UN General Assembly
2006

attitudes. Basically, we have failed to engage in dialogue, communicate and reach out to one another as fellow humans inhabiting the same planet. Indeed, the greatest discord today exists among the descendants of Abraham. These are the People of the Book: the followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, who in fact share a common beginning, which was the religion of Abraham. Of course, dialogue will be endless if it is not accompanied by action. The purpose of honest discussion and engagement is to enable us to formulate rational and effective policies. To achieve this, I believe that all of us need to listen well and be sincere in our relations with one another. Much of the dialogue that takes place results in the parties talking at, instead of talking to, one another. Any dialogue will certainly fail if it is predetermined that certain States are “rogues” or that certain countries are necessarily “evil”. Such name-calling provides an excuse not to listen, let alone engage in serious negotiations to find amicable solutions to serious problems.