"As a pianist, I look forward to visiting tomorrow one of your fine music schools," says Condi, breaking the ice in her first major policy address in Paris this morning.
Condi speaks, and the world listens at the Science Politique in Paris (simulblogging excerpts):
The history of the U.S. and that of France are intertwined. So too will be our shared future. The founders [of both our countries] were inspired by the universal values of freedom and human dignity. They realized that any government inspired by man would be imperfect. Even Jefferson himself was a slave owner. [But our Founding Fathers designed a system] that contained within it a way for citizens to correct even its most serious flaws. In my own experience, a black American woman named Rosa Parks was just tired of being asked to sit in the back of the bus, so she touched off a revolution. Just the other day, individual Iraqis risked their lives to cast their votes. Human dignity is embodied in the free choice of individuals.
We witnessed that free choice when the Berlin Wall was brought down, but that would never have happened without the full support of the nations of the West. States where corruption and chaos and cruelty reign invariably pose threats to their neighbors and their regions and potentially to the world. Even more important than military and economic power is the power of ideas. I am here to explore how America and Europe can use our power to prevail over oppression in a post 9/11 world. We on the right side of the freedom divide have an obligation to help those unfortunate enough to have been born on the wrong side of that divide. We have not always seen eye to eye on how to address these threats, but it is time to open a new chapter in our alliance. History will surely judge us not by our old disagreements but by our new achievements. The fair wind of freedom is at our back. [It] defines our opportunity and our challenge, a challenge we are determined to meet.
Our societies -- not just our governments -- are advancing women's rights and minority rights. Democratic reform in the Middle East will be difficult. Freedom by its very nature must be home grown. It cannot be imposed. That is why the spread of freedom is the work of generations. Yet it is urgent work that cannot be deferred.
We must we make the pursuit of freedom the organizing principle of the 21st century. The U.S. welcomes the growing unity of Europe as a partner in building a safer and better world. We have to deal with the world as it is, but we do not have to accept the world as it is. History does not just happen. It is made.
In response to a student's question about the possibility the new Iraqi government might become a religious tyranny:
I am encouraged by conversations with many Iraqis that they understand a clerical government would be unacceptable to the vast majority of Iraqi people. There is no inherent conflict between Islam and democracy.
Re the future role of the United Nations vs. working with regional organizations:
The U.N. is both an important decision-making body and important in carrying out those decisions, but regional bodies are important as well. [She IS the top diplomat, after all.] We need to be judged by how effective we are, not just by the forms that we use.
"Why have you chosen this country to deliver your highly interesting speech?" asks an economics professor (good-natured laughter):
[Despite our obvious differences], this is a deep, broad effective relationship that is effective on behalf of world peace. As long as we remember that we have not just common values but a common future, I think you are going to see a rebirth of energy. We've only just begun to see what freedom can achieve.
"If she were still at university, her professor would have given her an A+," says FOXNews analyst former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Burt. "She's speaking over the head of the French government to the French people. I think there is a real charm offensive by the Bush Administration." Probably, but it's far from one sided. The French foreign minister has been making friendly noises for weeks now. The time is ripe.
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