-Caveat Lector-
>From www.ahram.org
> <Picture: Al-Ahram Weekly> Al-Ahram Weekly
> 24 - 30 June 1999
> Issue No. 435 <Picture> Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM
> established in 1875<Picture><Picture: Issues navigation>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The living flesh of global politics
>
> Globalisation need not mean homogenisation, Foreign Minister Amr
> Moussa told the inaugural session of a new non-governmental
> foreign policy think-tank
>
> In a wide-ranging speech to the 16 June inaugural session of the
> Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa
> presented a review of Egypt's diplomatic work in the Middle East
> region, placing it firmly in an international perspective.
>
> According to Moussa, the challenges which face Egypt as it seeks
> to maintain its role on the world stage are only one part of the
> wider challenges facing the new world order as a whole. If the UN
> is to serve as an effective centre for that order, he argued,
> then it is vital that it be reformed. At the same time, the Third
> World can only avoid yet further marginalisation by reinforcing
> those organisations which best represent its interests, such as
> the Non-Aligned Movement.
>
> Speaking of the dangers facing international peace in the 21st
> century, Moussa also argued that if North and South are to meet
> halfway, then "the clash of civilisations" must be refashioned as
> an objective dialogue.
>
> In the Middle East, Moussa stressed that Israel must honour its
> international commitments to peace with the Arabs, while the Arab
> countries must establish a real commitment to economic
> cooperation if they wish to overcome their political divisions.
>
> Below, Al-Ahram Weekly prints a slightly abridged translation of
> the foreign minister's speech.
> <Picture: Amr Mousa>Amr Mousa
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> ------- "Whatever the international order, new or old, the
> centrality of the UN remains a prerequisite for our
> participation. [...] We view all attempts to break up or replace
> the Arab order, or to divide, polarise or restructure the Arab
> world, as extremely troubling"
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Mr Chairman, Foreign Council members, Ladies and Gentlemen:
>
>
> I would first like to convey to you the congratulations of the
> President of the Republic. For my own part, too, I would like to
> congratulate the intellectuals and public figures whose work lies
> behind what is certainly an important event in the history of
> Egyptian politics: the creation of the Egyptian Council for
> Foreign Affairs. (...)
>
> It is true that the Council may seem to have made a late start.
> However, its establishment at this particular point in time lends
> it a unique historic dimension. (...)
>
> The Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs has come into being at a
> time of momentous change throughout the world, both in the
> behaviour and ideology of the international community as a whole,
> and in the lives of the societies that make it up. (...) One
> century is coming to an end, and another is about to greet
> mankind -- indeed, a new millennium, to follow the common era
> calendar. This fact lends an added significance to the historic
> juncture at which we find ourselves. (...)
>
> Egypt's political outlook has always been global in its range,
> and our country has always played an active political and
> diplomatic role commensurate with that vision. Looking back over
> history, even to the most ancient times, we are struck by the
> fact that Egyptian foreign policy has always reached out in every
> direction -- to the north, east, west and south. Over the course
> of thousands of years, decade after decade, century after century
> have etched these African, Asian and European orientations into
> the very structure of our foreign relations. But it was during
> the last century in particular, under the reigns of Mohamed Ali
> and the Khedive Ismail, that the central elements of our foreign
> policy towards Europe, Africa and the Arab and Islamic worlds
> became clearly visible. (...)
>
> In our present century, two periods stand out in which Egyptian
> thought and action had a major impact on world developments.
> First came the 1919 Revolution, which was an inspiration to
> Ghandi and a precursor of the Indian revolution. Indeed, it was
> the first major mass anti-colonial revolution in Africa and in
> Asia. Second was the revolution of 23 July 1952, which shook the
> course of global politics, contributing to the fall of certain
> empires and the rise of others. Moreover, and regardless of how
> we may judge it with the benefit of hindsight, Egyptian policy,
> with its repercussions throughout the Arab world and the Middle
> East, was a pivotal factor in the game of nations that was played
> out during the more than 40 years of the Cold War, from the late
> 1940s to the end of the 1980s.
>
> Today, Egypt's vision of the world has not changed. We are still
> a major player in international politics -- but only up to a
> point. We have our hopes and ambitions, but we also recognise our
> limitations. (...) We are living in a world in flux. This is a
> situation to which we will clearly have to accommodate for some
> time yet to come.
>
> In this respect, Egypt's position regarding the future of the
> international order and of global cooperation is quite clear. We
> fully support the United Nations, because the UN is the
> embodiment of international legitimacy. To bypass or marginalise
> it could be extremely detrimental to what is coming to be known
> as the new international order. In our view, it will be
> impossible for the peoples of the world to have confidence in
> such an order, unless it has the UN as its core and the UN's
> principles as its foundation.
>
> In saying this, I do not mean to suggest that Egyptian diplomacy
> has its head in the clouds. Rather, I believe it has its feet
> planted firmly on the ground, both in its analysis of world
> affairs and the positions it adopts with respect to them. Take,
> for example, the situation in Kosovo, and the many painful
> tragedies which have been bred out of its countless
> complications. There is one aspect of this conflict which touches
> us directly: the clash between two forms of the international
> order, one old, one new. Is this order to be an order which
> ensures our collective security on the basis of the principles of
> the UN Charter? Or is it an order in which the very idea of
> "global security" will be defined by the single dominant pole or
> bloc, heedless of the general will as to the form, principles and
> procedures the international community should adopt to address a
> major regional problem such as Kosovo?
>
> Once again, I stress that I am talking here about forms and
> means, not about fundamentals. Kosovo was a rare instance in
> which universal consensus and discord came together,
> simultaneously. The consensus was that something had to be done
> immediately to stop the appalling crime of ethnic cleansing. The
> discord arose from differences over who had the right to act. On
> this subject, there were many different schools of thought, among
> them, that to which we subscribe and which holds that the actions
> taken with regard to Kosovo should have emanated from the
> Security Council, which has both the right and the duty to
> maintain international peace and security. If the Security
> Council proved unable to perform this task, the next step would
> have been to resort to the General Assembly. Had that happened,
> the General Assembly, in our opinion, would have supported, by
> what might have been an unprecedentedly overwhelming majority, a
> NATO proposal to stop the crimes that were being committed
> against the people of Kosovo. Indeed, it would probably have been
> the first time a NATO-led armed intervention would have rallied
> almost unanimous international support.
>
> It is our belief that all those who have the right to call the
> Security Council to action have a responsibility to bear in this
> matter. This includes the secretary-general and the member
> nations of the UN, among them the nations of the Islamic world;
> the nations of the Third World movement, which historically was
> known as the Non-Aligned Movement; and those nations that wield a
> certain influence within their own particular regional
> environments. The Security Council misrepresented us, by failing
> to address this problem from the outset -- that is, as soon as it
> was proven that acts of ethnic cleansing, genocide and mass
> expulsion were being committed. At that point, it should have met
> to determine, within the framework of Chapter 7 of the UN
> charter, a clear and immediate course of action, which might well
> not have excluded the possibility of asking NATO to take charge
> of certain measures. We have seen such a process at work before,
> in a number of different forms, in the case of Bosnia. For the
> record, it should be noted that we had forecast, in the framework
> of both the Islamic and the international follow-up groups on
> Bosnia, that a crisis was in the offing in Kosovo. (...) Egyptian
> diplomacy was highly active in trying to forestall the crisis
> through frequent contacts with other Islamic nations, as well as
> with the major powers. Unfortunately, wavering and calculations
> by certain parties prevented the proper course of action from
> being taken.
>
> The issue of Kosovo revealed a large gap between two
> international orders, one of which is in the process of
> dislodging the other so as to take its place. Nevertheless, when
> the issue was referred back to the UN, (...) many countries
> objected that they were not prepared to participate in any
> international intervention in Kosovo in the absence of a
> pertinent resolution from the Security Council. This objection
> sent a clear message to all concerned that, whatever the
> international order, new or old, the centrality of the UN remains
> a prerequisite for our participation. (...)
>
> In advocating the centrality of the United Nations and the
> Security Council, I would like to stress that they should not
> serve merely as a stalking horse. Rather, if the world is to
> handle its affairs properly, these institutions must foster
> serious consultations and an effective participatory role for all
> of us. The command-and-obey style of conducting international
> affairs is thoroughly counter-productive. (...) Instead,
> cooperation and mutual understanding, combined with scrupulous
> precision, are essential if we are to strike a proper balance in
> such matters.
>
> It is for this reason that I invite the Council for Foreign
> Affairs to give priority to studying possible reforms to the
> various elements of the United Nations system. Such reforms are
> vital to bolster the role of international legitimacy in the
> preservation of international peace and security, and to ensure
> that if measures are taken outside of the UN framework to address
> regional crises, they remain the exception, not the rule. To this
> end, it is imperative not to lose sight of the fact that
> democracy should form the basis for international relations, and
> that developing countries must have an appropriate level of
> representation in the Security Council to ensure effective
> plurality and shared responsibility.
>
> If, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have spoken in some detail about the
> UN, it is not because I have overlooked the role of Third World
> coalitions. These movements are very close to us. Foremost among
> them is the Non-Aligned Movement. Egypt is one of the NAM's
> oldest members, and we are working hard to ensure that the
> movement continues to play a role in the future. In doing so, we
> are not guided by a misplaced romanticism, but by urgent need. In
> this age of market economies, when the mechanisms and theories
> meant to ensure our international security are constantly
> changing, the interests of the developing world are still as much
> in need as they ever were of institutional frameworks through
> which their needs might be adequately addressed and in which they
> can place their trust. Most of Africa, together with a large part
> of Asia and Latin America, are still suffering the convulsions of
> development, or rather, of prolonged underdevelopment. Whatever
> progress they make is always painfully slow, while the rest of
> the world is leaping forward in tremendous bounds. The consequent
> broadening of the gap between rich and poor nations is a source
> of ever-increasing political and psychological anxiety for those
> societies that make up the bulk of the world's population. (...)
>
> Another issue which looms darkly on our horizon is the "clash of
> civilisations". This formula, an invention of Western
> theoreticians, has managed to impose itself on intellectual and
> political circles across the world. I find the topic intriguing,
> and not just in an abstract, intellectual sense. Its implications
> go much further and are far more serious. As we say in Egypt, it
> is an issue that involves the "living flesh" of global politics
> and will greatly influence their course over the coming decade.
> Indeed, it may prove to be one of the major problems facing us
> all in the coming century. I wonder, did those who first thought
> up the idea of the "clash of civilisations" do so to provide a
> specific focus for international attempts to intimidate,
> terrorise and maybe even coerce other cultures into submission?
> Was its emergence predicated on an awareness that these "other"
> cultures were already on the defensive, and that they could be
> made to recoil, reassess their own significance and value, and
> realise that they will ultimately lose the battle, unless they
> accommodate to the ideas and practices of the dominant culture?
> Or was it rather an exercise in "creating the enemy" which the
> dominant culture needed, in order to hone its aims and legitimise
> its weapons?
>
> Of course the theory, in itself, is not without validity.
> Different cultures exist, and a clash is always possible.
> However, their integrated coexistence is equally possible. The
> choice is up to us -- all of us, regardless of the culture to
> which we belong. (...)
>
> Our civilisations are solidly and deeply rooted. If conflict is
> thrust upon us, we will have no alternative but to take up the
> challenge. However, reason and the lessons of history tell us
> that we should instead work together to achieve a cultural
> reconciliation, a humanitarian meeting of minds that takes into
> account the fact that we are all living in one world. I should
> add that this task should not be left to the initiative of a
> single culture or society. We must all have a chance to voice our
> ideas and to engage in debate over them. What is important is
> that we all rise to the challenge. (...)
>
> Our anxiety in the face of the future is one of the forces
> driving us to work closely with the international community in
> order to gain a better grasp of developments and more
> opportunities to sway the results so that they conform to our
> vital interests. If this interaction is to ward off serious
> dangers and damaging side-effects, objective dialogue must be one
> of its cornerstones. This in turn means coming to terms with the
> idea of difference of opinion, and entrenching the mutual respect
> for social values. (...)
>
> To sum up, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are facing many new
> challenges. Not all these challenges pertain to Egypt alone. Many
> concern the laws of progress and the enormous discrepancies in
> the balance of global power which work against the interests of
> the least powerful and least wealthy and in favour of those who
> have in their hands the power to give and to withhold, with all
> its instruments and implications. Such challenges mean it is
> vital that Egypt act quickly to build on its existing sources of
> strength. With this in mind, I would like to turn now to outline
> certain elements of our country's foreign policy.
>
> The first point I wish to make is that we have a multi-faceted
> regional policy which addresses the question of our national
> security in a broad perspective. The Arab world, from the
> Atlantic to the Gulf, is an area of crucial interest to Egypt. We
> view all attempts to break up or replace the Arab order, or to
> divide, polarise or restructure the Arab world, as extremely
> troubling. Such attempts all deserve to be met with specific
> reactions on our part, in order to counter what we perceive as a
> major threat to ourselves and to our security. We are confident
> that our position on this is clearly understood by all those who
> are interested and who wish to achieve greater understanding
> through strategic dialogue with us.
>
> At the same time, the Middle East -- which comprises in addition
> to the Arab world, Iran, Turkey and Israel -- is also a region
> that is of primary concern to us. In this regard, I must stress
> that all attempts to revert to strategic axes, or to create them
> anew, can only lead to a phase of polarisation and
> counter-polarisation which, in turn, will generate a climate
> inimical to the regional stability and cooperation that so many
> people desire. Likewise, to tolerate certain misleading theories
> of regional security, which incorporate elements of bias and
> discrimination -- stipulating, for example, that certain parties
> may possess weapons of mass destruction while others may not --
> is to play with fire. Such discrepancies can only serve to
> trigger an arms race that will eventually threaten the security
> of the region as a whole. The countries of this region will not
> accept these discriminatory policies. They will not succumb to
> being policed, whether by one or two policemen. However, they do
> accept -- in fact, they demand -- the creation of a zone free of
> nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction, as
> President Hosni Mubarak proposed in 1991. The Iranian-Egyptian
> initiative of 1974 to rid the Middle East of nuclear arms, and
> the Egyptian initiative of 1991 to create a region free of
> weapons of mass destruction, together constitute the essence of
> our constant policy in this regard.
>
> The peace process, too, which has so eroded and corroded over the
> past four years, must immediately be given a new and real impetus
> on all tracks so as to produce -- given good intentions on all
> sides, of course -- a comprehensive settlement in the shortest
> possible time. Egypt continues to hold firm to its position that
> peace founded upon justice is the only kind of peace that is
> stable and lasting. A just peace entails Israel's withdrawal from
> all Arab territories occupied in 1967 and a return to the borders
> of 4 June, the establishment of a Palestinian state with
> Jerusalem as its capital, real existing security for all parties
> including Israel and the normalisation of relations between the
> Arab nations and Israel. Once these conditions are met, the
> region will be able to put the Arab-Israeli conflict behind it.
> But again, I would stress that without the establishment of a
> viable Palestinian state as part of the final settlement, the
> conflict will remain an open sore, and regional security will
> continue to be threatened.
>
> In the security belt which surrounds the Middle East, the Horn of
> Africa is an important component. Peace and stability in the Horn
> are a fundamental tenet of Egyptian foreign policy, since the
> situation there is so intimately connected with our own security.
> The Horn, however, is only one dimension of Egypt's relations
> with the African continent. Egypt is an indivisible part of the
> fabric of Africa, and we play a fundamental role in a number of
> collective endeavours to safeguard African security and achieve
> progress and prosperity for its societies and peoples.
>
> Sudan too has always been integral to Egyptian foreign policy.
> Egyptian-Sudanese relations are at present showing signs of
> healthy progress, and we are working towards removing any
> remaining sources of misunderstanding. In particular, we hope to
> help facilitate a Sudanese national reconciliation that will
> accommodate positively the aspirations of the people of the south
> to live together with the people of the north within the
> framework of national unity based on democracy and a common
> destiny -- a nation whose security is anchored in sound
> neighbourly relations across the region.
>
> Egypt is also part of North Africa, and we have been devoting
> much attention to establishing closer organic ties with the
> nations of the Arab Maghreb. Our aim is to forge a broader and
> more integrated network of political, economic and cultural
> relations than that which exists today. The Maghreb is the
> western arm of the Arab world, and the northern face of Africa.
> It also belongs to the community of countries bordering the
> Mediterranean and, therefore, has a fundamental role to play in
> the Mediterranean forum created in 1993. Together with the rest
> of us, the Maghreb nations took part in the Barcelona Process,
> which established a new basis for an extensive free trade zone
> covering the Mediterranean basin and its hinterlands. It is our
> belief that this new North African-Mediterranean strand in
> Egyptian diplomacy will contribute to maintaining the security of
> the Mediterranean basin, and to this end we will be participating
> fully in all relevant forums, debates and developments.
>
> This strand, in turn, forms one important element in another area
> that is of great concern to Egypt -- namely, Egyptian-European
> relations. Today, our relations with Europe are no longer
> confined within a purely regional framework, and have to be
> viewed in a global perspective. Indeed, Egypt attaches great
> importance to its relations with all nations, and communities of
> nations, across the world. Our relations with the US are, of
> course, of prime importance to us (...). While these relations
> tolerate differences, they are, on the whole, positive and we are
> intent upon sustaining and enriching them. President Mubarak's
> forthcoming visit to Washington will be a major landmark in
> Egyptian diplomacy's continuing efforts to enhance these positive
> aspects. Similarly, President Mubarak's visits to China, Japan
> and North and South Korea, and his planned visits to India,
> Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia, constitute a reaffirmation of
> the importance Egyptian foreign policy attaches to Asia. The same
> also applies to the nations of the Asian commonwealth and of
> Latin America. The world is growing ever smaller, and our
> interaction with the various societies that make it up must be
> both extensive and comprehensive.
>
> The second point I wish to make is that foreign policy can no
> longer be viewed in just a narrow diplomatic perspective.
> Increasingly, we are also responsible for the establishment and
> enhancement of economic relations with foreign countries. The
> Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to continue to help open new
> markets, promote Egyptian products abroad and enable Egyptian
> businesses to penetrate the international marketplace. In this
> respect, I would like to make a number of observations.
>
> Egyptian policy-makers, at the highest levels, are committed to
> work for Arab economic integration. It is sufficient here to
> point to the repeated statements of President Hosni Mubarak in
> this regard. The year 1998 saw the first steps towards
> establishing an Arab Common Market, which is due to be fully in
> place by 2007. Simultaneously, in our eagerness to avoid pitfalls
> encountered in the past, Egypt is in the process of concluding
> free trade zone agreements with a number of Arab countries,
> including Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, and
> there will be more to follow.
>
> There were many obstacles in Egypt's way to joining COMESA, and
> we succeeded in overcoming them all. By October 2000, this
> organisation will have grown into a mammoth free trade zone with
> approximately 400 million inhabitants -- more than half the
> population of Africa. This enormous market will provide Egyptian
> industry and business with a vast new domain in which to pursue
> pioneering interaction in the fields of trade and investment.
>
> We are also in the course of active negotiations with the
> countries of the EU, which are now moving towards their final
> phase, on a partnership relationship with the European common
> market. (...)
>
> The Mubarak-Gore initiative has become an important cornerstone
> in Egypt's economic relations with the US. Although the US is our
> largest single source of foreign aid, and these funds are of
> definite benefit to us, we are now working to change the
> character of this relationship. Our aim is to see the element of
> aid recede, to be replaced by trade, investment and cooperation
> in various fields. (...)
>
> One major unresolved issue it that of regional cooperation at the
> Middle Eastern level. We are prepared to initiate new movement in
> this sense, but before we can do so, we must first see true
> progress in the peace process.
>
> International cultural relations remain one of the most important
> areas of Egyptian diplomatic activity. We continue to take
> advantage of all the available forums to reaffirm the need to
> respect cultural specificities. Egypt does not subscribe to the
> view that globalisation necessarily entails the imposition of a
> homogenised culture upon the world -- a culture formulated
> according to the rules and standards of the victors in the
> confrontations of the last quarter of the 20th century. (...)
>
> Radical changes are taking place in the environment in which
> international relations are played out, due to scientific and
> technological advances in all areas. These advances pose as many
> challenges as they promise benefits, and thus make it all the
> more imperative that our country should not fall behind in the
> race to keep up with new developments. We believe that new
> technology is one of the most important keys to progress. Indeed,
> it is also a vital necessity for the preservation of national
> security, all the more so given the proliferation of new
> restrictions, mechanisms and monopolies which seek to obstruct
> the transfer of new technology to other nations. The Ministry of
> Foreign Affairs sees it as one of its most important duties to be
> the eyes and ears of the nation in this sensitive domain. We are
> therefore active in all the appropriate international forums,
> confronting the incessant and arbitrary attempts to obstruct the
> proper transfer of technology. (...)
>
> Egyptian policy is founded upon the idea that nations need to
> work together to achieve their mutual interests. It is our firm
> belief that this is the shortest route to the fulfillment of our
> own national objectives. As such, diplomacy forms a crucial part
> of Egypt's political infrastructure. It is our mirror abroad, and
> a powerful way for us to communicate with the world outside.
> However, it can continue to grow in strength only on condition
> that our political culture continues to put down ever deeper
> roots at home.
>
>
>
>
>
> <Picture: Top of page><Picture: Front
> Page> <Picture>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
A<>E<>R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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