20th Annual Plenary Session
Opening Ceremony, 8 June 2002
Berlin, Germany
By Kiichi Miyazawa, Co-Chairman
Chancellor Schröder, Dr. Scherf, Dear Colleagues, ladies
and gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to greet you at the outset of our
memorable 20th anniversary meeting.
Let me first of all thank, on behalf of the InterAction
Council, the Germans - both the executive and legislative
branches of the Government, all the sponsoring
corporations and all the people whose tremendous goodwill
and enormous efforts have made this meeting possible.
My task here is to very briefly explain to you how the
InterAction Council came about and what it stands for.
The Council was created in 1983 under the initiative of my
respected predecessor, Takeo Fukuda of Japan. It was
during the height of the Cold War, when nobody ever
thought that we could meet in Berlin in this fashion two
decades later.
Mr. Fukuda was very deeply apprehensive that mankind may
not enter the 21st century; and he wondered if the
collected experiences of former heads of state and
government from all the five continents could not produce
wisdom to address long-term global issues that mankind was
facing then and, indeed, now.
To his delight, a couple of dozens of leaders agreed that
his idea was unique and innovative. Among these leaders
were the intellectual heavy weight, Helmut Schmidt, the
egalitarian leader, Jim Callaghan and the indomitable
freedom fighter Olu Obasanjo, who honors us with his
presence today.
At the inaugurating session in Vienna, the Council
identified the following three priority areas to focus on:
peace and disarmament, economic vitalization and the
ethical questions related to population, environment and
development.
In other words they understood firsthand the central
message of "On Perpetual Peace" by Immanuel Kant, the
great philosopher of your nation in the 18th century. They
knew that peace is not a natural state but something that
has to be made. To the Council, "the maintenance of peace
is not solely a dictate of politics, of justice, but a
moral duty absolute."
Myopic minds may question "what power and authority do you
have?" But more rational minds with a longer-term vision
increasingly consider our group as something like a "moral
authority" of the world. This is particularly true since
our publication of the "Universal Declaration of Human
Responsibilities" in 1997 after 10 years of soul-searching
effort.
Over the past two decades, the world has undergone
spectacular changes. The end of the Cold War stands out,
as it has completely transformed the world's political and
economic fabric. At that time, we felt that a more
optimistic view of the future might be possible, putting
the bloodshed 20th century behind us. But we now find
ourselves facing new sets of complex uncertainties and
undaunted challenges, which I trust Helmut Schmidt will
dazzlingly analyze and describe to you in a few
minutes.
The Council itself has changed much over the two decades.
Its membership has grown from 22 to 45. Some of the
brilliant leaders have passed away, including Fukuda,
himself, and Pierre Trudeau. We miss not only their mind
but also their human warmth.
But we are happy to welcome a new generation of
"graduates" into the Council. This generation change will
ensure that the Council will go on with its commitment to
help create a better world for our posterity.
Lastly, but most importantly, I would like to express our
profound appreciation, on behalf of the InterAction
Council, to Helmut Schmidt for his exceptional and
dedicated leadership throughout these two decades. Without
his historical perspective and global view, the Council
would not have been where we are today.
Thank you Helmut, and thank you very much, ladies and
gentlemen, for your attention.
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