By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2014 – On a night in which the Atlantic
Council honored Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the secretary called NATO an
anchor of security for the world.
After receiving the council’s Distinguished International
Leadership Award here last night, Hagel said he's been privileged and fortunate
to have lived at such a spectacular time in world history. While this time is
not without its problems and new threats emerge daily, he said, the
transatlantic alliance embodied by NATO has served as a bulwark for peace and
security.
"I know of no anchor of security more important to
keeping peace in the world since World War II than NATO," Hagel said.
NATO has been instrumental to averting problems like those
that occurred in the first 50 years of the 20th century, the defense secretary
said. "Problems? Yes. Still humanitarian disasters? Yes. Conflicts? Yes.
But overall, it's been a pretty successful last 60 years because of this
alliance."
And though all of the world's problems haven't yet been
solved, he said, the nations of the world have built platforms, abilities and
alliances to work together in common purpose to address these challenges
together.
"And that, fundamentally, was the point of NATO:
knitting together a strong transatlantic alliance after World War II,"
Hagel said.
Today's accelerated rate of change and shift is
unprecedented in the history of man, the defense secretary noted. But, he said,
the rapid pace of change demonstrates that the groundwork laid more than 60
years ago is paying dividends.
"Wasn't that the point behind all of this effort that
our great leaders came to and agreed upon after World War II -- to, in fact,
give people of the world opportunities, freedom? That is directly connected to
security and continuity and stability," Hagel said.
And while that hard work is paying off, he said, it also
brings new complications.
"Therein,” he said, “lies the essence of alliances --
alliances of common purpose. … We probably won't always agree on issues, but on
the end result and the purpose of an alliance, the purpose of [governance], the
purpose of organized society remains the same."
After World War II, the great leaders of the era came together
to form a lasting alliance because the world had had enough war, Hagel noted.
But after extended periods of conflict, nations tend to look inward, he
cautioned, and now the world runs the risk of again becoming captive to that
kind of inward thinking, the defense secretary said.
"I don't think we're there," he said, "but
it's going to require continued focused strong, steady, wise [and] engaged
leadership with the world, with each other. … This is not a time to retreat.
This is not a time to pull back."
NATO and organizations like it allow nations to engage
peacefully with each other, even when the world remains dangerous, Hagel said.
"If there was ever a time in history where we have the
tools, where we have the capacity, where we have the institutions to engage and
fix the problems, it is now," the defense secretary said.
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