But, it is a measure of the vital role you are playing in the region's difficult transition from one system, and one era, to another. The transition to democracy and market economies continues to be an uneven experience. The renewal of the Russian Federation and the CIS countries is a work in progress. We all know that the region has tremendous potential for growth, but it faces many challenges, both internal and external. The recent economic and financial crisis has added new dimensions to these challenges.
Globalization magnifies both threats and opportunities.
I know that there have been frustrations at how long the transition is taking, at how fragile the gains are, and at the persistent gap between what was promised by reform and the tangible results actually being delivered. Throughout the CIS region, there have been great upheavals at work and at home, and spiritually as well. Alongside important successes, serious obstacles have arisen along the path of reform. High standards of law and governance are difficult to achieve overnight. The politics of ethnicity and exclusion have caused bloodshed.