In many cases, they also pose a serious risk to international peace. And they produce thousands of refugees, so often, that strain the political and economic stability of an entire region. Our imperative is to develop international means to contain and, more important, to prevent these conflicts before they erupt. Here, it is critical that we use the United Nations in the manner its founders intended, and there is high, new hope that this may take place. UN peace-keeping capabilities must be strengthened so as to allow prompt, preventive action. Our other instruments of collective security, such as our NATO alliance, must be adapted in this new era to support the UN efforts.

One of the most promising areas for preventive diplomacy is in the Middle East. Here, fortunately, the end of the Cold War has not unleashed conflict; but, rather, it has created new opportunities, new chances for ending conflict. I recently returned from a 7-day trip to the region, where I held extensive talks with all the top leaders of the Arab and Israeli Governments. I came back absolutely convinced that there is a historic opportunity to take new strides toward peace in this troubled region.

Now it's imperative that all sides to this long-simmering conflict seize this opportunity to return to the negotiating table in Washington on April 20, as we have invited them to do. If they return and enter negotiations, the United States is ready to act as a full partner in their efforts. If they do not, however if they allow this unique chance to slip away--another generation in the Middle East could be lost to an endless cycle of confrontation and, eventually, to renewed conflict.

Let me now turn to the third pillar of this Administration's foreign policy: encouraging the global revolution for democracy and human rights that is transforming the world. By helping promote democracy, we do more than honor our deepest values. We are also making a strategic investment in our nation's security. History has shown that a world of more democracies is a safer world. It is a world that will devote more to human development and less to human destruction. And it is a world that will promote what all people have in common rather than what tears them apart.

The Challenge of Our Time: Helping Russian Democracy

These three pillars of American foreign policy-building American's prosperity, modernizing America's armed forces, and promoting democratic values-form the core of the Clinton Administration's new diplomacy. Now I would like to tell you how these three pillars converge and form the basis for one of our highest foreign policy priorities-and that is helping the Russian people to build a free society and a market economy. This, in my judgment, is the greatest strategic challenge of our time. Bringing Russia--one of history's most powerful nations into the family of peaceful nations will serve our highest security, economic, and moral interests.

For America and the world, the stakes are just monumental. If we succeed, we will have established the foundation for our lasting security into the next century. But if Russia falls into anarchy or lurches back to despotism, the price that we pay could be frightening. Nothing less is involved than the possibility of renewed nuclear threat, higher defense budgets, spreading instability, the loss of new markets, and a devastating setback for the worldwide democratic movement. This circumstance deserves the attention of each and every American.

Over the days and weeks ahead, the Clinton Administration will set forth a comprehensive strategy to support Russia's democracy and its efforts to build a market economy. My intention today is not to announce a detailed program of new initiatives; rather, what I would like to do is to try to provide a strategic context for the approach that we will follow. I want to explain the tremendous interest we have in doing everything we can to help Russia's democracy succeed.

Let me stress here today that by focusing on Russia, I do not mean to neglect the other new independent states. The well-being of Ukraine, of Kazakhstan, of Belarus, of Armenia, and, indeed, of each of the former republics, is a matter of utmost importance to America. We are committed to developing strong bilateral relations with each of these countries. We will support their independence and do everything we can to assist in their integration into the world community. Indeed, it is partly out of concern for their welfare that I want to concentrate on Russia today. For the fact is that the future security of each of these neighbors of Russia depends so heavily on Russia's own democratic revolution.

Let me step back for just a moment and analyze with you the breathtaking benefits that the end of the Cold War has brought to the United States and the world. To mention just a few of the results:

* Historic agreements have been reached to slash the nuclear arsenals that threatened our country with annihilation.

* The nations of the former Warsaw Pact are now free of Soviet domination and of the burden of communism.

* The possibility of a superpower conflict on the European continent has now all but vanished, allowing us to bring home thousands of troops and to reduce our defense budgets.

* Around the globe, totalitarian regimes that looked to the Soviet Union for help and support are now isolated and on the defensive.

* And from Vilnius on the Baltic to Vladivostok on the Pacific, vast new markets are opening-opening slowly but nonetheless opening--to Western business.

With a reforming Russia, all of these historic achievements were possible. But without it, many will not be sustainable.

So we stand again at a historic crossroads. It is very reminiscent of the crossroads that we faced in 1918 and 1945. Then, we were summoned after conflicts to lead the world by building a new peace. After World War I, we chose to retreat, and the consequences were disastrous. However, after World War II, our leaders had the wisdom to answer the call. We fostered institutions that rebuilt the free world's prosperity. And we helped to lead a democratic alliance that contained and, ultimately, drained Soviet communism.

Today, for the third time this century, we have a historic opportunity to build a more secure world. We must redouble our efforts to help the Russian people as they struggle in an effort that has no historical precedent. With great courage, they are attempting to carry out three simultaneous revolutions: first, transforming a totalitarian system into a democracy; second, transforming a command economy into one based upon free markets; and third, transforming an aggressive, expansionist empire into a peaceful, modern nation-state. If they succeed in this tremendous experiment, we all will succeed.

Now it appears that another turning point has been reached in Russia's transition. For months, a constitutional crisis between President Yeltsin and the parliament has paralyzed Russian politics. That crisis camels you all know-came to a head over the weekend. President Yeltsin has called for a national plebiscite to resolve the constitutional impasse. In doing so, he has again demonstrated his faith that the only force that can guarantee reform is the people--the Russian people.

We welcome President Yeltsin's assurance that civil liberties, including freedom of speech and of the press, will be respected at this difficult moment. We also welcome his firm rejection of imperial and Cold War policies. The most important point is that Russia must remain a democracy during this period, moving toward a market economy. This is the basis,'the only basis, for the US-Russian partnership.

The United States has strongly supported Russia's efforts to. build a democracy. Under President Yeltsin's leadership, historic progress has been made toward a free society. We urge that this progress continue and that the Russian people be allowed to determine their future through peaceful means and with full respect for civil liberties. On that basis, Russia can be assured of our full support in the days ahead.

Now, today's crisis in Russia results from one indisputable fact: The pain of building a new system virtually from scratch is exacting a tremendous toll. The patience of the Russian people is wearing thin, a fact that is reflected in Russia's current political stalemate. Nevertheless, we should notice that over the last year, President Yeltsin and Russia's other democrats have demonstrated their commitment to reform in many ways. Civil liberties have been dramatically expanded. The military budget has been significantly cut. Prices have been freed in most sectors, and the result has been [that] the oncelong lines that formed outside Russia's stores have come to an end. Tens of thousands of shops, restaurants, and other firms have been put into private hands, and a real start has been made on the most difficult process of even privatizing the large enterprises. As a result of these steps, the share of the work force engaged in private commerce has more than doubled over the last 2 years.

I'm glad to say that over the weekend, President Yeltsin recommitted his government to economic reform. He laid out in clear and strong language the key elements of such a program: continued privatization of firms, selling land to farmers, stopping inflation, and stabilizing the ruble. If this program is implemented, our capacity to help will be greatly enhanced.

Russia's reformers are now looking to the West for support at this moment of extreme difficulty. The United States has a deep self-interest in responding to this historic challenge. We should extend to the Russian poople not a hand of pity but a hand of partnership. We must lead a long-term Western strategy of engagement for democracy.

Here in America, it is very important that we not create a false choice between what is required to renew our economy at home and what is necessary to protect our interests abroad. We can and must do both. During the long struggle of the Cold War, we kept the American dream alive for all people here at home. At the same time, we made great sacrifices to protect our national security, and today we can and must meet the same challenge. To succeed, we must first change our mindsets. We must understand that helping consolidate democracy in Russia is not a matter of charity but a security concern of the highest order. It is no less important to our well-being than the need to contain a hostile Soviet Union was at an earlier day.

Tomorrow and the next day, in Washington, [DC] President Clinton and I will meet with the Russian Foreign Minister, Andrei Kozyrev. We will communicate to him our support for Russia's continued democratic development. And we will reiterate that the current situation in Moscow must be resolved peacefully and in a way consistent with civil liberties. At his meeting with President Yeltsin next month in Vancouver [Canada], President Clinton intends to spell out the tangible steps we will take to assist Russian reform. The President is still considering the specific measures he will announce. But our bottom line is that we will be increasing and accelerating our support for Russia's democracy. We cannot do it alone, but we must be prepared to do our part and to do it fully. The United States favors a meeting later in April where the foreign and finance ministers of the leading industrial democracies will coordinate their joint efforts to assist in Russia's historic transformation.

As I said earlier in my remarks, my task today is not to spell out specific initiatives. Nevertheless, I would like to offer just a few thoughts on the central issue of Western aid to Russia in general terms. Clearly, our assistance must be better targeted and better coordinated than it's been in the past. It must focus on areas and constituencies in Russia that have the greatest impact on their long-term reform. It must not and cannot be limited solely to public funds. Rather, it must catalyze our private sectors to take a leading role in Russia's transformation through trade, investment, and training. And our aid must be felt at the grassroots, to ease the pain of the Russian children, workers, and senior citizens who are suffering through this transformation.

Despite all of its current economic difficulties, it is worth remembering that Russia is inherently a rich country. Its people are well-educated. Its natural resource base exceeds that of any other country in the world. For example, Russia's oil reserves are huge and, if properly exploited, could probably finance much of Russia's economic reform. But today, thousands of aging oil wells and pipelines in Russia stand idle, decaying and desperately in need of critical spare parts. If Russia could find the means to repair them, perhaps with our help, the oil sold would be a lucrative source of foreign exchange that could do a great deal to stabilize their economy.

One area of possible assistance where America's vital interests are directly engaged is our effort to dismantle the nuclear weapons of the former Soviet Union. The $800-million program established through the leadership of Senators Nunn and Lugar to destroy these weapons is a direct investment in our own security. Unfortunately, some bottlenecks, both here and in Russia, have allowed only a small fraction of the $800 million to be spent up to this point. Part of it has been caused by bureaucratic delays in Washington, and we are fully determined to remove these obstacles. We want to see these weapons dismantled in the very shortest possible time.

Another important goal we should have is strengthening the groups in Russia that will form the bulwark of a thriving democracy. There are public opinion polls in Russia, too, as you know, and time after time they show one thing: By large margins, it's the younger generation that expresses the greatest sympathy for democracy. The younger people are the ones who are pushing for more economic freedom and closer contacts with the West. Ultimately, whatever the result of today's political turmoil, this is the group that will carry the day for Russia's successful transition to democracy.

Through exchange programs, many young Russians can be brought to the West and exposed to the workings of democracy and our free market. Russian students, public officials, scientists, and businessmen are hungry for such experiences. Upon their return home, they can adapt their knowledge to best suit Russia's conditions. And, perhaps most important of all, we can win longterm friends and partners for freedom.

The existence, to take another example, of a strong, independent media is also essential for a democratic society. While Russia's free press has experienced tremendous growth in recent years, there is still a real need for professional training of reporters, editors, and news managers. Here, technical assistance can make a real difference.

Another area that deserves strong support is Russia's privatization effort, which, as I said, has made some progress. This process has continued across many of Russia's regions despite the political problems in Moscow. Putting private property into the hands of the Russian people is a critical step in building a free market economy. It will create millions of property owners and private entrepreneurs--a genuine middle class with a powerful stake in continued reform.

Of course, at the end of the day, Russia's progress toward the market and democracy cannot occur without an overhaul of the general ground rules of the Russian economy. It will be vital to reduce their budget deficit, control the money supply, stabilize the ruble, and close down inefficient factories. Unfortunately, these are also steps that will cause the greatest pain and political risk. Here again, Russia needs our help. The West must find a way to respond, and the response can't be limited to big promises and little delivery. We are now engaged in intensive consultations with our partners from the leading industrial democracies to develop a program of joint assistance to Russia in these areas.

Helping Russia's Democracy: A Long-Term Commitment

Let me close by making two points. First, we must have no illusions about the situation in Russia. Even with our help, the road ahead is rocky. Setbacks will be inevitable. Russia's transformation will take a great deal of hard work--probably a generation to complete. As we meet, a great struggle is underway, as you know, to determine the kind of nation that Russia will be. However, as we focus on today's drama, it's important that we maintain a long-term perspective. Just as our vigilance in the Cold War took more than 4 decades to pay off, our commitment to Russia's democracy must be for the duration. Our engagement with the reformers must be for the long haul--whether they're "out" as well as when they're "in," whether they're "down" as well as when they're "up." However difficult things may be in the short run, we should have faith that the strategic course we have set--supporting democracy's triumph-is the correct one.

Second, we should know that any realistic program to assist Russia won't be cheap. But there's no question that our nation can afford its fair share of the international effort. We can't afford, indeed, to do otherwise. Together with President Clinton, I am determined to work with the Congress to find the funding. I am confident that the necessary resources can be found as we restructure our defense budget. But it will require bipartisanship, leadership, and vision, and, vitally, it will take a Russian partner committed to democratic values and market reform.

At a time of great domestic challenge, some would say that we should delay bold action in the foreign realm. But history will not wait. As Abraham Lincoln advised his countrymen, "We cannot escape history. We... will be remembered in spite of ourselves." Today, history is calling again for our nation to decide whether we will lead or defer, whether we will shape this new era or be shaped by it. How will history remember us? I, for one, am confident that we will make the fight choice --that we will be bold and brave in revitalizing our nation here at home, while continuing to promote our interests and ideals abroad.

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