Today, U. S. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, did not only have the appropriate answer to Putin`s speech yesterday, he also showed a good sense of humour. Excerpts of his speech at the Munich Conference on Security Policy:
Speaking of issues going back many years, as an old Cold Warrior, one of yesterday’s speeches almost filled me with nostalgia for a less complex time. Almost.
Many of you have backgrounds in diplomacy or politics. I have, like your second speaker yesterday, a starkly different background - a career in the spy business. And, I guess, old spies have a habit of blunt speaking.
However, I have been to re-education camp, spending four and half years as a university president and dealing with faculty. And, as more than a few university presidents have learned in recent years, when it comes to faculty it is either “be nice“ or “be gone.“
The real world we inhabit is a different and much more complex world than that of 20 or 30 years ago. We all face many common problems and challenges that must be addressed in partnership with other countries, including Russia.
For this reason, I have this week accepted the invitation of both President Putin and Minister of Defense Ivanov to visit Russia. One Cold War was quite enough. (…)
Looking back, it seems clear that totalitarianism was defeated as much by ideas the West championed - then and now - as by ICBMs, tanks, and warships that the West deployed. Our most effective weapon, then and now, has been Europe’s and North America’s shared belief in political and economic freedom, religious toleration, human rights, representative government, and the rule of law. These values kept our side united, and inspired those on the other side - in Wenceslas Square, in Gdansk, behind the wall in Berlin, and in so many other places around the world - to defeat communism from within.
At the end, the peoples of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union simply stood up, shrugged off their chains, and re-claimed a future based on these same ideas.
I believe these shared values and shared interests endure, as do our shared responsibilities to come to their defense. Today, they are under threat by another virulent ideological adversary and are confronted by a range of other looming geopolitical challenges.
This strategic environment has challenged the mission and identity of the Atlantic Alliance - an institution and arrangement that, in my view, is the political and military expression of a deeper bond between Europe and North America. (…)
But the challenge posed by violent extremism today is unlike anything the West has faced in many generations. In many ways it is grounded in a profound alienation from the foundations of the modern world - religious toleration, freedom of expression and equality for women.
As we have seen, many of these extremist networks are homegrown, and can take root in the restless and alienated immigrant populations of Europe.
The dark talent of the extremists today is, as President Bush said, to combine “new technologies and old hatreds.“ Their ability to tap into global communications systems turns modern advances against us and turns local conflicts into problems of potentially much wider concern. The interest they have shown in weapons of mass destruction is real and needs to be taken seriously. (…)
Over the years, people have tried to put the nations of Europe and of the Alliance into different categories:
• The “free world“ versus “those behind the Iron Curtain;“
• “North“ versus “South;“
• “East“ versus “West;“ and
• I am told that some have even spoken in terms of “old“ Europe versus “new.“
All of these characterizations belong to the past. The distinction I would draw is a very practical one - a “realist’s“ view perhaps: It is between Alliance members who do all they can to fulfill collective commitments, and those who do not.NATO is not a “paper membership,“ or a “social club,“ or a “talk shop.“ It is a military alliance - one with very serious real world obligations.
It is a sad reality that today, as all through human history, there are those who seek through violence and crimes against the innocent to dominate others. Another sad reality is that, when all is said and done, they understand and bow not to reason nor to negotiation, but to superior force. This is perhaps politically incorrect and perhaps an old intelligence officer being too blunt. But it is reality. (…)
George Washington reminded his countrymen - and us - that “Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.“ These should be our watchwords going forward: “Perseverance“ and “spirit.“ And, I should add - “unity.“ Thank you very much, and I look forward to your questions.
Read the whole speech here