Because we are entering a century in which there will be many interconnected centers of population, power, and wealth, we cannot limit our focus, as Marshall did in his speech, to the devastated battleground of a prior war. Unlike Marshall's generation, we face no single galvanizing threat. We know that not every nation is yet willing or able to play its full part in this system. One group is still in transition from centralized planning and totalitarian rule. Another has only begun to dip its toes into economic and political reform.
Some nations are still too weak to participate in a meaningful way.
And a few countries have regimes that actively oppose the premises upon which this system is based. Because the situation we face today is different from that confronted by Marshall's generation, we cannot always use the same means. Let every nation acknowledge. Today, the opportunity to be part of an international system based on democratic principles is available to all. Today, there is no Stalin to give orders.