Senate Vote to Confirm New Secretary of State

[Gustaf]

M asked me to post this for him, since he is currently away.

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Whither Atlasia?

by M

We stand here today at a crossroads for our country. The question that we must ask oursekves is no less than this- what is our purpose in the world? Certainly we must maintain our friendship with our allies; we must be ready to deal with our avowed enemies however necessary; and we must reamin a beacon of dmocracy and freedom and promote these values as universal, the desired state of all the world's people.

Today, as our nation faces the possibility of a long conflict in the Sudan, in addition to other struggles, many ask- is this indeed the right course? Aren't our boys being put needlessly in hars way? Others ask- does his not show that the administration is attacking countries without valid cause? To both of these I answer a resounding no and again no! The cause is among the most just imaginable, to prevent genocide on a massive scale. In addition, we may have the chance to leave the Sudan better than we found out.

It's time for Foggy Bottom to shed the mantras of elitism and statism. It's time to reach for a new realtionship with allied democracies, and a new process for engaging the rest of the world.

NATO/Europe: We must begin a new, and more mature, realtionship with our European allies. Greater unity in Europe is actually a positive for the United States, as we have much more in common than we have differences. We should maintain a common policy on major issues. However, if the security of the country were at risk, I would advise the cabinet to take action even without European solidarity.

Russian bloc: Russia is destined to become one of our great allies od the twenty first cetury. On uissues ranging from oil, to terrorism, to global conflicts, we must seek a new understanding with our friends in Moscow.

Latin America: The destiny of the United States is bound up with those of our American neighbours. While maintaining our hostile stance towards Cuba nad Colombian terrrorists, we must institte the FTAA and get Latin America more engaged globally.

Middle East: While maintaining our policy of friendhip to Israel, we should seek a "two-state" solution. In addition, we must seek to promote democracy in the region, continue to battle terrorism, and firmly not allow a nuclear Iran.

Africa: The Dark Continent can achieve a period of stability and even democracy with the aid of the West. With many conflicts in the continent winding down and the helpful efforts of the new and effective AU, Africa may soon join the rest of the modern world which it had lagged behind. Disease, guerillas, and continuing war are continuing problems we must help them face.

Asia-Pacific: We should maintain our alliances on the Pacific Rim and in Oceania. We must work to improve relations with India and bring about a regional settlement to Kashmir and other issues. We should help the Thai and Indonesian experiments in democracy and human rights spread to the rest of ASEAN. We should stay friendly with China and remain major trading partners, but strongly encourage them to reform on freedom and human rights, and let them know we will not allow an invasion of Taiwan. Finally, We must mintain the position that the problem wit North Korea is the govt, not the weapos themselves, and work by various non-military methods to propel its fall.

Throughout all of this, it will be vital to have a State Dept willing to adapt to changing situations. I only thank G-d that we have such a resolute presidential administration that will seek a mandate for change and freedom abroad.

Thank you very much.