奥巴马就中东和北非问题演讲.docx

奥巴马就中东和北非问题演讲.docx

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奥巴马就中东和北非问题演讲

奥巴马就中东和北非问题演讲

（中英文）

TheWhiteHouse

OfficeofthePressSecretary

ForImmediateReleaseMay19，2011

RemarksbythePresidentontheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica

StateDepartment，Washington，DC

THEPRESIDENT：

Thankyou. Thankyou. （Applause.）Thankyouverymuch. Thankyou. Please，haveaseat. Thankyouverymuch. IwanttobeginbythankingHillaryClinton，whohastraveledsomuchtheselastsixmonthsthatsheisapproachinganewlandmark--onemillionfrequentflyermiles.IcountonHillaryeverysingleday，andIbelievethatshewillgodownasoneofthefinestSecretariesofStateinournation’shistory.

TheStateDepartmentisafittingvenuetomarkanewchapterinAmericandiplomacy. Forsixmonths,wehavewitnessedanextraordinarychangetakingplaceintheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica. Squarebysquare，townbytown，countrybycountry，thepeoplehaverisenuptodemandtheirbasichumanrights. Twoleadershavesteppedaside. Moremayfollow. Andthoughthesecountriesmaybeagreatdistancefromourshores，weknowthatourownfutureisboundtothisregionbytheforcesofeconomicsandsecurity，byhistoryandbyfaith.

Today，Iwanttotalkaboutthischange--theforcesthataredrivingitandhowwecanrespondinawaythatadvancesourvaluesandstrengthensoursecurity.

Now，already，we’vedonemuchtoshiftourforeignpolicyfollowingadecadedefinedbytwocostlyconflicts. AfteryearsofwarinIraq，we’veremoved100，000Americantroopsandendedourcombatmissionthere. InAfghanistan，we’vebrokentheTaliban’smomentum，andthisJulywewillbegintobringourtroopshomeandcontinueatransitiontoAfghanlead. AndafteryearsofwaragainstalQaedaanditsaffiliates，wehavedealtalQaedaahugeblowbykillingitsleader，OsamabinLaden.

BinLadenwasnomartyr. Hewasamassmurdererwhoofferedamessageofhate–-aninsistencethatMuslimshadtotakeuparmsagainsttheWest，andthatviolenceagainstmen，womenandchildrenwastheonlypathtochange. HerejecteddemocracyandindividualrightsforMuslimsinfavorofviolentextremism；hisagendafocusedonwhathecoulddestroy-–notwhathecouldbuild.

BinLadenandhismurderousvisionwonsomeadherents. Butevenbeforehisdeath，alQaedawaslosingitsstruggleforrelevance，astheoverwhelmingmajorityofpeoplesawthattheslaughterofinnocentsdidnotanswertheircriesforabetterlife. BythetimewefoundbinLaden，alQaeda’sagendahadcometobeseenbythevastmajorityoftheregionasadeadend，andthepeopleoftheMiddleEastandNorthAfricahadtakentheirfutureintotheirownhands.

Thatstoryofself-determinationbegansixmonthsagoinTunisia. OnDecember17th，ayoungvendornamedMohammedBouaziziwasdevastatedwhenapoliceofficerconfiscatedhiscart. Thiswasnotunique. It’sthesamekindofhumiliationthattakesplaceeverydayinmanypartsoftheworld-–therelentlesstyrannyofgovernmentsthatdenytheircitizensdignity. Onlythistime，somethingdifferenthappened. Afterlocalofficialsrefusedtohearhiscomplaints，thisyoungman，whohadneverbeenparticularlyactiveinpolitics，wenttotheheadquartersoftheprovincialgovernment，dousedhimselfinfuel，andlithimselfonfire.

Therearetimesinthecourseofhistorywhentheactionsofordinarycitizenssparkmovementsforchangebecausetheyspeaktoalongingforfreedomthathasbeenbuildingupforyears. InAmerica，thinkofthedefianceofthosepatriotsinBostonwhorefusedtopaytaxestoaKing，orthedignityofRosaParksasshesatcourageouslyinherseat. SoitwasinTunisia，asthatvendor’sactofdesperationtappedintothefrustrationfeltthroughoutthecountry. Hundredsofprotesterstooktothestreets，thenthousands. Andinthefaceofbatonsandsometimesbullets，theyrefusedtogohome–-dayafterday，weekafterweek--untiladictatorofmorethantwodecadesfinallyleftpower.

Thestoryofthisrevolution，andtheonesthatfollowed，shouldnothavecomeasasurprise. ThenationsoftheMiddleEastandNorthAfricawontheirindependencelongago，butintoomanyplacestheirpeopledidnot. Intoomanycountries，powerhasbeenconcentratedinthehandsofafew. Intoomanycountries，acitizenlikethatyoungvendorhadnowheretoturn -–nohonestjudiciarytohearhiscase；noindependentmediatogivehimvoice；nocrediblepoliticalpartytorepresenthisviews；nofreeandfairelectionwherehecouldchoosehisleader.

Andthislackofself-determination–-thechancetomakeyourlifewhatyouwill–-hasappliedtotheregion’seconomyaswell. Yes，somenationsareblessedwithwealthinoilandgas，andthathasledtopocketsofprosperity. Butinaglobaleconomybasedonknowledge，basedoninnovation，nodevelopmentstrategycanbebasedsolelyuponwhatcomesoutoftheground.Norcanpeoplereachtheirpotentialwhenyoucannotstartabusinesswithoutpayingabribe.

Inthefaceofthesechallenges，toomanyleadersintheregiontriedtodirecttheirpeople’sgrievanceselsewhere. TheWestwasblamedasthesourceofallills，ahalf-centuryaftertheendofcolonialism. AntagonismtowardIsraelbecametheonlyacceptableoutletforpoliticalexpression. Divisionsoftribe，ethnicityandreligioussectweremanipulatedasameansofholdingontopower，ortakingitawayfromsomebodyelse.

Buttheeventsofthepastsixmonthsshowusthatstrategiesofrepressionandstrategiesofdiversionwillnotworkanymore. SatellitetelevisionandtheInternetprovideawindowintothewiderworld-–aworldofastonishingprogressinplaceslikeIndiaandIndonesiaandBrazil. Cellphonesandsocialnetworksallowyoungpeopletoconnectandorganizelikeneverbefore. Andsoanewgenerationhasemerged. Andtheirvoicestellusthatchangecannotbedenied.

InCairo，weheardthevoiceoftheyoungmotherwhosaid，“It’slikeIcanfinallybreathefreshairforthefirsttime.”

InSanaa，weheardthestudentswhochanted，“Thenightmustcometoanend.”

InBenghazi，weheardtheengineerwhosaid，“Ourwordsarefreenow. It’safeelingyoucan’texplain.”

InDamascus，weheardtheyoungmanwhosaid，“Afterthefirstyelling，thefirstshout，youfeeldignity.”

Thoseshoutsofhumandignityarebeingheardacrosstheregion. Andthroughthemoralforceofnonviolence，thepeopleoftheregionhaveachievedmorechangeinsixmonthsthanterroristshaveaccomplishedindecades.

Ofcourse，changeofthismagnitudedoesnotcomeeasily. Inourdayandage-–atimeof24-hournewscyclesandconstantcommunication–-peopleexpectthetransformationoftheregiontoberesolvedinamatterofweeks. Butitwillbeyearsbeforethisstoryreachesitsend. Alongtheway，therewillbegooddaysandtherewillbaddays. Insomeplaces，changewillbeswift；inothers，gradual. Andaswe’vealreadyseen，callsforchangemaygiveway，insomecases，tofiercecontestsforpower.

ThequestionbeforeusiswhatroleAmericawillplayasthisstoryunfolds. Fordecades，theUnitedStateshaspursuedasetofcoreinterestsintheregion：

 counteringterrorismandstoppingthespreadofnuclearweapons；securingthefreeflowofcommerceandsafe-guardingthesecurityoftheregion；standingupforIsrael’ssecurityandpursuingArab-Israelipeace.

Wewillcontinuetodothesethings，withthefirmbeliefthatAmerica’sinterestsarenothostiletopeople’shopes；they’reessentialtothem. Webelievethatnoonebenefitsfromanucleararmsraceintheregion，oralQaeda’sbrutalattacks. Webelievepeopleeverywherewouldseetheireconomiescrippledbyacut-offinenergysupplies. AswedidintheGulfWar，wewillnottolerateaggressionacrossborders，andwewillkeepourcommitmentstofriendsandpartners.

Yetwemustacknowledgethatastrategybasedsolelyuponthenarrowpursuitoftheseinterestswillnotfillanemptystomachorallowsomeonetospeaktheirmind. Moreover，failuretospeaktothebroaderaspirationsofordinarypeoplewillonlyfeedthesuspicionthathasfesteredforyearsthattheUnitedStatespursuesourinterestsattheirexpense. Giventhatthismistrustrunsbothways–-asAmericanshavebeensearedbyhostage-takingandviolentrhetoricandterroristattacksthathavekilledthousandsofourcitizens-–afailuretochangeourapproachthreatensadeepeningspiralofdivisionbetweentheUnitedStatesandtheArabworld.

Andthat’swhy，twoyearsagoinCairo，Ibegantobroadenourengagementbaseduponmutualinterestsandmutualrespect. Ibelievedthen-–andIbelievenow-–thatwehaveastakenotjustinthestabilityofnations，butintheself-determinationofindividuals. Thestatusquoisnotsustainable. Societiesheldtogetherbyfearandrepressionmayoffertheillusionofstabilityforatime，buttheyarebuiltuponfaultlinesthatwilleventuallytearasunder.

Sowefaceahistoricopportunity. WehavethechancetoshowthatAmericavaluesthedignityofthestreetvendorinTunisiamorethantherawpowerofthedictator. TheremustbenodoubtthattheUnitedStatesofAmericawelcomeschangethatadvancesself-determinationandopportunity. Yes，therewillbeperilsthataccompanythismomentofpromise. Butafterdecadesofacceptingtheworldasitisintheregion，wehaveachancetopursuetheworldasitshouldbe.

Ofcourse，aswedo，wemustproceedwithasenseofhumility. It’snotAmericathatputpeopleintothestreetsofTunisorCairo-–itwasthepeoplethemselveswholaunchedthesemovements，andit’sthepeoplethemselvesthatmustultimatelydeterminetheiroutcome.

Noteverycountrywillfollowourparticularformofrepresentativedemocracy，andtherewill