书城外语在耶鲁听演讲
16087500000043

第43章 为什么要推行"兼容并蓄"全球化(2)

There are myriad ways in which nations can act on this imperative-by openingmarkets for the products of developing countries;by increasing development assistance-and here the United Nations Conference at Monterrey was a good start;by promoting good and transparent governance;by addressing diseases and environmental problems that have not reached our shores,or at least not yet;by recognizing obligations to provide asylum,by fostering a more orderly process of integrating migrants;and by valuing pluralism as all overarching priority for every state.

To think globally-and to consider not only domestic factors,but also international ones as integral to decision-making today,in governments,businesses and organizations-does not mean a uniformity of thought,or just one approach.There are,quite naturally,a great variety of ways that we can think and act globally,and in so doing celebrate and strengthen global diversity.

In this sense,the local is not in opposition to the global,but is infused and enriched with global impulses and influences.Essential to realizing this new reality is a dialogue across nations and cultures based on common values and common concerns.

The United Nations itself was created in the belief that dialogue can triumph over discord,that diversity is a universal virtue,and that the peoples of the world are far more united by their common fate than they are divided by their separate identities.This dialoguemust t a ke pl a ce ever y day a mon g a l l nations-within and between civilizations,cultures and groups.But it must be based on genuinely shared values.Without these values-values rooted in the Charter of t he United Nations a nd t he Univer sa l Declaration of Human Rights-no peace can be lasting and no prosperity secure.That is the lesson of the United Nations"firsthalf century.It is a lesson that we ignore at our peril.

While it may seem somewhat vague to speak of a globalization based on shared values,the vision of the world it seeks to create is quite clear and quite specific.

It is a world defined by solidarity and understanding,tolerance of dissent,celebration of cultural diversity,an insistence on fundamental,universal human rights,and a belief in the fight of people everywhere to have a say in how they are governed.

It is a world characterized by the belief that the diversity of human cultures is something to be celebrated,not feared.

This vision is based on an understanding that we are the products of many cultures and impulses,that our strengths lie in combining the familiar with the foreign.That is not to say that we cannot rightly take pride in Our particular faith or heritage.We can and we should.But the notion that what is ours is necessarily in conflict with what is theirs is both false and dangerous.It has resulted in endless enmity and conflict leading men and women to commit the greatest of crimes in the name of a higher power.

It need not be so.People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world,and most of us have overlappingidentities which unite us with very different groups.We can love what we are,without hating what-and who we are not.We canthrive in Our own tradition,even as we learn from others and come to respect their teachings.You who are privileged to pursue knowledge and understanding at this great institution know this truth in every day and every hour of your work.

If today,after the horror of 11September,we see better,and we see further-we will realize that humanity is indivisible.New threats make no distinction between races nations or regions.A new insecurity has entered every mind,regardless of wealth or status.A deeper awareness of the bonds that bind US all-in pain as in prosperity-has gripped young and old.

The process of globalization cannot remain unchanged in the face of this recognition.It must be made to benefit those at the margins as well as those at the centre,the poor as well as the privileged,the shackled as well as the free.

The global reaction to the 11September attacks should give US courage and hope that we can succeed in this fight.The sight of people gathering in cities in every part of the world from every religion to mourn-and to express solidarity with the people of the United States-proved more eloquently than any words that terrorism is not an issue that divides humanity,but one that unites it.

I do not thereby mean to suggest that the aftermath of those attacks-or,more broadly,the effects of globalization-have in any uniform way been beneficial to the broader cause of tolerance and coexistence.Indeed,over the past year,we have witnessed a dramatic rise in acts of anti-Semitism in Europe and elsewhere;and we have seen Muslims become the victims of suspicion,hostility and even physical attacks in this country and elsewhere.