yes thank you very much for that and delighted to be here i want to welcome all the distinguished representatives of the mediterranean partnership we've met with you in many places across europe and in the mediterranean and only serving long term serving officer the secretary general of the secretary of the parliamentary assembly in copenhagen and he has record of being a former staff member of the house foreign affairs committee of this place and it was because of his the parliamentary arm of our two sides of our organization of course the senate co chair senator ben cardin who was here a few moments ago has been a creative and energetic president member of not only  a special representative for mediterranean affairs have devoted a lot of time and effort we really appreciate that i'd like to touch briefly on two in a related sets of issues first a very  forward on a purely personal and informal basis some ideas on how we might restructure and perhaps even reconceptualized dialogue now starting with the history from the nine this vision was further updated with a ministerial declaration in madrid in two thousand and seven on partners for cooperation over the past five years there's been a sustained effort on the part of  always participating states to enhance the level of engagement with mediterranean partners an effort that has transformed the partners from simple observers to full participants in an increasing share of the organizations work today mediterranean partners take part in practically the entire span of the o ses work with the sole exception of the final shaping of formal decision in the preparatory committee put in more current concrete terms  mediterranean partners have the opportunity to contribute their particular perspectives and they make good use of this opportunity one good example is the so called cartoon crisis of two thousand and six here the was among the first international organizations to engage in a substantive debate on the complex issues surrounding this crisis exploring wide what might be done to preempt or to better handle similar cases this was in large part thanks efforts of egypt which acted as a sort of whistleblower for the o s u community which might not have grasped of the seriousness of the incident otherwise more recently and we've had some references to this already today both egypt and morocco have distributed position papers outlining specific ideas on how to improve and deepen the dial between participating states and mediterranean partners and you should have received copies and they remain willing to contribute their own proposals and perspective however let's be frank for most mediterranean partners this interest does not extend to the full scope of the always comprehensive body of commitments and standards and if i had to characterize the content of our current dialogue i would be able to identify just three specific issues anti terrorism in the political military dimension migration in the economic and environmental dimension and tolerance and nondiscrimination in the human dimension which probably constitute eighty to ninety percent of our work with mediterranean partners with occasional this tell us on the one hand the mediterranean partners value their relationship with the they remain engaged enough to continue putting forward concrete ideas on the other both c community and the mediterranean partners themselves need to consider concrete ways in which we might add more meat to the bones of our dialogue in this respect i believe we could make better use of the partnership fund created at the two thousand and seven madrid ministerial council the fund thus far has been used to start building a network of non governmental organizations from the mediterranean region a d to involve these organizations more and more in the activities of the in the field of tolerance and nondiscrimination it's also been used to spark a debate and to promote the sharing of experience in the field of media self regulation however the overall impact of the partnership fund so far and we have nearly two years of experience now has been rather limited what's lacking is a clear strategic vision across a number of substantive areas and a long term commitment by donor states to provide the means of implementation and when i talk about the means of implementation obviously financial means are necessary important and important but sustained political support is equally important which brings me then to current challenges and here it's worth recalling some constraint they continue to inhibit the o ses relationship with mediterranean partners first there is of course the overall political situation in the middle east including the israeli palestinian conflict increasingly regional tensions are inhibiting the oases ability to promote a constructive dialogue with and among the mediterranean partners we also lack a common normative base that would allow our mediterranean partners to well the mediterranean partners did not participate in the negotiation of that constitution they didn't have a say in forming the always and they have not formally subscribed to the wide range of commitments it has produced across the three dimensions of this will also enter the mix and provide another competing entity for resources and political attention another element is what i would define for want of a better term as a lack of  ownership by the mediterranean partners of the process of partnership currently our dialogue is driven very much by the rotating chairmanship of the mediterranean contact group represented here today by kazakhstan under current rules the contact group here goes to the country next in line to assume the chairmanship of the organization itself this means that the burden of sharing the contact group must compete with the other pressures involved with preparing for the chairmanship of the oas and they come and these burdens come usually at a time before the relevant delegation has been reinforced with additional personnel and financial resources now remains that the circumstances themselves present a substantial up to obstacle to be overcome and that there are there are things that we could think about doing to mitigate this obstacle and despite all of these constraints our experience has shown that under the right conditions we can achieve important results together with our mediterranean partners it's worth noting that in two thousand and five mediterranean partners including israel twice negotiated an elaborate and common position i'm not aware of any similar examples in any other international context where this is happening the o s c clearly  i mean has not and will not by itself being bring peace to the middle east but it can make a very practical and useful contribution however small that is now on to the toughest question how can we achieve a new vision shared by always participating states and mediterranean partners alike indeed would a new vision help here i'd like to start by calling your attention to a paper distributed by spain to plead the case for inviting the palestinian national authority to become an mediterranean partner and you receive this paper in your folders today now i want to tempt to address the substantive question of whether we should accept the spanish proposal what's interesting for me is the spirit of that paper and what motivated it what's important in my opinion is that for the first time we have a participating state and this is fundamentally new the spanish paper also raises another important question which is of relevance not only to the mediterranean region but also to afghanistan to the rest of the asian partners and to the security of the o s c region itself namely to what extent are the o s u participating states ready to consider ways to enhance their own security by extending the practical tools they've developed  within the o e c d to the partners for cooperation i believe that the answer to this question will in large measure depend determine the future of the mediterranean partnership naturally the more we make tools and resources available to the mediterranean partners the more prominent will be the question of the applicability of always see values and commitments for those partners here  i'm going to put forward simply for your record consideration one possible way to resolve that question and this is through the possible introduction of a mechanism for self differentiation among our  now this could be done in many ways it could be done holistically if that's too difficult politically we might explore variations on this theme for example voluntary and implementation of individual commitments related to specific assistance packages for example in the area of election support or in the area of police training leads to the possibility of peer review by always participating state in these specific area well such a system would in the short term place greater responsibilities on the shoulders of our mediterranean partners over the long term it could also make the partnership itself much more interesting to always participating states thereby attracting much needed resources and political will now again this is a bold idea it's offered on a purely personal basis and in the spirit of an open and frank discussion here in the health commission and it would require detailed analysis and the political determination of a strong actor willing to carry it forward is the engine of change so in this spirit i believe it's appropriate that we are gathered here today in a city that is increasingly becoming a symbol of innovation and fresh thinking on mediterranean security can we use the always use mediterranean partnership to capitalize on the momentum generated by president obama's recent speech in cairo where we think the conditions exist to support a sustained high level discussion on the mediterranean dialogue as proposed repeatedly by morocco if so will the united states benefiting from the status but also a very specific tools and assistance to the palestinian authority but this paper is by no means the only idea on the table for opening the doors of the mediterranean partnership as some proposed extending the partnership to include lebanon and libya while our host senator cardin has suggested that we consider iraq and syria as potential mediterranean partners such proposals validate the inherent potential of the mediterranean partnership and the allure of allowing the states of the middle east to benefit from the tools and experience of the o s c in my view however i believe we should begin by strengthening the foundations of the partnership itself adding new content before adding new partners there are many ways in which this might be done if the fundamental reforms i've described are too ambitious there is still room for significant improvement through the adjustment and development of existing mechanisms to take one example at last year's helsinki ministerial council the secretary general proposed creating within the existing mediterranean contact group a system of coordinators on specific subjects so called what this would mean in practical terms is that each mediterranean partner would itself assume responsibility for one issue of its choice with a mandate to consult with always participating states to develop concrete proposals including for a project to be carried out through the partnership fund and to oversee follow up this could promote greater ownership by the partners it could also allow the chair of the contact group to share the workload thereby freeing up resources to invest in the quality of the dialogue one final idea i would like to put forward today stems from a recent initiative that we've taken in the context of the asian contact group which could be of relevance to you as well in april of this year we organized in vienna a small but very effective seminar targeting person participants in the six party talks on security on north in north eastern asia this followed a similar event organized by the two thousand and eight finish chairmanship here in washington last october the seminars allowed for an open exchange of experience between key figures in the health process including bed veterans of the discussions in the one nine hundred seventy and those tasked with addressing the north korean question today negotiations on the israeli palestinian question and other current regional challenges this seminar here today in my opinion is in itself a good start in this direction so in the interest of getting the first point is you have said correctly i quite agree with you that that is i think huge between economic growth and the political stability and that you know that you know a breathing life economic would that it was a conflict that must be frank with you we have also other problems some security arrangements and problems immigration issues which is still bending between our part of the words and the north not only that sometimes we the economic factor but the state we are having both the gunshot and social changes and also the political element which is very important in our part of the world the second point if you is what was said about the enlarging the defining of the o c e and the mediterranean to include countries like iraq or even like us than you can extend to whatever you want actually this is these have its advantages and disadvantages in the same time advantages you have are having an extra  supportive to what you are working for and there are countries like iraq but this time it's a fight that is very important to include them but in the meantime you'll feel that that the finish line is loose and if you want to enlarge  ask israel can i ask if anyone else intends to take the floor in this session because i we are half an hour behind already jordan but i don't want to cut anyone off but i do want to leave some time for  we've had some very insightful and thought provoking comments during this session and i think it illustrates the wisdom of senator cardin and congressman hastings in organizing this seminar and the potential  process to really generate new momentum in the mediterranean dialogue i know that i and the representatives of our two chairmanship of the contact group and of the organization have taken particularly good note of  note of all of the comments that were made in that many issues that were raised will continue to be discussed and worked over both this afternoon and tomorrow morning but now i'd like to turn the floor over to b preval to talk about security issues in the mediterranean region with apologies for the for the delay that's fine i actually was very impressed with  than i was asked to be so that i know i'm the only thing standing between you and the reception and speaker pelosi so i'll be rather brave so forgive me if it's too grea certainly honored to be here today at this very important event representing the president national security adviser general james jones when he was the commander of the military commander of our european command and also nato supreme allied commander for europe the had a strong interest in the mediterranean region as part of his work in those positions and in particular an interest in the lin among european and north african and middle eastern security and certainly an interest that he brings to his current job advising president obama on a variety of national security issues and also coordinating the various s departments and agencies that comprise our national security effort today and i can tell you personally he brings that interest to its current job on a daily basis i want to thank also the commission here and its chairman in appreciation of its historic role in supporting the o s c and the cause of expanding security and human rights and environmental and economic cooperation and in particular i'd like to thank congressman hastings  for his very kind of an invitation to join this discussion for his commitment to the mediterranean partnership i'm here with some modesty i see on the program i'm listed as and introducer for an expert seminar and my modesty comes from the fact that i am far from expert in the topic and topics under discussion today but what i'd like to do is try to give us some sense of how  i think president obama see the strategic environment today and how to try to help you as we say here connect some of the dots between what you have already heard from him in his cairo speech and in other policy pronouncements and where we might try to head going forward i think first give you a bit of a perspective from the national security council and the president's general approach to the environment as i said and then by extension to the mediterranean region of which you're focused on at the outset let me just affirm that the united states values our historic and enduring ties with the countries of the mediterranean region the obama administration's commitment to your country's prosperity and security and i heard those words during the discussion just now is quite strong and we look forward very much to productive relations based on mutual interest and respect and i can honestly say that the tone of the comments that i've heard sitting here very very much reflect the core of president obama's approach to many of these issues and that is he takes a very practical and pragmatic approach i'd say rather results oriented and since i work for him i have direct contact  that with his approach there our point of departure in terms of our view of national security is an appreciation that the current strategic environment is characterized by a rapid pace of change and by globalization and it certainly seems to be a description that applies to the mediterranean perhaps one could say the from the world's first globalized region as much as any other place on earth today there are generally a lot of positive trends in this area to have accelerated the free flow of ideas and goods into people's but as your region has experienced it also creates security challenges that increasingly are borderless and global and unconventional these challenges arise not just from state and non state actors but they are also produced by certain systems and and they represent certain trends including financial demographic and environmental i think it is important to note that the obama administration in identifying the most significant national security challenges includes issues not always considered to be the traditional hard security challenges and security problems so in addition to proliferation and terrorism and there are most notably the international effort against al qaida in afghanistan and pakistan and elsewhere priority challenges include the economic crisis and the dependence on fossil fuels and the threat of global climate change as we've heard as well as cyberspace challenges and violations of human rights among others and certainly there are other important issues that will resonate for the mediterranean region such as immigration organized crime desertification competition over scarce water which i know is high on your list of concerns and these are certainly security issues that we include in this discussion on national security looking more broadly it seems that our perspective in many ways matches up well with the these dimensions of security the political military the economic and environmental and the humanitarian and the human dimension i suspect that parliamentarians around the world instinctively understand and in some ways better than than policymakers such as myself that's aligned some attempt to draw between foreign and domestic between traditional and nontraditional security threats that these are mostly arbitrary lines and that we do ourselves a disservice when we try to create these artificial boundaries today's challenges have put a strain on all nation states as well as international institutions but they also represent opportunities to find common solutions globally and also within the mediterranean and we believe that greater cooperation in the region could help all countries cope more effectively with a wide range of security threat while expanding opportunities for all people in the region a particular approach to the world flows from this view that i've just outlined very briefly of the strategic environment and it has even driven reorganization of where i work at the national security council under general jones he has merged the staff of what used to be the national security council and the homeland security council and integrated elements of the national security council with a national economic council staff so general jones is active is actually putting into practice in his organization which the president has obviously approved and directed  the approach to the challenges in the way we think about challenges and i think you've seen some of the public record from his discussions that also reflected that approach and so we have senior officials in this relatively small organization focus now on specific regions but also on key trans national issues such as cyber space security development energy and the environment and human rights and so while it may seem trivial to talk about organizational charts i think it has a strong impact on how the u s government addresses these challenges develop strategies and policies to meet these challenges and i think this really can change the way one one goes forward making policy more strategically the obama administration believes that america's security and prosperity are inextricably linked with those of other countries and peoples around the world there has to be true partnership to achieve lasting solutions to shared problems mean a real partnership as i heard in the discussion and president obama repeatedly has emphasized in his first months in office that the united states intends not to lecture others but to listen and to learn and to lead and i think you might have heard that phrase in previous venue's but it is one that we are following in our approach to policy and that the united states is best able to improve security for ourselves but also working with others is when we strengthen and balance and integrate across all of the instruments that we  try to pursue so not just military but diplomatic and economic intelligence and legal and perhaps very importantly our moral strength as president obama likes to include and that approach applies to our counterterrorism policies as well we recognize that the threat of terrorism continues to be real and also imminent as we learned again unfortunately in indonesia but we are hopeful that cooperation in countering the threat of terrorism can deepen through our partnerships across a broad range of activities and so our efforts to defeat terrorists particularly al qaeda and related networks must not lead us to act contrary to our ideals and in violation of basic human rights president obama has unequivocally prohibited the use of torture by the united states and has ordered the prison at guantanamo bay to be closed by early next year moreover president obama has made clear that we seek a more comprehensive relationship with muslim communities one that is not focused just on security nor on only in cairo the president outlined his vision for a new beginning with muslim countries and communities that emphasizes mutual respect and partnership in areas of common interest like education health entrepreneurship economic development and science and technology wherever possible the obama administration is working with allies and like minded partners we are renewing our enduring alliances and partnerships and working with international and regional organizations like the oas the as well as with non governmental organizations and the obama administration believes that america's security is enhanced through principled and sustained engagement with those who think differently by identifying areas of shared concern and interest and creating openings for longer term cooperation and the resolution of differences despite a concerted leap pragmatic approach to addressing the world's common problems as i mentioned earlier president obama will remain true to america's values one value that has come under some discussion has been the promotion of democracy but as the president has no system of government can or should be imposed on one nation by another yet the president also has been quite clear on the point that government should reflect the will of the people and elections alone are not sufficient government should protect minority and women's rights promote religious tolerance and establish transparent accountable institutions that serve the people and these are concepts fully in the spirit of the o s c and i think certainly high on your agenda in this venue and the obama administration is increasing support for good governance with a focus on supporting parliaments which check of uses of power and ensure that opposition voices are heard the united states also will increase support for the rule of law for civic participation and for concrete solutions to corruption i've attempted at that to this point to briefly outline the administration's strategic approach and i believe this approach couldn't be more relevant for the region around the mediterranean sea where many different peoples all share this common body of water all share common problems and only through common solutions and they and we find lasting security as president sadat mentioned when he traveled to israel security in the mediterranean must include security for israel and the palestinians as the president has stated the only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states where israelis and palestinians each live in peace and security that is in the interests of both parties and the entire mediterranean region and the world a lasting peace will require difficult steps by the israelis and by the palestinians it also will require action by others in the region the united states looks to others in the race to take meaningful additional steps to provide support to the palestinians and to offer an opening to the israeli threats to the mediterranean come from outside the region as well in addition is appalling violent repression of its people following its elections iran has a record of threatening and interfering with its neighbors and states across the region including through the support of terrorism it also has failed to comply fully on numerous occasions with united nations and requirements with respect to its nuclear program iran has a right to civil nuclear power if it reestablishes the international community's confidence that it will use its nuclear program only for peaceful purposes it does not have a right to a nuclear weapons capability and we are determined to prevent that the obama administration consistent with the principles i have laid out here in part has offered to engage with iran's leaders presenting them a choice between joining the international community with the responsibilities that that entails or continuing on the path to increased isolation i think in the interest of time i will sum up our sense that the mediterranean region faces many of the same kinds of threats and obstacles as the united states and other states in different regions of the world as well as some unique challenges these challenges are too big for any one country to solve on its own but as a result the region also is presented with an enormous opportunity to find common solutions that are practical that are focused on the common problems working together and with the united states and with organizations like the o s c e we in the obama administration believe that this is a mo in time in which the circumstances for favorably meeting many of our most pressing challenges are very well aligned we think we have a very historic opportunit right now thank you again for the opportunity to join you today i hope the rest of your meetings are very productive and focused on practical results thank you very much we're opening the floor now to comment questions or further statement i might respond just very briefly and somewhat personally i mean a lot of there's a lot of activity going on there is a lot of effort to capitalize i know for a fact that president  does have the sense that his speeches don't his speeches are very important his cairo speech was critical and essential for outlining his approach but he knows it was a speech and that it helps to catalyze action but doesn't complete action so there is a lot of follow up work going on with the parties in the region and but particular the those that you mentioned i don't i'll take back your suggestion for a presidential conference but there is a lot of activity and even though i'm as i said the very beginning not focused on on this issue as the core of my duties at the national security council there is not a meeting that that that general jones has with a visiting official that i have been in where he hasn't focused on this issue even with a number of officials who do not come from this region so he has it is  one of the very top priorities that the national security council and the united states government are focused on so we share your appreciation that that concrete actions are required and that we need to capitalize on this moment so i think you'll hopefully some of that active action play out in the in the real world shortly that we're hearing a different sound of music whether or not there is going to be a new production that's going to be different will be interesting way to live but i welcome the coordination now between the national security council national economic council and whatever other councils are within the confines of the council of councils and this is a question very precise question the on the previous administration due to a free trade agreement with morocco that compelled our country canada to move more slowly on jordan we didn't we came up with a good agreement but not as good as the americans  were moving on morocco so america's leadership on the trade track has propelled other countries and it's pushed europe to move the move albeit slowly so there is a advice that's being given to the president from the security council to do coordination with the economic council to promote bilateral free trade agreements along the mediterranean for instance algeria we've been trying to enter into you i was withholding my comment my response is until the end i think i did hear a consistent theme but in seriousness before i came here i consulted  with those in the u s government who are working directly with the it's my understanding that special envoy mitchell is looking to close this pre negotiation phase within a few weeks and move on to relaunch negotiations as quickly as possible and so i will certainly tomorrow morning when i see general jones i will make it clear that the issue of time and urgency which i'm sure but i would still like to pass back your your strong advice and all of the advice that i've gotten here that time is a very important matter for a number of reasons the u s election cycle the palestinian cycle and other and for other reasons so i greatly appreciate your  your suggestions and your intervention i appreciate your listening to my outline of the obama administration approach and we certainly look forward to making the in this forum a very important to to help us solve the problems that we discussed well on behalf of congressman hastings i would like to deeply appreciate my regards to mr vail for his excellent presentation and also extend my regards to mr fridge for his presentation as well convening a reception to welcome you we thank you for your participation today our proceedings will begin again tomorrow morning at nine a m and i've been informed that the doors for security only open around nine a m but we will try to make special arrangements to get you in a little bit earlier thank you very much