Germany, 2008

I offer my

congratulations to Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann on

his election as President of the General Assembly at its

sixty-third session. I wish him every success.

The United Nations mandate to establish and

maintain peace and security has lost none of its

urgency in 2008. The task remains. However, fulfilling

it is more demanding than ever.

When the Berlin Wall fell, no one had greater

hopes than we Germans not only that Germany would

be reunited but that a new age of global cooperation —

beyond the traditional front lines — would begin. The

Iron Curtain had divided the world into two blocs and

when it came to dealing with crises and conflicts, often

enough, loyalty within the blocs had priority; what was

needed to improve the lot of ordinary people was of

secondary importance.

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The end of the East-West confrontation in the

early nineties seemed to mark the dawn of a new age of

effective multilateralism, while the United Nations

seemed to be on the threshold of a great renaissance.

Disillusionment has now set in, more quickly and more

profoundly than we had feared. The hoped-for peace

dividend did not materialize. On the contrary, the

cynical certainties of the cold war had disappeared, and

they were not replaced by new ones.

The world is clearly searching for a new order,

and multilateralism does not always seem to be the first

choice in this quest. What we have experienced since

then is the confluence of the traditional power politics

of the 19th century, the legacies of the cold war and the

new challenges of the 21st century.

At the same time, new players and Powers that

have still to find their place in the international order

are seeking to enter the global stage. It is now

generally accepted that we can master the new

challenges of the twenty-first century, such as climate

change, scarcity of raw materials, access to food and

water and the fight against epidemics, pandemics and

terrorism, only if we act together. Although we know

that and although it is absolutely vital that we focus on

finding common solutions to the key issues of the

future, time and again we are called upon to resolve

conflicts that have their roots in a past that we have

only seemingly put behind us.

One conflict that smouldered for some time and

then escalated suddenly and violently is the crisis in

Georgia, where an entire region found itself on the

edge of the abyss of war and destruction and where

common sense failed to prevail on all sides. The United

Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation

in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union agree that

the weapons must be silenced for good. We must help

the suffering population without delay. That does not

mean accepting the status quo; nor does it mean the

calling into question of Georgia’s territorial integrity.

Nevertheless, we have to work together to ensure

reconstruction, the return home of the refugees and

long-term security in Georgia and the entire region.

The European Union is making an important

contribution by sending an observer mission, which my

country is leading. Together with the United Nations

and the OSCE, the mission will put forward a

comprehensive strategy in Geneva this October. We are

aiming to pave the way towards the durable resolution

of the conflict through stabilization and confidence-

building in this particular region of the world, the

Southern Caucasus.

The same task is even more demanding in

Afghanistan, a country where the situation is still

precarious. It is clear to us that, without security,

Afghanistan will not, and indeed cannot, develop.

Equally, however, we need economic development in

order to improve the security situation and to

encourage people to reject fundamentalism and terror.

We have achieved much together in recent

months and years. Millions of children — many of

them girls — are going to school again, while streets,

bridges and hospitals are being built. The training and

build-up of the Afghan police force and army are

progressing. Compared to the deteriorating security

situation, however, they are not progressing fast

enough, especially in the present situation. Germany

intends to do even more in the future.

However, we cannot afford to look at Afghanistan

by itself. We need to step up our efforts to help

Pakistan master the economic and social challenges it

faces. Pakistan’s internal stability is crucial to stability

in the entire region. This will require concrete support

from everyone in the international community, and my

country — rest assured — will play its part.

International engagement is also still necessary in

the Middle East. In the current phase of domestic

uncertainty, we call upon all parties to the conflict not

to ease up in their efforts to resolve the conflict. As

experience has shown, to stand still in the Middle East

often means to take a step backward. A new wave of

terror and violent clashes would result, and neither

Israel nor Palestine, nor the international community,

can afford to let that happen.

Germany believes it has a particular

responsibility to provide concrete assistance to

improve the framework conditions. Just recently, at the

Berlin Conference in Support of Palestinian Civil

Security and the Rule of Law — which many of those

here attended — we agreed on concrete measures to

strengthen the Palestinian security sector. Those

measures are already having an impact.

An Iran armed with nuclear weapons would pose

a threat to security throughout the Middle East and

would trigger a nuclear arms race. Therefore, Iran must

put its cards on the table. We have made our offer,

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which is a tangible solution. The delaying tactics of the

Iranian side must not exhaust the patience of the

international community. We expect a clear signal from

Iran indicating its willingness to comply with the

international community’s demands and to build

confidence. And let me make the following very clear:

the Iranian President’s remarks concerning Israel are

irresponsible and unacceptable. In my view, the blatant

anti-Semitism that he expressed in his statement once

again this year (see ) is outrageous and

should be condemned by all of us. We must stand

together on that issue.

The problems in Georgia, Afghanistan, Pakistan

and the Middle East highlight one fact: it is more

urgent than ever that we develop the foundations for a

stable world order. My country stands for dialogue and

the reconciliation of interests. That does not mean

dialogue for the sake of discussion, without any

results; nor does reconciliation of interests imply that

we are prepared to abandon our own principles. We

believe that it is essential to renounce violence, ensure

fairness and recognize international law.

For us, that is the alternative vision to a world of

fabricated opposing interests, the bloc mentality and

oversimplified categories such as good and evil. East

against West, North against South — that is yesterday’s

thinking, and it no longer has a place in today’s world.

In order to resolve the problems of today and

tomorrow, we all need more partners, not more

opponents. The twenty-first century is the first in

which we can resolve problems only if we work

together.

The same applies to disarmament policy. Only a

partnership of shared global responsibility can achieve

lasting results. The dangerous trend in which an ever-

increasing number of countries strive to gain access to

nuclear technology, or even to build nuclear weapons,

must be stopped. My proposal to multilateralize the

fuel cycle showed how those risks can at the very least

be minimized. Furthermore, I call upon all States to

sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,

because its entry into force would mean a huge gain in

security.

For all that, however, we must remember that

more people die every day as a result of hunger than as

a result of war. The pledges that we made at the turn of

the millennium must not remain a mere piece of paper.

The fight against hunger and poverty is also part of a

global responsibility partnership. Germany will

therefore step up its efforts to promote poverty

reduction and global fairness. As part of those efforts,

we will increase our official development assistance

contributions in accordance with the plan of the

European Union. In the next budget alone, we will

increase development assistance by $1.2 billion.

In that connection, I would like to say something

about Africa. For too long, we have perceived that part

of the world only as a continent of wars and conflicts.

However, I also know an Africa that has set off on the

road to the future with courage and resolve. It deserves

our partnership and support along that road.

At present, the headlines are dominated by the

international financial crisis. Recklessness, greed and a

lack of common sense among those involved has set us

back years. The long-term consequences cannot be

assessed yet. However, I am certain that the painful

tremors on the world financial markets will accelerate

the multipolarization of the international financial

system. There can be no future without rules, and no

single player will be able to lay down those rules. It

will no longer be possible for any one country to act as

if it were immune to undesirable developments.

Europe, with its tried-and-tested policy of mediation

and reconciliation of interests, could play a key role in

this.

Together, we must now finally ensure long-

overdue transparency, stability and provisions to guard

against risks on the world financial markets, along with

oversight. My country developed concrete proposals in

that regard a few years ago. I hope that, in the face of

this deep crisis, the international community will now

act quickly and with resolve. We need universal rules

for the international financial markets.

That does not apply only to the international

financial sphere, however; clear rules, solid structures

and joint action are the vital prerequisites for meeting

global challenges. That is why we need a strong and

effective United Nations that enjoys the confidence of

the international community, has the requisite

legitimacy and can be the umbrella for a global

responsibility partnership.

We therefore support the process of reforming the

United Nations and its organs. Security Council reform

is overdue, as we are all aware. The Council’s

composition must reflect the realities of world politics

today. Germany is prepared to shoulder greater

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responsibility in that area. Less than two weeks ago,

the General Assembly unanimously decided to begin

the negotiations on reform soon (see decision 62/557).

That important step must now be followed by others.

Germany is firmly convinced that, in the twenty-first

century, we need the United Nations more urgently

than ever before.