labour year. we believe that we've seen all the important tax rate rises that the chancellor thinks are needed to do that. the rest depends upon that above-average growth that is still there in the official forecast at the office of budget responsibility. so the -- i give way. >> can i thank the right honorable gentleman for giving way your laying out the keys as i understand it for why we need to have credible reduction in our deficit because of the likely market reaction but does the honorable gentleman also be concerned about the impact any austairity program might have and even a limited impact so far in the united kingdom and greece and likely in ireland that maybe too much too soon? >> i think he's absolutely right. i think the policies that ireland, greece and potter goal are being driven to may well not

work because they are excessive. but that is the result if you go into the euro and then follow the market pressures inevitably produces. i see some labour members trying to see it's nothing to do them and they're looking away i remember being a lonely figure when i said we would not join the euro. i'm very pleased my party seems to be of that view. >> here here. >> i now believe the other two principal parties in this house have come around to the view that we certainly shouldn't join the euro any time yet. we have still to receive the apologies from them because surely they must accept now that if britain is being driven into the euro in the way that they thought, we would have broken the euro and broken ourselves. the euro could scarce contain small economies the size of greece, portugal and ireland that were around that amount of debt. it couldn't contain britain comfortably with that amount of debt that britain started to

incur and the british banks just as it's finding spanish banks difficult to tackle. i give way. >> i'm glad he added the words "anytime yet" in relation to the euro because it's inevitable over many, many years we will join the euro. oh, yes. can i tell the honorable gentleman that tomorrow and the next day 17 euro states will get together and put forward a proper plan for the euro and for the first time in our history, united kingdom is excluded. >> mr. deputy speaker, if they come up with good ideas we can adopt them. if they come up with bad ideas, we will be very wise to side-step them which is exactly the freedom that i and others have argued passionately in this house over the years and which we now has a government wishes to enjoy if all goes well. but the honorable gentleman has said that these reductions could -- now, as a member of parliament believe it or not i

didn't come here to have teachers sacked from my schools or doctors sacked from my surgeries. i want them to be well paid for, well funded and for there to be sensible growth in numbers where we have extra demand. where all of that view and it's quite misleading the party opposite suggest some of us don't appreciate that is well for our constituents. but it has to be affordable. it has to be within the power of the free enterprise economy to pay for out of reasonable taxation in a way which doesn't damage our growth, which is why it's so important. now, what is so crucial as the government has managed to find an extra 70 billion of cash spending for the fifth year of the plan compared with the start year, it is crucial that we keep public sector costs down so that the maximum amount of that money can go to improving service quality and in some cases improving the amount of service and the minimum amount of it goes in extra costs and extra

inefficiencies. and now all parties will say in office that they wish to have more efficiently run public services that they not only have to will the end but they have to will the means. that is why the reforms that this government is embarking on are so important. crucial that the government should listen. crucial that sensible criticisms are taken on board. but the public services had to be reformed so that we can say to people in five years' time, you are getting more for that extra 70 billion. we haven't had to cut things that really matter because we managed it better and we found a bit of extra money. >> i'm very grateful for my right honorable friend once again for giving way. is he aware of the enormous interests that exists among the purified economy for reform of it itself. i have had a successive group of gentlemen saying why can't we be allowed to save money and the reason is because of this enormously expensive procurement process. in the case of schools, not a

single school has been built recently which does not have an atrium and the reason is because it's been decided that schools which have not to do with corporations, nothing could be sillier or resistant to good government spending. >> i think my right honorable friend is quite right. improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of our purchasing is crucial in government. and there are many opportunities. and they provide some good examples but so does general purchase. i think it would be a good idea to speed the deficit reduction if there could be a stronger moratorium on purchasing items and supplies where there are already stocks in any company undertaking that radical turn-around this country is trying to do would immediately freeze all unnecessary purchases and make people run the stocks down so that we could save some money. we see that the current rate of natural wastage of staff in the

corps departments where i've got answers to questions is running about 6% per annum. we have 4% in the first 8 months. quite a number of those posts have been filled by taking on new people from our side. i would urge my ministerial friends on the front bench because the easiest way to reduce the administrative head on the scale, the least painful way for their staff who need to have their morale up is not to replace people who leave and not to make other people redundant. we can't afford the redundants and if we make great use of natural wastages. ministers can say to their save it means better opportunities for promotion. better opportunities for a change of job. if it's not an essential one you remove the post. if it is a essential one you appoint someone from the inside and remove some other less important post. that surely is the civilized and sensible way to tackle the very necessary task of cutting the administrative overhead. if the government can cut its

administrative overhead by the very large percent he's talking about it takes the pressure off in the cuts in the areas none of us which to see in the schools, in the hospitals and the front line services that matter so much. the question i was about to ask before the intervention was, what is the international context going to be like? how easy is it going to be for these government to have three or four years of above-average growth? and here i must warn the front bench that i fear that the world background is going to get more difficult going into 2012 and 2013 than it is at the moment. we had a very prolonged boom in the emerging market world and we now see china and india and brazil lifting their rates at very high levels and they are desperately trying to squeeze inflation out of their system and we must anticipate some

falloff in demand on spending and growth rates in those big emerging market economies. the united states' economy is going to have a very good year by the looks of it on the back of a lot of money printing very low interest rates and other matters. that comes to an end in the middle of this year so i think by next year, we will be seeing a slower rate of growth in the united states of america as well. a worthy situation in the middle east to get worse and for the damage from oil fields outside of libya and we may have another shock on the oil price which could serve to impede the growth of the economy. so the conclusion i take from this is that the world economy doesn't know if it's going to go back into another deep recession. we're not going to have another impossible situation but the world economy is not going to provide the impetus that it's currently providing. it may not feel that great but it is providing quite a bit of

impetus at the moment. it will be providing less impetus next year and beyond. that means that the chancellor has to intensify his pursuit of measures which make the u.k. that much more competitive and that much more successful. >> thank you, mr. deputy speaker. and would my right honorable friend also comment on the importance of improving our import positions vis-a-vis the countries brazil, russia, china and what important part that could play in our recovery? .. it conceals one important point which is british businesses have been more at a venue would suggest. i think british business for the larger companies tend to go into

india and brazil and china and senate joint ventures and factors of their own bear to serve the local market for a variety of reasons. for new reasons we needn't go into today. i grit my honorable friend would be good if we could help small for immediate we don't have the capability set up on the other side of the world to export generic term. whi now, the devaluation, which n veened over a year ago now has given us a nasty result, whichur is a much higher inflation rate but it is given us one very pleasant result which is it is very easy to export out of the british now because british industry is so much more competitive. we should have that on our site. i think paradoxically british businesses now in the manufacturing sector it's very

close. so they are tending to collect a bit more revenue and bring up their balance sheets because it's not that easy to expand turnover. that's what the chancellor was talking about. it needs to done speedily. this country does need to be able to put factors more quickly and get them into use more quickly. it does need to find the skilled engineers, and then expand the capability of their companies as result. modern manufacturing requires a very high degree of skill input. very talented people that management doesn't require many people to operate machines because manufacturing out is very highly automated. it needs precision of very expensive machinery. indeed, the easiest way to compete is to have a very highly automated firms.

the intellectual property content, and, of course, the plant and equipment content is much higher. but it is affordable with a quality product. >> i'm grateful to my right honorable friend. and further to the point you just made, directed from jcp, evidence that a select committee yesterday said he had 57 vacancies for engineers that he cannot feel. in order to assure that they remain competitive, and that unfortunate is the legacy of two meters which we have deliver technical vocational and very practical education as required. they are enthusiastic about the government taking forward the programs and, indeed, supporting lord baker with his university technical conference. >> mr. speaker, i'm happy with the proposal. what i wish to stress is the government is on the right lines and i hope it's going to be with

cross party agreement, that we need to raise our game and skills and training and education particularly in engineering and in chemistry and so forth will we have an advantage, can have a much bigger advantage if we do. and yes, we need to review how easy it is to buy or build a factor and how easy it is to equip it. and anything that can be done to lower the effective tax rate on business is going to make britain a much more attractive place to be. and as members of commerce will know i do say to you if you set lower rates you expect a lot more revenue. if you want those kind of growth rates, the more growth you're going to have. it would be a great tragedy to avoid recovery in certain sectors because the tax rates are too high. need to see the details of some of the individual tax schemes. need to look at how the carbon tax rebate works. because of course if we went

ahead and set a high carbon price we would price or energy business out of britain into less claims are less acceptable venue. very important that the rebates and discounts are properly thought through. at a time when the government is 2007.

we started whining about the japanese. japanese are going to take us over. we defeated them in the second world war. they are taking us over 1970. america will honor country. broad of jobs. but that the mice are whining about the mexicans. producing all the manufacturing to mexico. but what the state takes place. we can't compete. we can't do this. no wait are whining about the chinese and the indians. were a country of whiners. that's how we are. we should have enough confidence that we can compete with people if we all sacrifice a little bit for the common good. >> watch this event from wheaton college in illinois at 8:00 p.m. eastern on stand to

>> a recent report on women in the news media to show that women represent only a third of full-time journalism positions in men occupy the vast majority of management jobs and newsgathering positions in most nations. international women's media foundation commissioned the report which analyze research data from 500 outcasts and print companies nearly six countries. this is an hour. [applause] >> thank you very much. but the very kind introduction.

welcome all of you to washington. i wish the weather was better, but you have, the perfect time and it is very exciting for me to be here. i joined just year ago and it's been a wonderful experience to be on the board of such an exciting and dynamic organization. i'm going to give the quick executive summary of the findings of a report and then i've got a wonderful panel of companies doing great tanks. the report is not slim, but i am going to make a point to send an misreports my mother who was a journalist herself when i was growing up in saudi arabia. she is to go to the ministers in saudi arabia and they would say to her that she was the first woman who'd ever been in the room, not even the cleanest of the women. she was really a pioneer herself and shall be excited to read how much progress we've made. thank you. the global study on women in the

news media is the first international study that provides a complete day find it it is so comprehensive and that is what is so useful about it, of women positions in the news media. we use systematic methodology and we included news companies from all different regions of the world. this really is a global report. the study was conducted in more than 40 different languages and i'm sure you can all realize, being from so many countries are sold, just how many languages for dealing with and how many countries are dealing with. the local researchers conducted face-to-face interviews in all the different occasion and it covers 522 companies in 59 different countries. 20% for radio broadcasters. 24% television and 40% were newspapers. the data was organized into seven different regions of the world in the middle east and north africa, sub-saharan africa, the americas, asia and

oceana, eastern europe, nordic europe and western europe. here's what we thought to learn as we were conducting out of these different interviews. he wanted to know the extent to which women have entered the media workforce. we wanted to know what women's's databases and the companies they work in, not just whether there were generic, but with their actual positions are and the amount of power and control they have. what women's compensation is compared to their male counterpart. this is one of the key findings i think of the report and one that is very worthwhile if you're reading. we wanted to know the term under which all the women in these media organizations are employed. and we wanted to know the extent to which companies have adopted pro-quality policies, specifically gone out there to try to redress gender imbalances. the up some of the report is that we have a long ways to go. we've come further than my

mother's era in 1970s jedi, but we do still have a long way to go. the study found that 73% of the top management jobs in the countries that were covered by the report are occupied by men, 73%. as we all know, having women at the top changes the situation for women further down the pipeline. that is another key areas they think we all felt needed to be changed. we also found that men are paid more than women and the glass ceiling israel and that some areas of the world are much better than others. some of that was quite surprising. there are areas you might ask that some are doing particularly well. other areas that are definitely telling behind on gender issues. the findings of the global study in the status of women underscores the importance of the work of the iwmf is doing. i'm a glass half-full person and it is not all bad news aired the

study also found very many companies with good track records on gender equality and they are here with us today to share their stories and i hope really to give practical takeaways. what they hope to get out of the panels is all of you can take that to your companies the things you can be doing better come easier, things that do work in term of gender equality. i'll try to make a practical panel as possible and if i could call my panel is up, would be wonderful. [applause] >> it's my pleasure, first about coming to introduce the author of the global research report, dr. carolyn byerly at howard??

university school of demonstration. also with me on the stage of representatives of this exemplary media organizations are from left to right, canada's cbc general manager and editor in chief, jennfer mcguire. [applause] germany's targets cited managing editor in this poll. [applause] uganda is the new vision editor-in-chief, barbara kaija. [applause] peru's silvia miro quesda of empresa editorial group. [applause] norway's managing editor, kjersti sortland. and i'm going to join you and apologize for any of the names that i mingled there. i think we've tested my linguistic abilities this

morning. caroline, if i could start with you and have you cruise through some of the main findings of the reports for the audience. first of all, what was the biggest challenger came across because you are clearly working in so many different countries and so many different languages. and i imagine even to enlist real information to get tax must've been hired. >> well, that was one of the major things getting into the companies. in some countries, we have very little trouble. in other countries we have a great deal of trouble getting access and it was surprising which of those countries we have the greatest amount of trouble and. they were in most cases -- i think in all cases, in the most developed countries. we have the greatest difficult getting access to interviews. i think one of the huge challenges you can probably imagine was organizing the

project. we wanted to cover all areas of the world, but how are we going to do that? how are we going to manage it and set it up? once we made decisions about decentralized units in terms of organization, then we have the challenge of handiwork across -- how do you gather data in any kind of uniformed way when companies design their job search if you like him organized a family from country to country. and i think is really the credit of our international advisory board that we worked quite a few weeks unjust perfecting a questionnaire that we thought would work in so many different countries. >> was surprised to mouse clicks there's a lot of data here and a lot of information. when you back of the report, two or three things that really stick in your mind. >> one of them is actually

mentioned and that is the ways in which some of the regions just simply stand out above others in a uniform way. i think we have to look at eastern european region. we have 800 eastern europe, the former soviet lock. in uniform and from country to country, were almost at parity or even in some cases beyond parody with managers of companies. i think we really have to look at some of the reasons for that, which had to do with the way that for all of its problems in terms of authoritarian government and repression and so forth the soviet system was educated women into the workforce and that's having been institutionalized in that way. there is a labor force their already trained, able to assume journalism jobs as journalism itself changed under democracy. >> it is a take away for their companies and other parts of the

world are those models that are replicable, given the command of extraordinary circumstances. >> i think the lessons might be replicable. for instance, and others toward a major thing that stood out is the relationship between national and the status of women in journalism. and i think even in some countries, that belonged to a region where there was not particularly high status of women in these agencies. some individual countries and are probably true here from uganda and i were just talking about this earlier. the guy to the height status of women in general through its national laws. i think they are best in terms of women alike in office because of law and constitution. one of the ways for women journalists to keep thinking about this to happen at the start of national level, to advance the status of women under constitutions in the last. we see this also in the e.u. the e.u. nations are mandated to

advance gender equality in almost all of those countries, women have higher status in journalism jobs. >> let's talk one area that struck me that the world was falling apart and that was a shed. there are examples in asia, but asia didn't seem to be at a particularly complicated area. >> it is. fare quite different from each other. it's one of the areas of the world is the hardest to make generalities about. but i think something that we haven't talked much about his culture. the ways in which culture is in the role that they let us then, the ways that even educated women might be able to advance in certain parts -- certain occupations. the other thing is that journalism hasn't always been the first occupation that women -- educated women in countries have moved into.

and so i think one of the things i learned that some of the asian countries is that this is a fairly new occupation for a lot of women there. >> we have here five companies that seem to be doing the right things in terms of promoting women within the organization. are they anomaly? are there others around the world? >> yes, there are. one of the things we should remember that they said had to talk about the global report is that 522 companies cannot represent all of the thousands and thousands of companies, so in each individual company, i think it will be really important to feel the spotlight and emphasize companies that are the motto in to take lessons from them. >> carolyn, stay with us as we continue the discussion and feel free to chip in as well. i want to stay with this panel by asking all of you. it seems perhaps obvious to need

to promote women in journalism, but why? why are we here? why is it that it is important to the news media to have women come and not just a journalist, but senior positions? >> journalism is about choices. and choices are defined by the people who make them day-to-day. if any newsroom you are not representative of the people you're trying to serve, if the filter. you know, with gender equity, it's really important to get people in the newsroom driving different perspectives in terms of the news for the day and that's the basic reasoning. but it is not a worthy cause. it's good business for the media to reform and conservative people in the broader population. if we don't have those people at the table framing the discussion in helping us make those choices, were not connect team to the people were serving.

>> if we move beyond the time to my promote women because that's the good diverse thing to do to a realization said, to make business sense and political science and offense for the society? i think she's right. it's about choices about points of views, the topics, which recover, but also about how we look at the public, which questions are yes. i think this is connect it with the gender of who is asking the question. it's also about how to run these organizations and come to the managing level. i totally believe it's really a much-needed mcsherry gender in a mixture of diversity and where people come from. ..

>> to get their voices and you set an agenda. >> kjersti you come from an country that's still in terms of equality? >> women voting, in 1956, we didn't have the opportunity to vote. we left our congressman people. >> so just 40 years ago. >> just 40 years ago. so everywhere -- the gap is

really closing more. everything that we are doing quite well. i would like to take some words that the doctor said to me, the media is changing a lot because of the social media and all of the new sources that we have. and this is a way to connect with people, women to have a grand advantage compared to men. because nowadays to connect people, we need to have certain attributes which are not really a manageable for men. i mean, for example, social intelligence and open and a lot of things. those things are in the inspirit of men. it seems since the beginning of humanity of men were dedicated to fishing, hunting, just one in

here from women inferior. and women were the contrary. that's something that one the contents of the book told me. and he told me if you go back, silva, and look around, he said, women in the beginning, they were at home. they were with the family, they cook, they raise their children, so they were inferior. what are we having now in social network? we are using both hemispheres. i think now is a good opportunity. it's a way we have to challenge women to be more educated, to encourage them to jump into this story because at the end, we have a lot to share with people with our community, and this is very, very good moment for women

in the media. >> kjersti, why is it important to have women in senior positions and women in your journalist ranks? >> it's important because it change the news. it does. of course, it makes it easier for the women of the conversation when you have a lot of leader. but i think we are closer now with a better agenda balance to everyday use, consumers use. and in the crime section, very much so. so -- >> are half of your readers women? >> 49% actually, yeah. >> so having women in your journalist ranks reflects your readership as well? >> excuse me. >> having women in your journalist reflects your readers concerns as well? >> yes, absolutely. >> you always agree it's important. what have your companies done specifically? let's start with you to make

sure we get there. >> well, at cbc, obviously we have hiring equity practices. all things being equal, the equity piece gets played in terms of preferences. but i think for cbc, the strategy has been to be deliberate. i'll tell you a story. karen levine who is a documentary making, author, and she's a radio producer at cbc, and in the early '90s was the producer of as it happens. which some of you might have heard on npr. she told she sounded too official and too male. the first stop was to her to track how many stories were featuring female and male and begin the discussions with the producers about, you know, look, let's try to change this. get other voices on the air. started there. then it progressed to okay let's

say that we want half of the show which is representative of the population to be female voices. then the goal was to try to get it to happen. harder things to book, hard to get the women on the air. at a certain point of the day, she would have another story reading. and they would do it again. all of this to say, it didn't just happen. i can speak from experience around cbc's diversity policies too. good intentions are not enough. and if you asked, pick a show. if you asked people on the show if they valued equity or diversity, or reflection, they would say yes. if you see if it happens, many cases it's not the case. i think it has to be deliberate. i think you have to declare what it is you are trying to achieve, and then measure it and hold people accountable. and everybody hates the quota word. but it's not -- it's not because in journalism, everyday we make

choices. we heard the lady from belarus, why not belarus? why not libya? why not bahrain? you declare it and commit to it and you have held accountable. >> barbara, is this what your experience has been in uganda? you made specific choices to make sure that women are promoted? does janice's experience mirror, or have you done something different to provide quality? >> they have given an example from our constitution. i think the media in uganda is a reflection of what our society is. what our society is in as far as the law is concerned. from 1994, the new constitution in uganda, it was a requirement that 30% of the position right from local government, the local consult, up to parliament should

be women. we are made of nine people at local government. it means for every 90, they should have 30% women represented. >> and that was enough in your own representation? >> i think because we as the media had to report on gender equity. because we were playing the policeman, it had to be that we had to reflect that. you know, when you keep reporting about something, it happens that you do it. but also it's not just that. maybe another thing is we also had leadership, surprisingly, they were men, not necessarily women, leadership in my organization that valued the women. so that discussions were never whether somebody was a woman or not, but what they could do. because of that, women got promoted. and that's how they made it to the top. >> silva, you come from a country that has a very different approach and attitude

than barbara's. how have you managed in your own news organization to implement policies that promote women in the organization? >> what specifically? our newspaper is a family newspaper. it's a newspaper that was founded in 1839. almost 102 years. we have tried to be very professional and more or less to have the family called and everything. one the things that really has changed in the newspaper is what really matters is having the best people in a newsroom, regarding gender. with the plans and we really get the best ones, to be, you know,

patient. >> but do you specifically try as jennifer was suggesting? is that there are an equal number of women in >> no, we don't really. we think more about more than quarters. we have very good professionals. we have the need to have specific policies. for example, in the last two years, we have done very much good improvement because we have much more women in the committees that they want to give the support to the newsroom. it's something that is going -- it is walking normally. >> what's your experience been of that? what particular thing haves you

implemented? >> our experience is without sincere involvement by the top management, this gender equality would just be nice party speeches. so that's so crucial. the way to do it for us, it was in 2002, we made a formal agreement between the journalist, the management and the journalist union, our newspaper. that was really important. because it stated the clear policy. we agree that we will have a 55th gender equality in all loves of the organization. that's strict policy, how to get there. and i think it's very important, like jennifer said to measure it. because if i said to the head of the department, this year, you know, every year we have a conversation, leader and head of the department. if they come this year, i will not only measure you on whether you are scandals on the front

pages, i will measure you whether you find for the two employees that you are going to find this year, that you will find good female reporters. then they will do it; right? if you measure him and he knows that. >> if it's part of his job description? >> yeah, a formal job description has helped us to get the female applications. and then if everybody who's working in the organization and have a leader, a leading position. if they are measured on whether they do it or not, they will do it. >> this is about merit. about a future that's representative. it's not about giving people a job that's not qualified for the job. >> what's your experience? >> i agree with kjersti and jennifer. it's just talking. the idea is half and half women and men.

and also in the middle management level. we have to have as many women as men in the middle management position and also in the top. welling i'm the managing editor. i'm one women deputy and one man deputy. this is outstanding for germany. i'm the only female managing editor from a national wide newsroom in germany. we have the chancellor, we have proud. especially in the newsroom, it's better in radio and television. i think my radio is do well because of the quota since 20 years. if it's not fulfilled, they have to hire a women. if there isn't a women in the newsroom, they have to look outside the news room to find someone. >> how dependent is the policy? all of you are women that are leading. i wonder if suddenly you were

replaced with men tomorrow, whether your news organization, gender equality would slip. >> i would say first of all, depending on the men what would replace us? there are great men out there. as someone said this morning, tomorrow we will have a one session with only men on the panel which is kind of strange. but on the other hand, it's great. because they are really engaged in the questions and things. so this will be the first question. then i still think, yes, it is important that women, female leaders are visible. because this empowers and encourages young journalist, young women really to add and feel able to also step forward and to take the responsibility for leadership. >> and organizations have to evolve too. i'll tell you another story about two very capable political reporters in otto, our capitol city. probably about -- well, i won't tell you because then you'll

know the leader. but at the time, both were young mothers. they wanted to job share the political role out of the capitol. they agreed to work nights, work weekends, and make sure it would be a seamless transition in any kind of election campaign. they were told, no, you can't do that. you either come to the job in the terms of the job, or you get out. and they both left the organization, and the organization was, you know, sort of lesser for it. and i think in our structure of how we work and how we look at work, it's still sort of a male hierarchy approach in terms of how organization are run. and that's sort of the next evolution because we don't want to lose woman who choose to have families. you know, we have to figure out how that works into the representation moving forward. >> okay. >> just picking up on jennifer's point here about social services that are government funded and available to women really

emerged in the nor -- nortic countries where you have governorring the longer terms of new parent leave, government funded child care centers that take care of children before they go to school, these sorts of things free up women to live their career lives. again, it's, you know, looking at models and principals, i think that would be something not to forget about. >> you've all talked, and that's clearly true in every profession that women are involved in. those are important factors that women need to have. you've all talked about the policies. i was wondering if you could give me an specific example. maybe there aren't any. have you had a specific example where somebody has pushed back against gender equality?

where you have come up against somebody that said we shouldn't have this woman doing this story or any problems that you've encountered in trying to keep women in the news organization and promote women? >> well, we have a problem with a lot of things. but not really. what we have a problem with is getting enough female sources actually in the paper. we are better in the news that we cover and so forth. but when you read my paper, you will find that 70% male sources and pictures of females in my paper. we thought we have struggled with this for 20 years. it's a struggle we are still doing. we are not satisfied. >> the people are being interviewed in the newspaper that tend to be men. >> i think one the reasons where we are still struggles is to get women in night shape. i'm an example.

i said no to take my chief editor making the front page and really making the paper, and that's because my husband is traveling and i have two young children at home. it was too tough for me. i'm an example of that. that we are struggling hard. it's that we will make the paper and this pictures and say why do you only have male sources? we are struggling with that. that's our main challenge. >> we are obviously struggling with the same problem. there's a strict rule that has to be one picture of the women of our front page. and we have big fights talking about it. even in our newsroom, you should hear the women and men colleagues if i say we have the rule. we have the picture. it's possible. it's not only from theater or, you know, actors. >> as i look at the front pages.

>> i think it is very important rule. but it really changes. then the front page editor we would call it like that. he could go and say, hey, i need a story from the women. otherwise he could come and say where's the picture? [laughter] >> take away for all of you. >> you know, i was really disturbed to read in the american press and certainly in canada after egypt, the journalist who was raped in egypt, the discourse that came. is it safe for female journalist to go into dangerous zones in terms of reporting? you know, we had editors and candidates saying that women are children shouldn't be allowed to do this kind of coverage. which is ludicrous. we had a camera man injured in egypt as well. we didn't talk about that as a gender issue.

somehow female journalist being injured and i don't want to diminish the danger of it. we have to sort of address these things. because that isn't the discourse that we need to see. >> silva, talk about your experience in peru. has there been times where you have tried to implement gender policies and faced reluctance from other people? >> we don't have unions in the newspaper. and most don't have unions at the moment. and government and there are a lot of politics in the unions. there are no unions in most of the companies. and as i was recalling something, really it's the problem that we have a few women that were sources of our newspaper. that's true. that's something that we have to work on.

what we have, for example, in women is measured. we don't have any problem in having women in that shape and have the same as male in the newsroom. and no one was remembered, for example, trying to cover top stories, very difficult stories. one of our journalist, 20 years ago, was injured by the shines puck. we send people or we send women to cover hard stories. and i remember and i got to the newspaper that day and i was coming up and they sold me

silva, what happens? she has been killed. i thought she was in the island. there was a rate in the shining puck. we need you to talk with the family. so i talked to them. so we are in some cases, women cover the stories, but -- >> and we really have the problem. it's something cultural. mostly women to cover stories in the inside part of the country. for someone that we had less time like two years ago. that was the stringer at costco, and i said you give me your testimony and both were women, young, and not have the case

handling an explosive boom in the hand. they suggested me not to pose a question to the top driver. those were things only from males. the words was to talk to them in a slick manner. otherwise i was told that something bad might happen. i asked what's something bad that could happen to you? did they say you? yes? they don't me don't talk as you work from the capitol. you can be raped at any moment. so that's a -- that's really depressing. >> and yet you still have women journalist who will go? >> yes. >> let's take inez's example of having a photograph on the front page. if you took that back now and said every night we must have a photo on it.

would that be something that would work? would it help or not really? >> i really think that's not to have every day. we have to work for the stories are being called. and their attention of our readers and audience. we have to look good stories where women are involved in the story. it's not -- i don't believe really in every day that you have to do this. you have to try to look for good stories, you try to -- you have to have, for example, a very good day to day, and you have to oversee the database and say, which are my sources? if i have to talk about my new problems. then you'll really say okay. why do we have only male consultants? are there no mining engineers women? yes, they are. okay. and jumping into our database.

but i don't believe really and every day like the same. every day you should have a story, a drift to tell people. it's impossible. because every day circumstances don't give. >> barbara, let me bring you back in here. you come from a country that has you explained, there are constitutional laws that promote gender inequality. have there been times where at the newspaper,off encountered challenges. >> yes, there's been a number of times. one example is when the new maternity policy was passed. the national maternity policies, we had only 45 days. you'd go back when the baby was really young and couldn't take milk. when it was changed over to

three months, most of the employees found it hard to take. when it came into the house, the argument was well, this is going to set back women either further. they want to be able to get their jobs back. but we did agree that look we shall take these off and look after the baby. and we also did agree that if a women was a flex period after 45 days, she can come in work half days it would work. i think it really worked, because there are women in top management, women who fret about it. inspite of that, it became very hard when it came to implementation. we had to keep fighting for it. and >> -- >> and did you find when the women wanted to take longer maternity leave, it affected the prospect or the kinds of stories they could cover. >> when they come back, they are guaranteed their jobs back. but certainly if two people

entered at the same time and you went out for maternity leave for a longer time, probably would find in that they have advanced, at least when you come back, you are guaranteed your job back. >> i wanted to talk about the kinds of stories that you have found that you've been able to cover when you promote women. inez, you have a great example that you told me about earlier about the beginning of the egypt uprising. and particular story that you covered. and i thought what was so interesting about it, it showed the differences in a way between female and male reporting. that was something that you thought was worth promoting in the news organization. >> i think it referred to this tear guessing. we had a very young student writing for us, blogging for us that we put in the paper because it was very difficult in the beginning to keep in contact with all correspondence in cairo, obviously. so she was living in this

student home that was crowded because it was so centered in cairo. we wrote about it how they took care of the skin after the tear gas. there's a revolution. why do we report on that? but it just showed, you know, how these things affect normal life and how women, young women and young students deal with this new situation. i found it so interesting. coming from that, and it involved the whole discussion with our blogs online, how women use the scarfs to cover how they take care of the skin, and how they take care of their kids, you know. it really messes who reports. the things that you said earlier about choices.

>> is that something that's changed? because i feel like for a long time, we felt we should all pretend and say that women were the same as men? actually now, i think there's a recognition that it's okay to say we report things differently. is that true, jennifer? >> i don't know if it actually delineated entirely around gender lines. but i do think bringing a personal filter to the stories is what happens naturally. and the more people of different perspectives, i would say the same thing, you know, in canada, we're very multicultural. i would say the same thing about that. that you need people who bring that to the table in terms of looking at what it the story and what is interesting about the story and how we cover that story. so yes, i do. >> is that jr. -- is that your experience too? >> yes. but working with the culture and company takes longer than you think. >> right. >> when i answered my newspaper

20 years ago in 91, we had a 30 30/70 gender balance. it wasn't a great place to work for a young woman. i never went to the park after. you know? it is something with people if the balance is wrong. and i think every workplace in the world needs equality to be a nice place to be. and that affects us how -- the way we leave our work life, the way we work together, and the news we are finally making. it's a line there, and we have been working so much with this main culture, trying to soften it and make it the place to be for everybody on the workplace. and we have done seminars in formal networks with women leader encouraging each other to

take proficients. and that's -- in 20 years we have moved from female balance to 37 almost. we are still not satisfied. but that has done something with us. and, of course, now it's not -- the victims voice in the murder case are coming more true to the paper. we made the story some years ago, 72 women killed by the men. that was a female initiative, okay? so we are tired of police saying every week on the news it is family tragedy happen. it woman is dead, it's a family tragedy. it's the way the police announced this. we said no, these are murders. let's find every women and portrait them and tell the

story. we did. it was the greatest might have we ever made. this was because we see a little bit different. this is not a family tragedy. this is murder. so we wouldn't have this if we hadn't worked for 20 years. getting women in the organization, and let's do this. three months doing this. but it takes time. working the culture, making us. >> also saying that story is as much a value of covering the murder. as the leader, you can do that. we are putting our resources, spending our resources here because it's important. >> do you -- any of you, have you faced kick back from senior men in the organization? when you've tried to do stories like that? or have they valued the product and seen what it's done for your audiences? >> maybe if i could stick about the new vision, the newspaper. in the '90s, the early '90s

we attended a conference. we listened to the "the daily mail." they had transferred by following the women. so when we came back to new vision, we decided to do that. >> doing off to the female? >> yes, going after the female readership. and the only way to do that was getting the women and getting their voices in, and getting their issues heard, getting female reporters, not just female reporters, but stories for the women. and it actually did pair off. because it gives us the women readers, and also give us the male readers, because the stories were more interesting and more interesting to read. >> give me an example, barbara, a story that you say you angled. >> if i give you an example of accident. it's not just man dies in accident.

it will be further dies in an accident. so it sort of brings in that human and female feel into the story. >> silva, you wrote in your notes that you wrote to us, you talked about some of the areas where you are still having trouble getting women reported. one of them was investigative journalist. you mentioned the examples of the women that faced danger when they traveled into the country. one of your reporters was killed. even on a more day-to-day basis, it is sometimes hard for the women to do the kinds of things that their male colleagues might do to get ahead and get the stories and sources. >> i remember when i started in the newspaper in 1982, i worked, for example, we were in the newsroom. we worked ten females and the rest of them were men.

and we learned how to work together and we really had a very, very good time. and we learned from each other. but it was at the point, for example, i came one the first female editor in the newspaper and had a picture in which are the ten senior editors of the newspaper and there was the only lady in picture. i have it in my room. and now, for example, is investigative reporters, what happens? many times one the reporters that is no longer in the newspaper, because she decided to step aside for a time. she told me silva, when i started being an investigative reporter. the things that i was told to say, i was told my my -- told by my colleagues from the other

newspapers, if you want to get that source, okay, you have to go to them and have drinks with the people or you have to take your sources to alone at night to take the larger and take the judges. i said i'm not going to do that. you know me. so she really changed a lot. the way how investigative reporters had to work. she really had a very good recognized. >> because she went to the bars. she managed to get the sources anyway. >> she changes the way to the ethic way and great manners. and very proficient in way.

she really found a way to get to the sources without using natural manners, if we can say. >> that's a remarkable story. that suggests some of the hurdles can be overcome. barbara, you talk about the fact that it's hard for women in certain fields as well. although you've done great things to promote women, there are not enough women. >> we have a very lack of investigative skills. i don't think i have a solution. i think what i see -- the situation that i see is that ladies -- ladies in uganda has covered some of them. we covered them the congo war, we covered the randa genocide,

and all of these were ladies, lady journalist. at least six of them did. when it comes to the investigation, we only have one lady that does the investigation. and i think it's a skills issue. it's a skills issue and lack of confidence. and i think it's an area that we can do better. i don't think i have a solution, actually. >> is it a question as they were talking about earlier as making specific quotas? would that help? >> i think it takes more than quarters. because actually we demand that our senior journalist do right in the investigative tourist, but the variable is different. it's more of us, it's like asking somebody to do something, but we don't have the skills to do it. it's more of a skills issue. >> coming back to the point of having confidence. i mean this is -- we have the saying in germany that if a man gets asked, can you write the editor, he says, sure, what is

it about? the women asks, what is it about? you know, i don't know. they can do it. women don't feel strong enough and skilled enough. i mean really so much more -- do they have so much better skills to do investigative journalism. i don't know. i can just talk about mine. it's mainly men who are doing the big investigative pieces. why? lots of reporting is done out of office hours. we come back to family issues. then it's also we have the role models. it's men. they are following their role models. this is something we should talk about how we can make through special stipends or special training, young or middle-aged women to jump into positions. >> or give them the opportunity. i can promise you there are at

least three jobs that i've had that i wasn't ready for. but i had somebody who saw something in me and believed in me and save them to me and supported me through that transition process. i think if you have people who are capable, critical thinkers, good writers, you know, instintive journalist, you can grow them to be your premier investigative journalist with support. i think it's a cop out to say that it can't be. >> i think it's really in it. i'm just thinking in the case of covering the wars, it was because they were role models. they looked up. they looked at bbc and cnn. we were doing this and is it follow on. probably we don't have enough to be an investigative journalist. i think that would actually help. >> carolyn. >> i think it's also an issue for journal education. i think at least in the u.s., almost 2/3 of students in

journalist school are female. >> primarily female? >> i think to some extent, it's a matter of giving them the training and incentive and also for female faculty to mentor young journalist students so they have in their head the idea that maybe they can do that. also going back to barbara's issue about skills or confidence. i think it takes a particular tenacity to be an investigative reporter. you have to be willing to stick with something to get your foot in the door. i had a student -- i used to teach investigative reporting as one the journalism courses that i taught. and my most aggressive student was a female. and even on the story assignment for class, she found out this guy wasn't going to give her an interview. she found out what time they came to work, and she was there to meet him at 7 a.m. when she

arrived. she interviewed him outside of the door of his office building because he wouldn't give her an interview. i think it takes a certain amount. it can start earlier than in the newsroom. >> they say here in america, the man looks in the mirror and sees the senator or president. and a woman has to be asked to run for office. we don't naturally look in the mirror and naturally. we could do perhaps the job of both promoting ourselves within our organization and claiming credit for what we do, also feeling it within ourselves. i'm wondering if whether you have -- how important you think it is having a woman at the top of the organization to make the woman further down the pipeline feel that that in and of itself is a role model? >> i think it's very important. i found it very interesting that diane yesterday, and you today, refer to your mothers as strong ideals, you know, your super starts.

and that shows. i think that shows you need someone, yeah, who is like -- i don't know. what might be on your side and believes in you, this can be a women journalist easier than the men journalist. >> all of that, you talk about trying to give confidence to younger reporters who might not see themselves, as barbara said in the next sports reporter or finance reporter or investigative reporter or political reporter. some of those they find it harder to get into. you talked about the confidence. what would be an specific example of how the audience could do that? >> for example, in my paper, it's true for many german news organization, we have very little women in the finance world. this should be a field that's encouraged women to cover. i think the coverage could have been different. >> maybe the finance would have different too. >> maybe the whole thing would have. i think what one really could

do, one could decide, okay, the next job opening that i have in this field, i give it to a woman and i look for my younger colleagues that are able. i send her to training and offers her help, before she gets the job. i think that's something we could do to look through the newsroom and look at talent in specific fields and promote it by getting special training. >> never underestimate the power of a role model. we heard that with all of the students asking the question of diane sawyer. we heard who's a rock star in the journalism and schools across the country. there's other things that the impact is profound. >> we have five minutes left, i want to ask each of you briefly what you would tell the members of the audience and media here they could take back to their

own news organization that you could learn to improve gender equality. >> two things, leadership and be deliberate. >> very brief. >> wow. that's tough. i would come back to the role model thing really. and we haven't talked about that. but networking is important for me. >> which we are all doing here. what are the things they can do, the practical things they can do. >> i think strong women's organization that have connections to women's liberation are incredibly important. you want women who have a considerationness and know what to ask and how to report when they get there. that's why. >> i would say leadership. leadership that speaks out.

i could i should say we shouldn't believe the men out. i would also say killed. even if you want to promote women, if the skills are not there, then it won't. >> leadership, no doubt, to have time to see what's happening inside the organization. because many times we're in the newsroom, and we're not looking for the talent. those talents that we have to train. leadership, educate, and qualify in what we are doing. >> i would say three things. clearly defined goals and specific policy in follows them up. i would say active involvement and participation from the management. our chief editor should say every day, where is the woman on

the front page? that's active involvement on the top management. and working with attitudes and culture, it's important. you must not forget that. it has taken us 20 years working with that. don't forget about that. >> 20 years. >> and we're still not satisfied. you have to find ways. >> thank you all so much. that was a fascinating panel. all of you have less thanked things to take back. kjersti, silva, barbara, inez, and jennifer, thank you so much for joining me up here. >> or march 30th, 60 days into

the presidency, ronald reagan was shot leaving the hotel. 30 years ago, the museum hosts a discussion on the assassination with a secret service agent that was there and the doctor who operated on the president. see it today live starting at 7:30 p.m. eastern on our companion network c-span. and tonight at 8 p.m. eastern, the longest serving chicago mayor richard daley and after he hands it back to rahm emanuel. that's starting at 8 eastern here on c-span2. >> unrest in the arab world continues, iraq and king muhammad has proposed changes

and creating the independent judiciary. next, remarks by morocco's foreign minister, he's in town for meeting with secretary of state hillary clinton. this is an hour and 10 minutes. good morning, ladies and gentlemen. welcome to brookings. i'm martin indyk, the foreign policy director at brookings. on behalf of the program, and especially the center, ken pollack here in the front row this morning, we are delighted to bring you another statesman forum. this time to host the minister of foreign affairs in corporation of the kingdom of morocco theory.

it's a special pleasure to me. the minister has been a good friend personally and of the united states for many years. and i've long wanted to have the opportunity to host him here. i'm delighted that he's agreed to do so. the minister as a distinguished career in diplomacy. but it didn't start out that way. he was a professor of microeconomics at the university of paris, then became research fellow at the french institute at the international relations. before he joined the planning directory in the ministry of planning in the kingdom of morocco. from 1986 to 1989, he served as the head of the division in the charge of the relations with the

european community. at the foreign minister. and then was nominated as secretary of state were foreign affairs incorporation in 1993 by the late king. he served in successive governments and then his majesty king muhammad the 6th appointed him to that -- to the position of minister of foreign affairs and corporation. as some of you may know, king hasan made a king's speech a couple of weeks ago. it did not get a lot of attention here. but king muhammad announced sweeping reforms of political reforms. as ken pollack was pointing out last night, we have in north

africa today an amazing set of phenomena. on the one side, a leader, roe mar gadhafi who is using brutal force to sue press the aspirations of the libyan people. on the other side, we have a revolution that has taken place. and long time leader, president ben ali has been off of the throne for three days. transition to democracy is now under way. then we have what ken was calling the third way. the way that king hew -- muhammad ii has announced. it's that way that i asked the

foreign ministers. please join me in welcoming taieb fassi-fihri to the state forum. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, thank you. thank you very much, martin for this introduction. but maybe you have to add that my establish is still today after this long career still approximately. but i will try. i will try to say some to express some observations about what happens in our area. and we can first have some conclusion. i think the first conclusion is that the -- there is no arab

exceptions for the universal principals for democracy. and hopefully the arab cities are like others, wants a better life, and wants to leave in the context of freedom and democratic multiparties. then no one can process, including in our area, could working on the two legs. economic development and political progress. the second lesson is that even if there is a growth, this economic growth have to be shared by all people in a country. shared in different area of the

country, but also shared by all people. and i think the egyptians and tunisia case offer to us just listen. third observation is what happens in some countries in terms of revolution? when we look to the tunisia and egyptian case, we see that the regime maybe was -- i don't know if we said that in english -- [inaudible] >> sporadic. >> sporadic. it's more erotic than in french. [laughter] >> and remember that when president ben ali was reelected in november of 2009, some weeks after, there was an organization

from many people to encourage, and in the nature in 2014. imagine this people, young people opened their eyes to benally regime and we said to them that we have to leave under the same system with the same values and injustice until 2019. i think that is also the case for the egypt of hosni mubarak. then we can say that there are many of hoping in these countries. and that the arab group is not a

monolithic group. and the regime in bahrain is different in jordan or tunisia, or more or less he's there. the unic party and the military power and specific power in libya. it means that the change will happen hopefully. because we are faced in our earlier the same challenges. same challenges in investing people. because more than 50% of our society are less than 25 years ago. and out of response to the

ambitiouses, and ambitiouses of our youth. facing the same challenges, probably going forward in terms of evolution, but there will be no impact. in this region. because each country has it's own specific itinerary. because each country has it it's own political system. but between revolution and evolution, respect is large. and i hope that each country can progress and respond to this legitimate aspiration of people and namely of youth people in this area. what about morocco? i can say that first morocco

refused the munich party from the beginning. it was not easy. that in monarchy, express clearly that we want. and people work and politics and parties work together and hopefully we have the system and the multiparties more was concentrated in the first constitution in 1962. and when i read some days ago, the proposal, the new constitution in egypt, i think that we have to be proud as moroccan that in 1962, we have this constitution. and this constitution was amended four times. and then president morocco to

eliminate the progress, and progress looking to the evolution of our society, but also of our environment regionally and internationally. : the friendship of france. in 1998 for the first time the opposition came to power. we also tried since this time with the king, muhammad vi, to continue thanks to some efforts to progress on our two legs. on human development, fighting against poverty, and the other

thing is the fighting against corruption, creating business environment possible, and in this context we negotiate and conclude and f.t.a. with u.s.a. but beyond the trades or business or investments aspect, what we are interested at this time is to take a strong commitment for better environment for business. when we talk about environment for business, we talk about the necessaryity to have transparency, the necessaryity to have transparent rules of game in morocco. and with it the same with european union. probably you know that morocco since many years asked for

specific status with european union, and european union don't offer to us because, for morocco advanced status and this status for us is testimony that morocco walk on the two legs and he will continue to walk on these two legs and we are very happy and satisfied to note that the same status just given to jordan. recently. what happened in the arab world then, taking account the evolution in morocco, i want to insist on as martin said this new step taken by morocco an people of morocco. and when the king propose and

advanced organization in november, 2009, then before the air raabe spring, saying that it's time for morocco to have this -- not only this organization but more of that because the democracy start first at the local level. when we present that and ole political parties, all n.g.o.'s part -- participate to the debate about the regionalization and to report presented to the king during the last month, then the king said, ok, for this important step, but maybe we have to take this opportunity to go forward deeply and to not go to constitutional reform

overwhelm for organization. let us take this momentum, let us take this possibility and opportunity, listen to what's happened in our own society, but also looking to what happened around us. not only in the arab world, but also in europe and in other countries. and what it was now it's an inclusive debate for the best constitution we can have during this year. the king ask to have the reform before the end of june -- proposal for reform before the end of june and the process, as i said, start with all political parties, with all n.g.o.'s, with all trade unions, including

youth organizations. and the goal is to have total independence of powers and powers body. executive, parliamentary, and justice. in morocco justice is still today an administration. it will be before the end of the year an independent, totally independent body. i am member of cabinet, elected cabinet, with a large coalition of political parties. but we will have a jump many here during the next month. elected government, yes, but with the prime minister we will have the best score in the

elections. human rights, we just reform our mechanism of human rights. and i can say to you not as diplomat, not as member of the cabinet, that the system is maybe the best system for the supervision and guarantees of human rights in our area with the best international -- with the new national council for human rights, with the new invigorate institution of mediator, and a new and energetic executive coordination among the government in connection with the

international institutions and also international n.g.o.'s. then after same moment some protest -- at the same moment some protest continue, peaceful protest. and here, too, happy it's happened like this. i'll talk about inclusive debate . we have also to note that the process in the street, because there is the freedom for protest when it's peaceful. and i am sure that in some month morocco will continue. i don't appreciate the term exception or the leaders of reform in the region, but because we do that for us first,

not only to come to washington and to say my country's the best in the region, no. because we want to see our people progress and our people taking opportunities for their own benefit. in conclusion the arab spring is here. we are not sure the summer will succeed to the current spring. and maybe, we can talk, maybe we will go directly, toward a dark winter like it happened in our area in iran in 1979, like when we see the counterrevolutions

are still dynamic in tunisia or egypt, and when we see that we'll probably take this opportunity to create the atmosphere because al qaeda needs large space more than only the sahara region, but they are very active now in all west africa and maybe they will take this -- maybe evolution in this country, then we have to be very careful, very prudent, and we have all u.s.a., european union, arab countries have to work together to protect this positive evolution. this transition and to be sure that the legitimate aspiration of people will not -- were not

kept by others and to come back to autocratic systems. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. we are going to have a bit of a conversation here first and then we'll take -- the minister will take your questions. i wonder if i can start with the political reform process and just get you to elaborate on a couple things. your presentation was very clear, but i suspect not everybody has had a chance to read the king's speech. there are a couple of things that i wanted to just have you elaborate on. the first is the parliament. you said you had political parties. you had rotation, opposition

leader and party has become the government in the past. the difference now as i understand it is that the king will not appoint the prime minister. the prime minister will be the leader of the largest party in the parliament, is that correct? >> exactly. it's important. it's happened. the current prime minister is the leader of the party who has the best results. but naturally it need coalition. but his majesty like in other countries, democratic countries, will ask the best results party to lead the government. and it would be in the constitution. >> i don't know whether you can answer this question, because as a constitutional process as you describe it, what do you imagine

will be the reserve powers of the king under this arrangement? will he -- what powers will he retain? >> first, the monarchy in morocco is the -- one of the oldest monarchy in the world. monarchy play a key role in terms of guarantee of the unity, because morocco are naturally, arab country, we are not only arab, we are muslim, jews, we are african country, and it's mixed. needs, different source of our identity are expressed by this monarchy system of the the king is also commander, and in morocco the political area and the religious area are totally

independent but they are joined only at one point, the level of the monarch. then it's important and everyone in morocco prefer to live in this -- under this umbrella. but now in terms of executive decisions, the role of the government will be enlarged significantly, and as much as it's opened now to delegate many of its current power to the government. and this government will take its responsibility to parliament. when i say for you it's normal, but let us come back to what happened in our area to take

note that it's very important and significant step. >> foreign policy and defense will remain in the hands of the king? >> like in all democratic countries, it's the guarantee of the unity, it's a shared power, but the head of state will continue to lead the foreign policy. >> so as foreign minister you'll be a member of the executive branch of the government. >> i have only visibility -- after the reform then many thing will change with the implementation of the next constitution. . >> i did not mean to make it

personal. the foreign minister is a member of the executive branch. >> in many countries, the foreign minister is not necessarily -- it is open. i hope for morocco that it will be the best possible foreign minister. >> you mentioned this new regionalization arrangement. what will be the powers of the regional governments? >> that is an important point. it will be a real revolution. a revolution in morocco, because today, at the level of the region, we have people appointed by the government, the national government, but today, we will have an elected council with a

president with all -- for the local government. and then, the elected people will have the power to manage the region. it is not -- this is not easy because the elected people means that the political party can have a program and can manage that. we take the experience of some countries like mexico or tunisia, to have success in this important step. important because we have many regions in morocco. in each region, we have disparities, socially, economically, that will create and within each

region, the best possibility in housing and education, health and roads. that will be for the local government. >> the independence of the judiciary will be a new development. presumably that will be guaranteed under the constitution. and so the judiciary will function independently of the king, as well as the parliament? >> no. the executive. the justice will have its own law. an independent power -- and independent power. this will be expressed by the king.

>> he will appoint the judges. >> we will have an independent body. think in terms of -- in morocco, first we have our own justice principles. but we have the legacy of the latin law and the code. will have -- we will have what is important. it is not ready today. and because some -- time to time, the justice department, but now we want to ensure this development. >> can i ask you a couple of

questions about foreign policy? your region in north africa is now considerable turmoil. do you feel it in morocco? is the trouble in libya going to affect life in morocco in any way? >> in terms of condition, yes, .ecause we have the treaty - this treaty -- we have difficulties with our brother, nigeria. but we have the ambition to bring this important integration among the five member states. nigeria, morocco. we demonstrate maybe we have to

wait more. that what is sure is that when we talk about north africa, revolutions from tunisia, the libyan case is maybe very complicated, and the think that no one can today say clearly what will happen. there is, maybe for the first time, a strong expression of real consensus from the arab league. we have to notes that the arab league did not succeed in terms of economic integration short in terms of shedding the same values, or in terms of crisis management.

and i hope that taking the opportunity of these -- we can rest and we can give to our common house. but the arab league is our common house with many windows, many from time to time national position is stronger than the common decisions. but we note that the arab league claimed the first for the -- in libya. with some reservation in syria and algeria. and mauritania. my colleague changed this morning, maybe do to that. i do not know. it changed --

>> against or in support? >> no, it changed. a new foreign minister this morning. this coming from the region -- , the international community. today, we have a resolution, a security council, which might give to us all international community and all countries. we are in the chapter 7. and this resolution, it is not the resolution of france. it is our common resolution. each country can say i am interested by this or like that. the resolution is comment.

the resolution talks about -- it takes about four weeks. first, a cease-fire. second, to protect civilians taking all necessary measures. third, human -- actions. first quarter, a political process. some countries decide that to protect the civilians, they have to intervene against the army which killed the civilians. and then i cannot say that is illegal. i note there is a large coalition of countries saying that is the best way. i have to respect this point of view. but morocco said at the same time, the resolution is wider, in some countries have to prepare themselves for a contribution for each human

actions or the real, deep, frank dialogue. between people in libya. between people. >> does that include colonel khadafy? >> all the expression of something. be sure there are many groups saying many things, asking for a change. these people will watch on tv disagree. but we have some experience in the past. >> so at morocco is part of the coalition, but -- >> morocco participated at the paris summit.

we were invited. the resolution inviting us together. i participated in the summit. with with my colleague of jordan and from qatar and with my colleague from iraq. and they were -- the current president from the arab league. and we discussed and i said what i said now. morocco is member of coalition, trying to the best implementation of the resolution. >> we have a saying here. i do not know how will it translate to a french or arabic. we say what happens in vegas stays in vegas.

[laughter] the question is as follows. does what happened in libya stay in libya, or does it have a ripple effect through the region? we can see what happens in egypt has a powerful impact on the rest of the region. explain. is live be a different to that? -- is libya it different to that? >> no. the heart of north africa, the heart of the south mediterranean. but also in connection with many countries. >> african countries. >> african countries. i'm sure it will have a real impact. al qaeda is present in the south

of -- in niger, in chad. and we want to link between al qaeda and the activities in the east of africa, somalia, and others. and when muammar gaddafi said it will have an impact, we have to take account of this. >> is he exaggerating al qaeda's role at the moment? >> i cannot -- i do not know i can say to all people in libya and benghazi or from al qaeda. probably not.

what is sure is that al qaeda will move, will try, will test. taking the opportunity of this question. al qaeda loves the space where there is no strong and democratic national power. >> why don't we go to the audience now for questions. i did not recognize at the beginning, we have some distinguished guests in the audience. the ambassador to jordan. and your excellent ambassador. welcome to all of you. let's take some questions. wait for the microphone. identify yourself to the foreign minister. please make sure there is a question mark and the end of your -- yes, here.

>> good morning, mr. fihri. i am a senior at georgetown. what role for morocco in the future? i like to believe we could be a model for the region. thank you. >> the answer is simple. express what you want to express do do what you want to and contribute to the debate. it is open. morocco needs all -- >> how would he participate in the debate? >> there is a mechanism.

you can send your contribution to the internet, articles. we have more in morocco, more internet, internet. >> internet. >> then vultures. true.it is it is true. we have this fresh -- the last elections, less than 40% of citizens participated in the elections. these elections were free, totally free. but some people said, why go to vote?

your voice is important. >> right up to back there. >> i am a graduate student. you talk about a multi-party system. with that include the islamic parties -- will that include the islamic parties? >> they have been banned. >> tee tee difficult -- it is difficult to say. islam is the radical spehre -- sphere of environment. they said, ok for constitutional monarchy for many years. we have some -- in the

parliament that if they want to be in the party, are welcome. if they want to say no, i will not participate, i am waiting for -- i do not know which element. but everyone is associated -- is invited to participate to this debate. and i love the conscription of a new constitution. >> ken? >> thank you, mr. foreign minister. we're honored to have you here. i assume it is not coincidental you decided to come to the united states to a library on the king's vision. there is a desire for some kind of american role. americans looking at the

region, we understand that changes need to be made in the region. people want ownership of those changes. what the king is proposing is exactly what some money americans wanted to see more of in the region. how can the united states help? we want to see the vision to succeed. what can the united states do? >> i think the question is maybe more larger. when we compare what is happening in the arab world of what happened in central and eastern europe between 1989 and 1992. it showed that the evolution or revolution changed from a problem to -- check slovakia -- czechoslovakia.

i am impressed by nato the european bank. it was easy to do that. it was important. usa contributed. the european union and the g-8 members and mainly usa. the three together. and i hope they act together in a complementary effort, to help this transition. to respect the change -- including the condition -- you what progress? i can help you.

the marshall plan, ok. don't forget that the marshall plan, there was some conditionality. i think it's logical if the u.s.a. and others say, ok, we're interested by your process. europe -- by the progress of tunisia. if there is this possibility, i am sure we can win together. it means that we need some new initiative. new speech by president obama. maybe. i am not taking notes of all this. new meeting for future. the g-8 effort, and it will be

now maybe more successful, because before the egyptians, the two nations and others were unisians andwo na others -- there is the possibility to create, to take note of this evolution. the transitions and to create a new arab world. everyone said in washington or in paris, we do not want to impose. we just want to -- i do not know the difference. what is important -- to have ownership in the definitions of

the global end in the implementations of the means. >> a question. >> thank you, minister. i would like to congratulate morocco's progress of reform on human rights. >> which you identify yourself -- would you identify yourself? >> i am from george washington university. >> it is important. the justice is the best -- the best for the society in progress. and the king said now five years and ask the government to propose a real and deep reform

system. some proposal, some projects are rated. there will be adopted during the next week or month. what is more important is not only code or new text is the spirit, and the spirit is that there is a colorado -- there is a law. no more, but no less. >> it occurs to meet as you're talking that -- palestine has not come up yet. >> yet. >> i think that is interesting in itself. >> which palestine to prefer, gaza or in the west bank? >> i am asking the questions.

>> how is it likely to impact on the palestinian issue and the prospects for resolving it? >> many people talk about the capacity of the government of -- to create or to prepare the future of the independent state. and some people talk about justice, but i am sure that it will have an impact and we see the west bank, some protests expressed an strong desire to have a better life. i note also that -- they tried to reach some new success.

not in the political process, because -- but all around the world is the recognition of an independent palestinian state for us is important. but i hope globally that quickly and quicker will be better to create once again this negotiation process. it has to start again. and maybe including some new elements, some new elements. ok? at which independent states. how to be sure we will go directly to this democratic palestinian state, with the constitution, which won? it is important for palestinians to listen to what

is happening and to talk also with the brothers in gaza. we heard about the reconciliations and we know it is not an easy mission. but the arab conflict is still here. and if we forget it, unfortunate what happened this morning in jerusalem, here to talk to us together, to the arabs and two others -- and to otherrs. s. >> thank you. mr. prime minister, i like to ask you for your views on how the new government will

approach the existence of a national government in the market, and at the same time the regions to which referred and in terms of how these regions will be structured, because they will contain some of the several communities that comprise the nation. and as these committees will be distributed in different regions or may be concentrated in " art two of several reasons, how will a balance be maintained in the new government to represent all of the religious and ethnic populations? thank you. >> first, we have to house -- we have the senate, and the senate

will change. participation in the senate will be the results of the elections at the original level. in terms respect, the problem in morocco, we don't have this problem because we're all moroccans. moroccans first. after that, we're from the north, the east, and the south. it is important question because we have a problem, and the name is the western sahara. we present a proposal to resolve this dispute between us and moroccan nigeria. it was welcomed by the international community.

with that, it negotiates -- the security council said we have to negotiate, taking into account the air force and the realistic approach. but we cannot wait for the final solution of this problem. that is why we think and we strongly believe that we have to move forward. then it will respect all the inhabitants of the beach area. the national rules protection of freedom of religions, we have no problem in morocco because we have jews and muslims living together since many centuries. some jews are more -- not more

but -- longer american than others. arabs came from morocco 14 centuries ago. jews are a reality. this is an interesting mix of people. each sensitivity will be protected in the complex of national law. >> he said last night -- you told the associated press last night that arab strength could end. this does not lead to real democracy. how long do you think the people in the street will be comfortable waiting? their expectations are high.

they must be puffed up. how long the you think they can sustain this enthusiasm without a real change in governance in those two countries? do you think it will come quickly? you do not expect this to happen in six months, do you? >> i think the transition is important and the time for this transition is also important. like you, we heard the for the best and fair and fruitful elections in tunisia, general elections, we need time, citizen time for the organization of the new parties to be included. but not too much time to not

give it to some islamic radicals to have more -- and i am sure that the elections have to be over night in tunisia and egypt after september for egypt and after november 4 tunisia. -- for tunisia. if we ask the g-8 and some arab countries to help this transition, we need some appropriate time. because youth needs youth -- youth and others need political change. at the same time, this society needs some concrete results in

terms of employment, in terms of subsidies. the transition has to combine between the political reforms and the economic and social needs. it is not easy. impact, investment. the comet has to continue to produce and distribute -- the economy has to continue to produce and distribute. >> i am a representative of the moroccan democrats. here is my question. what are the implications of this new reality in the arab world on the u.s. policy in the middle east? thank you. frank.s be very

the bush administration asked for a revolution in the arab world. after 11 september. and there were largely -- to impose the change, to help or to continue to talk with this country, but let them organize. now, with the current administration, we continue this effort. but with different approach. less imposition, but more ownership. the change happened in tunisia

and egypt. it is more clear. the media will not know to what the outcome in yemen. the change will be quickly. and the u.s.a. has to realize that offer of the region -- i know that maybe it will be difficult. intel in accordance with others, the total complementary to others, including the government opinion. >> over here. back there. you. come back to >> i am a photographer. i was encouraged when you made

reference to the arab world and you kept making reference to it. there is a tendency here to divide the arab world up to say north africa to not see us as a unified group. with differences. arab nationalism is still very much alive, at least for the people in the region. i was wondering, given that fact, i think when bad things happen in the arab world, here we have a tendency to demonize all arabs. but when things are happening that are frightening to us, maybe in a positive direction, we want it divided up somewhat. prison as aco's country that is seen as a positive country, not least of

which hollywood has done a good job because people love to shoot film there and that is always a positive thing. what has happened as much as you can talk about it with the king speaking to some of these regional leaders behind the scenes? what kind of influence did you guys have in terms of -- not putting the screws, that is a negative thing to say -- to encourage them to be seen as a more positive force, rather than bringing about all the negative stuff, which think is also encouraged because people do not really respect a lot of the other arab countries of the way in morocco is perhaps respected. >> she is referring to leaders across the region. >> i insist that each country will reach its own solution, if

i can talk about a solution. that would ensure is that i remember myself -- that what is sure is that i remember myself in 2002, 2003, the king made many speeches and participated in many summits and insisted on the necessity to not just talk politics between the -- about the israeli conflict. it is important for the stability. the arab citizen needs to see this cooperation and the production from the arab league. we have not -- a free-trade zone -- some investments are

shared with private initiative rather than a global arab economic charter, and also human development, because many arab countries can help. once again, we cannot compare it cut dark with egypt in terms of human development. i think the most important cash think we can share among us as arabs -- the most important thing we can share is to concentrate more on the concrete operational issues, rather than to talk, talk, talk. principals from time to time are a contradiction with some national decisions.

>> the sultan of oman came out with a similar program after the king's speech. i think this will have to be the last question. >> i'm peter from brookings. many people were quite surprised at the arab league approved action against libya. what is the significance of that? does that portend a greater readiness, willingness, on the league and the member states to intervene domestically more than they have in the past, or how significant is this step? >> in 2009, i think, during a summit, we adopted a new code

for progress. and it was at this time not imposed. but the dialogue with the u.s.a. and with the european union, our partners asked us to fix a resolution or an annex of our charter this modern concepts. but nothing happened. nothing happened. how to modernize and how to be more liberal. now, we have the -- we have -- even from the ground, given to us as a member of the arab league an opportunity to creates a new common house with

common vision, which is more importance, the same and shared rules -- how to conduct some domestic issues in this country have to be the same then in other countries. and i hope that is -- in french we say -- [speaking french] >> springboard. >> springboard for arab world. and i hope that the next secretary of the arab league can work with the spirit. it will be a change. >> i want to thank you not only

for your presentation today but for morocco's friendship with the united states and the leadership and role your country is playing now. we hope that flowers will bloom across the arab world as a result of the role that you are playing. thank you very much. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

amol conversations now a look at missile defense initiatives with robert bell defense adviser for the u.s. mission to nato. he talked about nato's missile defense outlook and provided an update on the cost of russia.

this is about 50 minutes. islamic our next speaker is mr. robert bill. the senior civilian representative of the secretary defense in europe and adviser to the u.s. ambassador to nato. and the defense adviser to nato mr. bell was responsible for the planning, coordinating and monitoring of the department of defense policies, programs and initiatives throughout europe. as the defense adviser to the u.s. mission at nato, he is responsible for the formulation, coordination and presentation of the dod policies to the u.s. ambassador to nato. please and gentlemen, please extend a warm welcome to mr. robert bell. [applause] >> thank you very much. it's a great honor to follow ellen tauscher and to proceed

jim miller in your proceedings today. at the outset let me come to the deepest apologies from the ambassador for not being able to make this a video conference today. ..

>> and it's these two groups that are really pivotal in the terms of the success that we were able to achieve at lisbon. and they are making nato missile defense a reality today. of course, i would also like to acknowledge lieutenant general riley, the aiaa, and all of those in the audience who helped make the event possible today, including, of course, the sponsors. as you know from nancy's introduction, i'm no looking working with industry, but as the defense advisor of nato. i come to missile defense as a slightly different perspective than those of you working inside the beltway, at least most of you. that's specifically from the nato perspective.

which means that we focus here on how the united states and it's allies together move forward with missile defense to advance the alliance of security interest. fortunately, there's a great deal of convergence in this regard as i'd like to elaborate. first, with regard to the threat environment. in other words, why missile defense is so important, and why our allies agree that nato needs missile defense to counter this threat. second, i'd like to talk just briefly about the momentous decisions taken at nato's lisbon summit and what obama and his 27 counterpart heads of state agreed there. and third, certainly not last, how we are moving forward with missile defense at nato, working with our friends in russia. but let's start with the threat. which is where, of course, we should always start. one thing is clear, nato now

confronts a security environment like no other in it's history. during the cold war, as we all know, the possibility of major conventional conflict in europe in the heart of europe, or even a nuclear conflict kept us busy. but at that possibility has virtually vanished. after the cold war, we focused on creates a more united, secure, and free europe. that agenda is not entirely finished, but it's on track. the focuses on globalization are bringing new challenges to the door step. among the most pressing is the weapons of mass destruction, including those delivered by ballistic missiles. this danger is real, and it's growing. ballistic missile systems are becoming more effective, their range is increasing, and several states are pursuing nuclear chemical or biological warhead capabilities that could be

delivered by those systems. that means quite simply as ballistic missile range increases, more and more of nato's population and territory is being placed at potential risk. and that's why deterrence and diplomacy are so important. it's also why the united states and it's allies need a credible and cost effective capability to defend against the threat. the good news quite simply is that our allies now agree with us. and that wasn't always the case. for years, missile defense was a decisive issue, indeed, quite decisive within the alliance, no longer. at our last summit, we showed that missile defense could be a unifying issue. not only for the alliance, but also for the nato/russia relationship. and with the ratification of the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty that followed lisbon, we showed that

missile defense and arms control can proceed hand in hand. president obama with the fellow leaders in september recognized that they need to think about missile defense in the 21st century in a new way. the product of the new thinking was the new strategic concept agreed at lisbon. a mission statement, if you will, that specifically identifies the proliferation as the ballistic missiles as a real and growing threat to the alliance. now i well know that for all of you in your audience, the fact that countries like iran and north korea are pursuing wmd and ballistic missile technologies that can threaten population and territory, it's nothing new. let alone contested. but over here on this side of the atlantic, there were many skeptics. that's one the reasons the lisbon summit was so important. because all allies, all 28,

agreed that missile defense is a shared threat that requires action. for an organization that required consensus to act, sort of like the united states senate under the filibuster rule, that is as les aspen used to say, a really big deal. of course, les was more profane when he said that. at lisbon's nato's leaders directed nato to feel the capability to protect all nato european population and territory from ballistic missiles. before lisbon, nato had been working on a capability to defend it's deployed forces from ballistic missiles, but there was no mandate for the population and territories from this threat. even though that seems to make per spect sense. lisbon changed that. by 2020, nearly 900 million people and 28 democracies will be defended.

that's why it's such a big deal. of course, building nato's missile defense capability would take time, money, and technical know how. and that's where the third element, implementation, coming in. which is also where many of you come in. you are the people who can tell us exactly how nato can best accomplish this task. of course, there are plenty of talented people at nato working the missile defense issue. but we can always use more help, especially yours. it is people exactly like you, the subject matter expert of community represented in your audience today who can best help us turn these important political decisions into real world capability. implementation of nato's missile defense capability will be a long-term project. make no mistake about it. and that's going to play out, essentially, across five

different stages. first, implementation starts with expanding nato's command control and communications capability. expanding, i say, and that's fortunate, because nato has the baseline to build on. it's existing active layered theater ballistic missile defense, altbmd for short. it's come along thanks to the allies and dedicated professionals in the altb, and capable deputy, dave keefer. atlmb provides the management and backbone of the nato system. it's currently geared towards intergrating the interceptors towards protecting deployed

forces. at lisbon, we agreed to expand the scope of the program. that's the first task under the implementation. expand altmb to include european -- nato european population territory in addition to forces. and i'm happy to report that since lisbon, we've made good progress on that assignment. in january, altmb demonstrated the capability at the nato in germany. and just a few weeks ago, here in brussels, including secretary gates, agreed to an important report on the c3 arrangements as advised by national and military capables. with that report in hand, we have a biasline for the high-level consultations that nato would need to have during the unfolding crisis that required missile defenses. in two weeks, national armament

directors, including nash carter, will gather here in brussels to renew the initial work that was tasked at lisbon, which will provide an overall game plan for delivering the missile defense capability. that then takes me to the second task of implementation, ensuring that altbmd remains a priority. here lisbon was a great help as well. at the summit, nato's leaders agreed to prioritize the expansion of altbmd as one of just ten critical capabilities identified for the alliance to accomplish in the coming decade. that means that heads of state and government have given a mandate -- a mandate -- among all of the capabilities that nato is working on for missile defense, among this top ten list. and as programs compete for

scarce common funding at nato, that will help immeasurably. that brings me then to task three. aligning the u.s.' allies and nato's missile defense programs. and this is really where the u.s./european phase adaptive approach fits in. the epaa will be the united states' national contribution to nato missile defense, including it's interceptors, censors, and it's core c2bmc capability. our challenge is not only to keep epaa on track, on budget, and on schedule, but also to ensure nato's part of this architecture stays in sync. this takes me to task four. connecting the allies contributions into this overall effort. although the epaa constitutes by far the lion share of the

missile defense architecture, we'd like to see others make significant contributions. the range which is quite impressive was recently laid out in a nato industrial advisory group study, co-chaired by two people you know well, bob dinnard and curt. as that points out, italy, spain, and poland just to have a few have land and sea-based censors. many of the allies also had tmb lower tier interceptors and there's no question that european industry is fully capable of producing upper tier systems. i would add, of course, fran is planning to plug into epaa the satellite-based early warning launched protection once it's achieved it's initial capability somewhere at the end of this decade. last but not least, other allies

could contribute territory and other resources needed for a fully effective system as our friends in great britain and denmark have pledged to do with regard to the filing bills and romanian and poland have committed to do with regard to bases sm3 interceptors on their soil. over time, our hope is that national contributions from other allies will expand as more nations development capabilities relevant to missile defense. now for those of you in industry, this is a vision we would hope you would take back to your business units, your board rooms, and to represent two european defense ministries. we would like to see u.s. industry deepen and extend it's already well established patterns of cooperation, and programs of cooperation with european industrial counterparts on missile defense, including with regard to interceptors and

censors. after all, 28 allies have committed to nato missile defense and many want to expand their national capabilitys as we proceed. all are limited principally only by resources. but in this time of austerity with scarce defense spending, we can best advance that goal through multinational solutions. and in that regard, missile defense represents a real opportunity to bolster a multinational cooperation with our most credible and capable and trusted security partners. that takes me then to the 5th task, the military dimension. nato will require, ideally as soon as the end of this year, a concept of operations that pulls all of the operational aspects of missile defense into a cohesive whole. together with rules of engage

ment, defendant asset list and other nato command and control elements to accomplish this mission. this work is being done right now by the nato military committee and by the nato military authorities based on the prototype by the united states and allies under the office mouses of shapes, when defense ministers, including secretary gates meet here in june. before i close, i wanted to update you on missile defense and moving forward with russia, who is afterall, one of our most important nato allies. sergey said we're underway radicalization. that's an understatement. he described relations between

nato and russia as showing less and less signs of confrontation and more and more elements of cooperation. and that's good news indeed. and we talked about how areas of common interest are expanding. we believe fundamentally that one of those areas can be a flagship area can be missile defense. in fact, one the most significant outcomes of the lisbon summit was that nato leaders invited russia to cooperate on missile defense and president medvedev took on the role. we have ruled missile defense cooperation. this agreement came in part because the large part because the allies in russia had worked together on the joint ballistic missile threat assessment.

it was an achievement. it shows that nato and russia share common perspectives about the threat. now the nato-russia council is working to build on the spirit that was first established at lisbon, providing a forum to discussion opportunities to understand each other, and to work to resolve differences. i hope that we'll focus primarily on those opportunities that address shared security challenges. afterall, russia faces the same regional ballistic missile threat as does europe. the united states and nato have their differences with russia to be sure. to be sure. but i'm convinced that missile defense between nato and russia could flourish into a vibrant relationship. in fact, ambassador of the nato as his special presidential envoy for cooperation on missile defense matters.

ambassador and i meet frequently with the ambassador, and we look forward to work, him on that effort. at the same time, i want to be clear on one point about this. indeed as crystal clear as president obama was when we talked with our allies in lisbon on the subject, nato alone bears the responsibility for defending nato's members. this obligation will not be ab reindicated, or call to anyone outside of nato to perform. so as nato's cooperation on missile defense moves forward, it will operate from the firm basis that nato will defend nato, and russia will defend russia. we in the united states government are convinced that by all 28 allies and russia cooperations together and developing cooperative missile defense approaches for areas where our representative missile

defense capabilities overlap, both tasks will be more effective and enable us to address mutual threats by retaining separate and independent control. let me just close with the final bit of good news about missile defense. as we speak today, as you meet today, the first ages cruiser is under way. ambassador is going to visit just next week. that will be a milestone, not only for the united states and nato relations among the allies, but for missile defense in europe. general riley, you and everyone at mda should take great pride and a sense of genuine accomplishment in this historic milestone. and, of course, the same thank you goes out to all of the civilian and military personnel

that support missile defense here at nato. many of whom are in your room today. the security ties with the allies are as deep as important as ever. your work at nato means the allies will be safer and more secure and it means that the united states will be safer and more secure. thank you all for letting me stand in ambassador today, i'm happy to take some ofyour questions. >> sir, there's two question that is are very similar. and i will try to -- nato is not known for it's fast program development or decisions. has the velocity of change accelerated since even before the lisbon conference, and significant changes to headquarters dialogue on the missile defense since lisbon? >> yes, i think the answer is clearly yes. nato is a bit spotty in terms of

when it can move fast and where it has moved fast, and when it gets tied up in knots. we all know many anecdotes or nets about where it was tied up in knots. i had to say my experience when altmb was launched about nine years ago, we were able to get the common funding authority for the launch of altmb through five nato committees through 12 weeks. that's pretty fast, i think, by any organizations record. now since we met in lisbon we've had a session of very concrete accomplishments, all of which i think speak to relative speed. the milestone of achieving initial capability for altbmd, including the contract negotiations with the ax industry for putting the missile defense hooks into the ax

program. the agreement at 28 within the defense policy and planning committee on the c3 arrangements that will guide as i mention, political consultations, in this headquarters when and if there's a missile defense crisis, and the delivery of an excellent initial set of con-op prototype recommendations now under review by the military committee for how to take on the c2 issue and have that ready hopefully by the end of the year. so on the nato track, i don't see show stoppers, and i don't see any waivers or wobbliness anywhere among the 28 in terms of necessary funding to get altbmd in position to take on this part of the architecture. >> you noted the importance of understanding the threat. does nato have a process for

defining and updating the ballistic police -- ballistic missile threat over time? >> yes, they take place over different committees, particularly in the military. i think in the run up to the lisbon summit, we had quite a debate last summer. it was a good debate, honest debate. any time you have 28 allies around a table, every country has it's prerogatives in terms of how it sees an issue or what it brings to the table. there was a good deal of press attention, of course, on the fact that one of our allies, one of our key allies, turkey, had real concerns about how a missile defense decision at lisbon would be represented, how that would be received by it's neighbor to the south, whether it could provoke any retaliation or intimidation. but there was never a point in the whole debate which had to do with messaging and public

communications at the summit and thereafter by the alliance, although each nation deserves it's right to say when it thinks about the threat as the united states has done. but there was not a debate about the underlying threat assessment. there was never a challenge to the underlying military committee baseline that accomplished the threat assessment on which the epaa is being fielded and oriented and sized. and we recognize, of course, that in the normal way, that threat assessment can be updated as appropriate as we move forward with this program across it's four phases. isn't>> the epaa architecture ss an ally to the maritime capabilities. what is nato doing to encourage member countries to pursue the capability? >> the key, of course, to the

epaa is that each country makes it's own sovereign decisions about what programs to develop and what programs to bring to the table and what programs to contribute to the architecture. in my remarks i enumerated several of those. i think niads which was on course, which was a german-italian contribution to epaa. for reasons that secretary gates, bill lynn, and ash carter has enunciated, the u.s. has taken a decision on mias -- --miads. it's just one of several that can be plugged in. we are essential to technologies that several allies have and the

underlying capability on the u.s. naval ship that is will be part of this. indeed, there's even opportunities, though it won't -- wouldn't come cheap to take a multinational approach with regard to sm3 interceptors and how important allies could use those on their maritime assets if they choose to invest in those areas. that by anyone's calculation has not easy, indeed it's ambitious. what we tried to show with the lisbon capabilities package at lisbon was the importance of prioritization within defense budgets that are reduced, but certainly not nonexistence. in fact, by putting the effort, the main effort on responding to 21st century threats, we think that the allies just as the united states can get the most bang for the buck. >> one last question, sir, given your background in your current

position, how specifically would you like to see american industry deepen cooperation with european industry on missile defense? >> i think as i mentioned before, i think the pattern of cooperation is established. it's incon receiv -- inconceivable they would come to nato and pitch a solution in the major program cooperation. every company is adept and experienced and accomplished in working with european teaming and vice versa. the key is that the pie has been shrunk a bit. cutting up that pie starts undercutting the business case, particularly some of the cost that come with teaming approaches. although i think that's politically necessary to be competitive. so i think the main thing we can do as i said in my remarks earlier, it's not only to think

more creatively about multinational solutions, and the missile defense sector as it relates to the epaa, but to carry those arguments into european defense ministries, not to make the argument that they've got to double their defense spending or increase it by 10 or 15% which is probably a complete nonstarter in today's environment here, but at least to carry the argument in about where priorities should be placed. our allies are not going out of business in terms of defense spending. if you add it all together, it equals american defense spending. so the question is how they choose to put that asset together and apply it. we think it should be applied principally in the areas of -- first, of course, completing the job in afghanistan, but beyond that and investing in solutions to 21st century threats and we put missile defense on the top