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President Obama told Russian students that a great power can no longer show its strength by dominating other countries.
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07 July 2009
Non-Nuclear Iran Would Reduce Need for Missile Defense, July 7, 2009
By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer
Washington — President Obama urges Russia to support efforts to prevent nuclear arms races in East Asia and the Middle East, saying the successful enforcement of international law will remove causes of disagreement between the United States and Russia.
Obama told graduating students July 7 at The New Economic School in Moscow that he is aware of Russia’s opposition to the planned missile-defense configuration for Europe. The system is meant to guard against a potential attack from Iran, he said, and Russia’s inclusion in the defense architecture “would make us all safer.”
“But if the threat from Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program is eliminated, the driving force for missile defense in Europe will be eliminated, and that is in our mutual interests,” the president said.
Russia and the United States “should be united in opposing North Korea's efforts to become a nuclear power and opposing Iran's efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon.” Obama said that along with the security threats, the credibility of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the U.N. Security Council are at risk and international law could “give way to the law of the jungle” unless nations are held accountable.
Both Russia and the United States, which inherited the power to destroy the world with nuclear weapons, as well as the knowledge that the use of those weapons would bring about their own destruction, cannot be certain that extremist groups will show the same restraint, Obama said. At the same time, India, Pakistan and North Korea have conducted nuclear tests, and “without a fundamental change,” nuclear weapons will likely continue to spread over the next 20 years.
“This is the core of the nuclear challenge in the 21st century. The notion that prestige comes from holding these weapons, or that we can protect ourselves by picking and choosing which nations can have these weapons, is an illusion,” he said.
“That's why America is committed to stopping nuclear proliferation, and ultimately seeking a world without nuclear weapons,” Obama said.
The president said there is an erroneous and outdated assumption that Russia and the United States are destined to be antagonists and that two strong nations must be in opposition and “forge competing blocs to balance one another.”
In the current era, a great power does not show its strength by dominating or demonizing others, he said. “The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chess board are over.” Attempts to elevate one nation or group over another are doomed to failure, and “the pursuit of power is no longer a zero-sum game — progress must be shared,” Obama said.
The president said Russia and the United States should work together for a different future in Central Asia “in which we leave behind the ‘Great Game’ of the past and the conflict of the present,” and jointly contribute to the region’s security. Neither country wants to see Afghanistan or Pakistan governed by the Taliban, he said, and al-Qaida and its affiliates in the region “have the blood of Americans and Russians on their hands,” as well as the blood of Muslims around the world.
The president said the United States remains committed to promoting democratic governments that protect the rights of their people. He acknowledged shortcomings in American democracy, but said universal values have allowed the United States to correct itself and grow stronger over its history.
“Freedom of speech and assembly has allowed women and minorities and workers to protest for full and equal rights at a time when they were denied. The rule of law and equal administration of justice has busted monopolies, shut down political machines that were corrupt, ended abuses of power. Independent media have exposed corruption at all levels of business and government. Competitive elections allow us to change course and hold our leaders accountable,” he said.
“If our democracy did not advance those rights, then I, as a person of African ancestry, wouldn't be able to address you as an American citizen, much less a president. Because at the time of our founding, I had no rights — people who looked like me. But it is because of that process that I can now stand before you as president of the United States.”
Obama told his young audience that, as a rising generation, they will decide what is coming next.
“You get to choose where change will take us because the future does not belong to those who gather armies on a field of battle or bury missiles in the ground; the future belongs to young people with an education and the imagination to create. That is the source of power in this century. And given all that has happened in your two decades on Earth, just imagine what you can create in the years to come,” he said.
A transcript of Obama's remarks is available on America.gov.
See also “Analysis: Obama and Medvedev Ease Tensions, Strengthen Trust” and Obama in Russia: A New Start.
