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 You are in: Bureaus/Offices Reporting Directly to the Secretary > Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization > Releases > Remarks 

Societies Transitioning From Conflict

Carlos Pascual, Coordinator, Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization
Remarks at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government
Boston, MA
October 26, 2005

On October 26, Ambassador Carlos Pascual addressed Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, at an event jointly hosted by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Professors Graham Allison and Michael Ignatieff chaired. Amb. Pascual briefed the attendees on the U.S. strategy for conflict transformation, and took part in a thought-provoking discussion with professors, fellows and students.

Excerpts from Amb. Pascual’s remarks:

"The nature of foreign policy has shifted and the challenges and threats to our country have changed. Increasingly, threats to peace emerge within nations, not between them. On September 11, we learned tragically how closely our nation’s security is tied to the success or failure of other societies. It forced us to re-evaluate the consequences of state failure. If there is a failure of governance, and gaps in the ability of the state to control its territory and provide for its people, there will be voids. Those voids will be filled by terrorism, weapons proliferation, organized crime, trafficking in people, and threats to our own national security."

"Many societies transitioning from conflict have an authoritarian past, where order was defined from the top, and imposed. Now we are asking people to think about living in a society based on openness, freedom and competition, with a set of laws and court systems to help mediate disputes, and a political system that allows people to select their leaders by choice. That is not just a change in a set of laws. It is a fundamental change to the way that they approach life. And it doesn’t happen overnight."

"The U.S. is not alone in this endeavor. From the UN to the EU, to key partners like the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Denmark, and others, there is unprecedented international attention and collaboration on this issue."



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