Questions of self-interest are very appealing to voters. Voters will act once they understand that issues that concern them directly are no longer national, but are global. I have now been to over 100 countries and have visited with members of parliament in almost every one of them. I have also travelled through them all. I have just come from a three-day trip to Turkey.
Political life is subject to strong fundamentalist pressures.
The state is non-religious, but fragile. The decisions that you make on assistance to Turkey in education or economic development will not appear to be very important to your local electorate. However, they will have an important impact upon Europe. In my meetings with the Turkish Parliament, I tried to show them that their local actions had global implications. Unfortunately, we rarely have informed parliamentary bodies or informed leaders.