Remarks at the Slovak Foreign Policy Association

Thank you. Dobrey Den.

I'd like to thank the Slovak Foreign Policy Association for the invitation to be with you today. I am delighted to talk to you about the United States ' goals for transformational diplomacy and Slovakia 's role on the Security Council.

I serve as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, a position first created in 1945, as war was ending and a new international order emerging.

Most of my predecessors worked in a world in which the greatest challenge was to prevent conflict between the major powers of the day. They operated in a world of strong sovereign states, negotiating state-to-state issues using traditional diplomatic tools such as demarches, treaties, and summits.

The challenges look very different to those of us working in the post cold war, post 9/11 era. Today, there is little prospect of violent conflict between the major powers of the day. Moreover, ideological divides between the great powers are growing less extreme. In every corner of the world, countries are more likely to be democratic and more likely to embrace the free market. In 1974 there were just 30 democracies; today there are 117. The WTO has 148 members, almost twice as when it was founded. Slovakia is a powerful example of these welcome trends, and we congratulate you on your progress and success over the last few years.

Instead of conflict between great powers over territorial and ideological issues, today's threats are more likely to come from forces government cannot control—terrorists, traffickers in people and drugs, disease, and the environment. Dangers like these are aggravated when weak states are unable or unwilling to address them. As President Bush said: " America is now threatened less by conquering states than we are by failing ones."

Traditional tools of state-to-state diplomacy alone cannot adequately address these kinds of challenges. For the United States , the attacks of September 11 revealed that governments, and other security institutions such as the UN, need to have failed to keep pace with the nature of threats. Technological developments in communications, transportation and information sharing have eroded borders and allowed non-state actors such as terrorists and transnational crime gangs to inflict greater and greater amounts of damage. Global economic integration and the increasing interdependency of transportation and information-sharing means that emerging diseases, corruption and political instability can spread or effect large numbers of countries and peoples in increasingly shorter periods of time.

And so President Bush and Secretary Rice have charged the Department of State with what we call "transformational diplomacy," an effort to work globally to advance political and economic freedom, strengthen the institutions that promote justice and human rights, and invest in people.

Transformational diplomacy, like traditional diplomacy, seeks a world of prosperous and peaceful states. But to secure a long-lasting peace, transformational diplomacy relies on promoting democratic values, including elections and the rule of law, strengthening civil society, and encouraging economic openness by reducing the opportunities for corruption, eliminating barriers to business initiatives, and increasing human capital through education.

Transformational diplomacy also relied on the development of strong regional and local organizations, both governmental and nongovernmental. Transformational diplomacy requires action at all levels, not just in capitals, but also in the towns and villages and valleys and mountains where people live and where threats can be stopped in their tracks.

Slovakia has already contributed powerfully to transformational diplomacy, both by example, and through your work in Iraq and Afghanistan , your assistance in democracy promotion in eastern Europe, and your contributions to UN peacekeeping.

We now have a new opportunity to cooperate in this critical effort as partners on the Security Council. Each member of the Security Council shares, in the words of the UN Charter, " primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security," the first and principal purpose of the UN. As Security Council Members, Slovakia and the United States bear particular responsibility for global peace and security, and we can accomplish a great deal working together.

One recent example of effective cooperation was the creation of the new United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, which is designed to help states move from immediate post-conflict situations to longer-term stability and development. Without a strong effort to build democratic institutions, to secure the rule of law, and to establish free market reforms that pave the way for economic growth, trade and foreign investment, states may linger in repeated cycles of conflict and violence. The Peacebuilding Commission directs UN programs to promote true transformation and long-term stability.

The Security Council now faces other serious challenges, and successfully addressing them will require close Security Council cooperation. I'll address three specifically: Iran 's pursuit of nuclear weapons, Syria 's continued infringement on the sovereignty and integrity of Lebanon , and violence in Sudan 's Darfur region.

The Iranian regime personifies the global dangers of an internally repressive and hostile government. The current regime in Teheran is the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism, working in partnership with some of the most notorious terrorist groups in the Middle East , Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestine Islamic Jihad.

The Iranian regime deprives its people of basic liberties, stifling critical debate and reform. It foments conflict in its region, seeking to interfere with progress in Iraq, supporting repression in Syria, calling for Israel "to be wiped from the face of the earth," even questioning the historical reality of the Holocaust.

And, in defiance of its international obligations, for almost 20 years the regime in Teheran has actively pursued a covert program aimed at developing nuclear weapons capability. Iran has systematically violated its Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and its obligations under the Non-proliferation Treaty by hiding its nuclear fuel cycle efforts, acknowledging its activities only after they were publicly exposed.

The IAEA recently presented documents that indicate that Iran received information on casting and machining hemispheres of enriched uranium, technology that would only be useful for the development of nuclear weapons.

Finally, Iran is pursuing the delivery systems that would allow it to threaten nuclear strikes against its neighbors, emboldening the leadership in Teheran to advance its aggressive ambitions in and outside of the region, both directly and through the terrorists it supports.

To be clear, the people of the United States have great respect for the Iranian nation and civilization and we support the Iranian people's desire for political reform and engagement in the world. We also acknowledge their right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and under international verification. But the Iranian regime, hard-line defenders of unelected clerical rule, have at every turn, chosen confrontation over dialogue, isolation over engagement. As Secretary Rice has said, "the Iranian people deserve better."

This regime cannot be permitted to develop nuclear weapons capability. At a minimum, a nuclear-armed Iran could seek to use nuclear weapons as a powerful tool of intimidation and blackmail. A nuclear-armed Iran could also provide the fuse for further proliferation. And finally, Iran 's possession of nuclear weapons would increase the likelihood of materials being delivered to the hands of terrorists.

There is now an international consensus to use the options at the Security Council's disposal to persuade Iran to abandon its efforts. We, and the Slovak delegation in New York , will be working closely together to address this unique threat.

Syria 's relationship with Lebanon and its activities in the Middle East as a whole illustrate another example of the need for a strong international response. In the face of continued Syrian interference in Lebanon's internal political situation, culminating in the assassination of former Prime Minister Hariri, the United Nations passed a number of Security Council resolutions, many unanimously. Such cooperation among the P-5 and the rest of the Council is extremely effective.

In the face of determined international consensus, Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon but continues to interfere in that country's affairs and has failed to meet fully its UNSC obligation. Responding to a Lebanese request, the Security Council mandated an investigation into the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri and required cooperation by all parties with the investigation, headed first by Detlev Mehlis, and now by Serge Bramertz. Syria has yet to fully cooperate. In addition, the requirements of UNSCR 1559 that Lebanon hold free and fair presidential elections and that militias be disbanded have still not been met. Syrian cooperation will obviously be needed for that as well. Continued vigilance and action by the Security Council will be necessary to ensure a fully democratic, sovereign Lebanon and an end to Syria 's negative role.

Finally, Sudan .

In September, each of our Heads of State agreed, for the first time, to the principle of "responsibility to protect," meaning that each state has a responsibility to protect its own citizens from crimes against humanity and genocide, and that, when states fail, the Security Council must take action in response.

There is no stronger case, in our view, for Security Council action on this principle than Darfur , where genocide and ravaged a country and terrorized its people.

In Sudan , the U.S. has helped lead the effort of the international community to stop the violence, persuade the warring sides to conclude peace, and establish stability so that the country's people can restore their shattered lives and institutions. The U.S. and other countries have supported the efforts of the African Union's (AU) peacekeeping operation in Darfur , and the AU has largely been successful in its efforts to stem large-scale violence

However, in the face of continued genocide, horrific acts of murder and rape, and the threat of a humanitarian disaster of grave proportions, we have now called on the Security Council to deploy UN peacekeepers to the region to add the support of the full international community to the efforts of the many African countries working to prevent this crises.

Last month, the Security Council issued a Presidential Statement authorizing the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations to begin contingency planning for a UN mission. We expect the AU to formally request a transition, or re-hatting, of their mission into a UN mission early this month, followed soon by a Security Council resolution authorizing the actual deployment of a UN peacekeeping force with a robust mandate. A conflict and humanitarian catastrophe of the magnitude of the Darfur region - not to mention the rest of Sudan - cannot be made right in a few months. This will take vigilance and diligence on the part of the Security Council, broad support from the international community, and the political will of the warring factions to move the situation to a satisfactory conclusion for the people of Sudan . Support from all our Security Council partners will be essential.

We prize our bilateral and multilateral relationship with Slovakia . Your role on the Security Council now presents you with a special opportunity to demonstrate global leadership in support of transformation diplomacy. We believe these efforts will benefit Slovakia and the international community, and we remain committed to supporting your efforts,

Thank you.