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Remarks of Senator Barack Obama (as prepared for delivery)
"A World that Stands as One"
July
24th, 2008
Berlin,
Germany
Thank
you to the citizens of Berlin and to the people of Germany. Let me thank
Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier for welcoming me
earlier today. Thank you Mayor Wowereit, the Berlin Senate, the police,
and most of all thank you for this welcome.
I
come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Tonight, I
speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen - a
proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the
world.
I
know that I don't look like the Americans who've previously
spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable.
My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up
herding goats in Kenya. His father - my grandfather - was a cook, a
domestic servant to the British.
At
the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in
the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning - his dream -
required the freedom and opportunity promised by the West. And so
he wrote letter after letter to universities all across America until
somebody, somewhere answered his prayer for a better life.
That
is why I'm here. And you are here because you too know that yearning.
This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom. And you
know that the only reason we stand here tonight is because men and women
from both of our nations came together to work, and struggle, and
sacrifice for that better life.
Ours is a partnership that truly began sixty years ago this summer, on
the day when the first American plane touched down at Templehof.
On
that day, much of this continent still lay in ruin. The rubble of this
city had yet to be built into a wall. The Soviet shadow had swept across
Eastern Europe, while in the West, America, Britain, and France took
stock of their losses, and pondered how the world might be remade.
This
is where the two sides met. And on the twenty-fourth of June, 1948, the
Communists chose to blockade the western part of the city. They cut off
food and supplies to more than two million Germans in an effort to
extinguish the last flame of freedom in Berlin.
The
size of our forces was no match for the much larger Soviet Army. And yet
retreat would have allowed Communism to march across Europe. Where the
last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun. All that
stood in the way was Berlin.
And
that's when the airlift began - when the largest and most unlikely
rescue in history brought food and hope to the people of this city.
The
odds were stacked against success. In the winter, a heavy fog filled the
sky above, and many planes were forced to turn back without dropping off
the needed supplies. The streets where we stand were filled with hungry
families who had no comfort from the cold.
But
in the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of
hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one
fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the
Tiergarten, and heard the city's mayor implore the world not to give
up on freedom. "There is only one possibility," he said.
"For us to stand together united until this battle is won...The
people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on
doing our duty. People of the world: now do your duty...People of the
world, look at Berlin!"
People
of the world - look at Berlin!
Look
at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and
trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the
field of battle.
Look
at Berlin, where the determination of a people met the generosity of the
Marshall Plan and created a German miracle; where a victory
over tyranny gave rise to NATO, the greatest alliance ever formed to
defend our common security.
Look
at Berlin, where the bullet holes in the buildings and the somber stones
and pillars near the Brandenburg Gate insist that we never forget our
common humanity.
People
of the world - look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came
together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a
world that stands as one.
Sixty
years after the airlift, we are called upon again. History has led us to
a new crossroad, with new promise and new peril. When you, the
German people, tore down that wall - a wall that divided East and West;
freedom and tyranny; fear and hope - walls came tumbling down around the
world. From Kiev to Cape Town, prison camps were closed, and the doors
of democracy were opened. Markets opened too, and the spread of
information and technology reduced barriers to opportunity and
prosperity. While the 20th century taught us that we share a common
destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any
time in human history.
The
fall of the Berlin Wall brought new hope. But that very closeness has
given rise to new dangers - dangers that cannot be contained within
the borders of a country or by the distance of an ocean.
The
terrorists of September 11th plotted in Hamburg and trained in Kandahar
and Karachi before killing thousands from all over the globe on American
soil.
As
we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice
caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing
drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.
Poorly
secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a
scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris.
The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and
violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow. The genocide in
Darfur shames the conscience of us all.
In
this new world, such dangerous currents have swept along faster
than our efforts to contain them. That is why we cannot afford to be
divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat
such challenges alone. None of us can deny these threats, or escape
responsibility in meeting them. Yet, in the absence of Soviet tanks and
a terrible wall, it has become easy to forget this truth. And if we're
honest with each other, we know that sometimes, on both sides of the
Atlantic, we have drifted apart, and forgotten our shared destiny.
In
Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in
our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too
common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance
of Europe's role in our security and our future. Both views miss the
truth - that Europeans today are bearing new burdens and taking more
responsibility in critical parts of the world; and that just as American
bases built in the last century still help to defend the security of
this continent, so does our country still sacrifice greatly for freedom
around the globe.
Yes,
there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there
will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global
citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in
Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and
Europeans alike will be required to do more - not less. Partnership and
cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only
way, to protect our common security and advance our common
humanity.
That
is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us
from one another.
The
walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand.
The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least
cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and
immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now
are the walls we must tear down.
We
know they have fallen before. After centuries of strife, the people of
Europe have formed a Union of promise and prosperity. Here, at
the base of a column built to mark victory in war, we meet in the center
of a Europe at peace. Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they
have come down in Belfast, where Protestant and Catholic found a way to
live together; in the Balkans, where our Atlantic alliance ended wars
and brought savage war criminals to justice; and in South Africa, where
the struggle of a courageous people defeated apartheid.
So
history reminds us that walls can be torn down. But the task is never
easy. True partnership and true progress requires constant work and sustained
sacrifice. They require sharing the burdens of development
and diplomacy; of progress and peace. They require allies who will
listen to each other, learn from each other and, most of all, trust
each other.
That
is why America cannot turn inward. That is why Europe cannot turn
inward. America has no better partner than Europe. Now is the time to
build new bridges across the globe as strong as the one that
bound us across the Atlantic. Now is the time to join together,
through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and
a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the
21st century. It was this spirit that led airlift planes to appear in
the sky above our heads, and people to assemble where we stand today.
And this is the moment when our nations - and all nations - must
summon that spirit anew.
This
is the moment when we must defeat terror and dry up the well of
extremism that supports it. This threat is real and we cannot shrink
from our responsibility to combat it. If we could create NATO to face
down the Soviet Union, we can join in a new and global partnership
to dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman; in
London and Bali; in Washington and New York. If we could win a battle of
ideas against the communists, we can stand with the vast majority of
Muslims who reject the extremism that leads to hate instead of hope.
This
is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who
threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs
on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous
difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in
seeing that NATO's first mission beyond Europe's borders is a success.
For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the
work must be done. America cannot do this alone. The Afghan people need
our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the
Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild
their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now.
This
is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear
weapons. The two superpowers that faced each other across the wall of
this city came too close too often to destroying all we have built and
all that we love. With that wall gone, we need not stand idly by and
watch the further spread of the deadly atom. It is time to secure all
loose nuclear materials; to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; and to
reduce the arsenals from another era. This is the moment to begin the
work of seeking the peace of a world without nuclear weapons.
This
is the moment when every nation in Europe must have the chance to choose
its own tomorrow free from the shadows of yesterday. In this century, we
need a strong European Union that deepens the security and
prosperity of this continent, while extending a hand abroad. In this
century - in this city of all cities - we must reject the Cold War
mind-set of the past, and resolve to work with Russia when we can, to
stand up for our values when we must, and to seek a partnership that
extends across this entire continent.
This
is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have
created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a
cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be
able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many.
Together, we must forge trade that truly rewards the work that creates
wealth, with meaningful protections for our people and our planet. This
is the moment for trade that is free and fair for all.
This
is the moment we must help answer the call for a new dawn in the
Middle East. My country must stand with yours and with Europe in
sending a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear
ambitions. We must support the Lebanese who have marched and bled for
democracy, and the Israelis and Palestinians who seek a secure and
lasting peace. And despite past differences, this is the moment when the
world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their
lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and
finally bring this war to a close.
This
is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let
us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans
rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Let us
resolve that all nations - including my own - will act with the same
seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send
into our atmosphere. This is the moment to give our children back their
future. This is the moment to stand as one.
And
this is the moment when we must give hope to those left behind in a
globalized world. We must remember that the Cold War born in this
city was not a battle for land or treasure. Sixty years ago, the planes
that flew over Berlin did not drop bombs; instead they delivered food,
and coal, and candy to grateful children. And in that show of
solidarity, those pilots won more than a military victory. They won
hearts and minds; love and loyalty and trust - not just from the
people in this city, but from all those who heard the story of what they
did here.
Now
the world will watch and remember what we do here - what we do with this
moment. Will we extend our hand to the people in the forgotten corners
of this world who yearn for lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by
security and justice? Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty,
shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time?
Will
we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in
Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words
"never again" in Darfur?
Will
we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each
of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand
for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands,
and shun discrimination against those who don't look like us or worship
like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of
our people?
People
of Berlin - people of the world - this is our moment. This is our
time.
I
know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to
keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've
made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around
the world have not lived up to our best intentions.
But
I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two
centuries, we have strived - at great cost and great sacrifice - to form
a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful
world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or
kingdom - indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture
has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our
public squares. What has always united us - what has always driven our
people; what drew my father to America's shores - is a set of ideals
that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free
from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble
with whomever we choose and worship as we please.
These
are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city.
These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is
because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of
these aspirations that all free people - everywhere - became citizens of
Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation -
our generation - must make our mark on the world.
People
of Berlin - and people of the world - the scale of our challenge is
great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we
are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope.
With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us
remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world
once again.
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