 "Photo:")
Frederik Willem de Klerk exudes the confidence and wisdom attained only from years of experience. Indeed, after serving as South Africa's president during its tumultuous apartheid era, de Klerk is anything but inexperienced. On Monday afternoon, he was greeted with an enthusiastic welcome from students and faculty who packed into Robsham Theater, eagerly waiting to hear his views on leadership, politics, and the role of the United States in an increasingly globalized world.
As president of South Africa, de Klerk was faced with a near-impossible challenge. He entered his presidency as South Africa extended its four-year-long state of emergency into a fifth year. Mounting pressure from the international community, as well as the UN, imposed sanctions that increasingly isolated the country from the rest of the world and left its economy in a state of grave fragility. De Klerk immediately began repairing the damage that years of colonial rule and racist tension had created.
The complex apartheid system, which divided South Africans into four categories - black, white, Indian, and "colored" - required all members to carry identification cards with their designated race. In addition, the apartheid implemented numerous laws forbidding interracial marriage, repealing black suffrage, and restricting the movement and urbanization of Indian, black, and "colored" citizens. The apartheid was met with extreme and violent resistance by the black community. By the time de Klerk was elected president, the country was festering in bloodshed.
De Klerk's first step in reasserting order was to release Nelson Mandela, the popular anti-apartheid activist, from prison. He then went to negotiate peace talks and eventually brought an end to the apartheid, drafting a new constitution that called for full suffrage to all citizens regardless or race.
On Monday afternoon, however, his focus left South Africa and turned toward the United States. The former president and Nobel Peace laureate began his speech by emphasizing the imperative role of the United States as the effective "mayor" and "chief of police" of the globalized village that the world is becoming. He emphasized that the United States was appointed, not elected, to this role due to its unchallenged military and economic supremacy. Unfortunately, he said, this leadership role allows the United States to become an easy target for criticism from all over the world.
"The United States is likely to be criticized whatever it does. If it acts to enforce UN resolutions in Iraq, it is accused of imperialism. If it fails to intervene in other crises, such as the current conflict in Darfur, it is slighted for being insensitive to the plight of Africans. Unfortunately, this is the price that must be paid for being the only remaining super power," de Klerk said.
De Klerk said he looked to Teddy Roosevelt for advice on how a superpower like the United States might tackle the responsibility of being a world leader. De Klerk applauded Roosevelt's famed mantra, "Speak softly and carry a big stick," lauding the country's use of the "big stick" in its reaction to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war on terror that ensued.
De Klerk praised the removal of Saddam Hussein: "There can be no doubt about one thing - Iraq, the Middle East, and the world are better places after the destruction of his brutal regime," he said. However, he reminded U.S. leaders not to forget the equally important second bit of advice: to speak softly.
As a world leader, he advised the United States to examine the root causes of conflicts, which he said he believes emerge from poverty, repression, ignorance, and fanaticism. In our attempt to ameliorate the deteriorating circumstances in other parts of the planet, de Klerk said that world leaders must make the reduction of poverty, promotion of human rights, and peaceful resolution of conflicts their main priority.
He pointed to the increasing economic disparity between the GDP of the richest and poorest countries as evidence that immediate action needs to be taken to promote the growth of underdeveloped economies. "We need to recognize the symbiosis between stability, prosperity, democracy, and freedom. Economic prosperity creates the environment in which democracy and free institutions can grow," he said.
One of the key obstacles impeding the economic growth of Third World nations, he said, is that their governments cannot afford to provide farmers with the agricultural subsidies that first world countries can. Therefore, they have no way of competing with the low prices that farmers in the United States are able to offer. Rather than driving out the competition from other countries, de Klerk said, the United States should embrace their contributions by investing in Third World countries and including them in the global economy.
The same can be said about the spread of democracy, he said. Rather than making flashy speeches about the need for democracy in developing countries, de Klerk urged world leaders to actively encourage nations to work toward a democratic society.
"Encourage does not mean to deliver sermons, to stand up and make a noble speech about the need for democracy in Africa. Encourage means to take their hand, to sit down with those leaders, to convince them to take ownership of their own programs as how to promote democracy," he said.
De Klerk has paved the way for the encouragement of which he speaks. Through the establishment of a Global Leadership Foundation that consists of 24 government leaders from all over the world, he provides a resource to nations wishing to establish democracy. These leaders actively interact with governments to solve their problems in a "discreet" and private fashion.
Finally, de Klerk urged the Untied States to stay true to its values as it enters into the new age of globalization.
"The greatness of the United States does not lie in the undoubted strength of its armies, and it does not lie in the undoubted strength of its navy and its air force," he said. "It lies in the values and ideas of personal and economic freedom that it represents. If the United States can remain true to these ideals, I believe it will succeed in carrying out its historic global leadership role."
Be the first to comment on this article!