was benjamin netanyahu. so i think this is, this is really one of the most serious problems. we really can't mediate a peace process when one of the partners is not committed to the outcome that we want, the outcome we say is in our national interest and certainly the president has said that the resolution of the conflict is in the national interests of the united states. . .

i think we are handicapped in the way we proceed. and that's because the people that are selected to do the work, i know many people in town and in academia who could have been that additions to the negotiating team over the years and who were never asked and instead, we have people who were working on the obama administration's last effort and

at the end of it, two of them gave an interview to a paper and said after the failure of the negotiations said we did not realize that the israeli government issuing new tenders for the new housing construction in the west bank would subvert the peace process or it was intended to subvert the peace process and we didn't realize the settlements involved the palestinian land.

wow most american undergraduates to study the subject note that the two very important people running the program for the obama administration said they didn't understand that. i don't know if that's what you call ignorance or willful ignorance i'm not sure which it is. [laughter] >> so, because of our domestic politics aside i don't think we selected the best people to represent us and fight for this outcome and other people have referred to the fact that in it designates the people it does

promote violence and extremism and it's not the only issue in the region but it is the issue that we see america and the values and detections and it is what diminishes their confidence and political judgment and actual professions of partnership with them and it certainly isn't the only issue that contributes to extremism in the region but it is an issue that does contribute to extremism and i will give you one example that is some years ago when i was at the ministry of interior and they showed us

videos they were photos and videos of palestinians in the streets of the west bank. it's a good recruiting tool so we have failed and i will leave it to the others to talk about what can be done now but i would say maybe just for the united states to get out of the way of the efforts of other actors in

the international community might be the best thing that we can do. [applause] we have some interesting questions i wanted it to the panelists and you can feel free to remain in your seats that will be the easiest way to answer these questions. and if i could note i love your analogy and i think as one that has worked on the palestinian issue for a long time i think that there's something else that is called moving the goal post and it's what the united states has been effective at doing in these negotiations which means there is always an excuse whether somebody's political capital the timing isn't right and doesn't feel it's appropriate and once the post keeps moving, there is no hope for the palestinians.

the ambassador has questions for you but the continuing questions that keep coming up have to do with the future of president abbas and he's made several statements to the fact that he isn't willing to continue in his position so the question is what happens to the leadership if there is any agreement moving forward what does it look like and moving into that question was about a one state solution where israel has to give citizenship to the palestinians so if i may answer those questions. >> thank you linda. i have to brag that i am maybe

the only official that is willing to talk about the future we do have well-established institutions but he's also he is also the chairman of the executive committee which is the highest executive branch in the political system and there is a certain sequence if and when he decides to step down. it's not a secret that he has been trying so hard. we haven't had a democratic elections for more than almost ten years now and unfortunately

because of the political divisions that exist between, we were not successful in having these because the palestinian people deserve the opportunity to exercise their democratic option of choosing the leadership in favor of that. the majority of the posting and leadership is in favor of that but if and when the census arrived, i am sure that our existing political establishment within the plo will be able to handle this issue and that everybody says what is going to happen to the palestinian people after he dies if he's able to handle a situation just fine so as for the reconciliation

unfortunately nothing is happening in terms of agreeing with it the cornerstone of the palestinian policy but once again many impact the progress and it's unfortunate that it continues. people continue to exert all of our efforts to end the division especially right now under the current circumstances. of the one state versus the two state some good up when he said the creation of the one state doesn't necessarily mean they have achieved their objectives and independence and preserving the national identity. i think it will only take the struggle to a different stage

from that political struggle and people under the occupation fight fighting for justice and freedom to the different level of social justice similar to those in the 194867 years after the creation of the state state of israel continue to fight for equal body and continue to resist the discriminatory woes against him so we stay committed to the two state solution. and i know again that many are skeptical about the supposition but in our view, this continues to be the best and most ideal outcome. we can sense the frustration in the audience by the question so i'm going to give the tough ones to you. we have quite a few questions about the press and the media

coverage and there is one asking if there was a massive nonviolent movement by palestinians with the press cover it and how could we come back but one of the questions i find is how the social media is galvanizing the international public opinion into that and i know you've done a lot of work with the african-american community and now we see the rise now of with the african-american community in solidarity with the palestinians. so, can you comment on those please click >> that is the changing that changing the demographic on the issue that i noted. it's eminently supported.

will it change the fundamental dynamic i don't know but it is the equivalent today of what my generation was doing with the solidarity and the human rights campaign that i started. young people have a different compass and today they have an extraordinarily different compass. they are more global than any generation, more globally minded, they are more tolerant, more respectful of diversity and more committed to justice and in particular social justice and so yes i think everything from the way the social media is playing out which is largely a function of younger people than older people into the labor movement is playing out on college campus is a function of that. add to that the role african-americans are playing and i think that you handled that shifting demographic on the issue that i noted how long does

it take to play out, i don't know but what i do know is that a nonviolent movement will serve to galvanize and even accelerate the shift in attitudes. i can remember having this discussion with the leaders years ago and they would say to me if we mobilize and marched to the borders they will shoot at us and i said they are already shooting at you. the point is you change the dynamic when you use nonviolent means and mobilize the masses. the problem with the suicide bombers back in the old days the attacks are here or there or

wherever they become demobilized and the sort of one person doing the one act not to mention the fact in the instance of terrorism these are in mortal and heinous crimes and they end up discouraging the palestinian cause. they end up making netanyahu into victims they don't deserve to be. what nonviolence does is turn the equation and mobilizes the larger numbers of people. what the press be able to ignore it? of course they couldn't ignore the second. it was horribly misguided. the use of violence you never pick a fight you can't win and you can't win that kind of fight with the occupation. it's something that hamas never

learned either and they came out of these shoots which is what they are basically a camp of people being shelled from the air and the ground and innovative apps will. they killed 70 and 1400 of them and devastate the entire territory and say we want a victory. how desperate can you be to have them translate that into a victory? that is a massacre in a devastating blow to the people paying the price for the foolishness of this adventure and we have to call it what it is. nonviolence turns the picture completely around and it will cripple them. there were no stones that would have known what to do with it and those rages people that are up double almost every week but

it's too small numbers to make a different they are defining a strategy that would work but there needs to be broad support. let me just say one thing at the end. all too often when we talk about this issue, we talk of justice. he said politics isn't about justice. if it were the indians would be running america. it's about having the power and the ability to use the power to publish objectives you want. you have to find the tool to use and that's not logic. it's logical that you can think in your mind how to solve this issue but to translate into political power requires leverage and frankly we are not going to win that fight but palestinians do have the ability through nonviolence to use the leverage of public opinion worldwide in order to change the

dynamic and increase their political power and i pressed my case. [applause] we have two interesting questions for you. one is how the educated children of the unemployed adults are registered to vote in both the west bank and palestine so voter registration is an interesting question and that leads to the idea of upcoming elections in palestine and who gets to vote that the next one is there seems to be quite a bit of concern regarding the funding for the united nations in particular as the palestinians in not only in raising the flag about the move towards a member sovereign state of the un, the opposition by the obama administration and the backlash by cutting the funds

off. >> thank you. first i would just need to remind you or emphasize that we have a humanitarian human development mandate and there are other human factors involved in the political part of it including the secretary general's office who is part of the quartet. i'm going to fall back on my old days in capitol hill and the first question to the ambassador because we are not involved in the political campaigns or voter registration issues we do register the palestine refugees that is for the but that is for the social service and educational purposes. with regards to the funding come is a voluntarily funded agency which means we don't get assessed in the competition from the united nations and the exception of a few international staff so we are very dependent on the world to provide assistance and unique in the sense that it's one of the only agencies that is a direct service provider so unlike others who go out and contract,

we actually do it ourselves so we have about 30,000 refugees staff for doctors and teachers and social workers. the services are growing and we have a crisis in every single field. a few years ago there were about 30,000 palestine refugees out of the population of half a million that require real social service like any society is about 10% of the population. it's disabled for its it needs assistance. today it's 96% of all of the palestinians still left which is about 430,000 of them so just exponentially the amount of just providing the food items and emergency shelter is great. we did face very important funding crisis and it brought a lot of challenge to the palestine refugee community in

particular because one of the things they've always been able to count on is education. and they've always provided education and because we didn't have enough resources to open the schools this year there was a great concern that they wouldn't be able to open schools this year for quite a while which brought a whole swarm of credibility and concern in the community. so, again, i would say it is a challenge when they take place to fulfill that that we do appreciate the generosity of the u.s. which is our number one funder as they have been very generous to the sister agency. >> i have a global question from the audience regarding how the lebanese government and their security forces might deal with the possibility of uprising

within the palestinian camps in lebanon and a similarly, how the egyptian community and government deals with the crossing in and the possibility of others including jordan. >> of the situation and all of the countries is not good. i know indicates the palestinians are disallowed from certain or actually a lot of jobs and love and pointed categories. the camp security is given to the palestinian factions themselves to reach for peace

and order within the camps. sometimes things and wrapped in the camps and if security officials may be can be calling upon the police but in general, the palestinians have not so far have not been concerned as far as the security situation outside of the camps although things considered in lebanon and the lebanese state is not necessarily a able to stand on its feet because of certain political divisions.

i don't think that it's good for the palestinians. it is open only on certain days on a certain days of the month you can only import so many things and do certain other things with regards to starving for anything to be imported into it that has been the resort digging tunnels and trying to basically smuggle things from egypt to the gaza strip except the egyptian authorities had a problem where they are trying to make the security according to have the number one they

understand and they need to deal with it as far as my concerns about the security across the border with israel but whether it is things can be come egypt has been flooding the tunnels into the last thing i heard was probably out of like 250 tunnels at one time, only 20 of them hadn't been flooded yet and i'm sure that the egyptian authorities are looking for those too close down so it's not only the palestinian egyptian conservatives also a concern that has to do with the history to israel >> with regards to the

countries, they have very clear policies to respect the host countries and the internal politics of situation and it is more sensitive than the other countries of course it is tragic what happened to the palestinian refugees but in the refugee camps we have opened channels with them to make sure that no external elements exploit the palestinian presence to destabilize lebanon or any other country so we are all on the same page and we plan to continue to be neutral and not to get involved in the internal politics of many of the host

countries. to respond to my friend here on the center you've been having a palestinian leadership since the president won the elections in 2005. the violins even in a speech yesterday he said we would continue the legal diplomatic battle and we would never call on people to resort to violence. most is happening in east jerusalem which isn't under the control of the palestinian authority. i'm not saying that they were not driven by israel to resort

to these to respect the existing arrangement that prohibits them from entering the compound. they've done that in the 70s and started by asking for time for them to go in and pray and divided it between muslims and jews and now they have control over the mosque whenever they want to close it if abraham was jewish and the father of all the profits we prophets as we have seen them in the past by the israelis they want to use prayer

be the violins to occupy jerusalem. thank you. >> i'm going to ask you to be a psychologist for a moment because many of the questions in the audience talk a little about the psychology of the israelis have a belief truly and it is a religious attack to the land but all of it is there's and therefore when they build settlements it's not only their right but it's not illegal. what would it take for the u.s. administration in the security council at the united nations to once and for all recognized the settlements in the u.s. is a matter of illegitimacy in the potency it is interviewed as a legal and the rest rest of the world viewed the settlements

because this is indeed palestinian land. what would it take for the obama administration once and for all to make the jump from the legitimate policy towards settlements to illegal settlements? >> political bridge. i think it will take political courage. if i recall correctly, it was our position before the reagan administration the settlements were indeed illegal it is the one that changed the that situation and to go back to my earlier remark it was the first administration that had as a prerequisite for its middle east team that they know very little

about the middle east and that's been repeated so it prohibits deporting the population of an occupied territory. it's not based on the loss of a comeback to political courage so i don't know how much difference it will make to the israelis will. it was all of the land of the

god-given right. what did he think about the west bank? he said what is the west bank? i heard about the bank of america but that's how the conversation started turnover to the doctor for some closing remarks. information oversight facts and documentation.

specifically it was a part of the united nations by the treaty all of the treaties and international conventions to which it is a dignitary to be the supreme.

it has been accepted and which we hope to grasp him as. it would be and plummeted to zero. although we may not have solved the problem we raised very interesting critical questions. [applause]

is known as the city of good neighborhoods come of this weekend weekend c-span cities to are joined by time warner cable explores the history and the battery life of buffalo new york. on booktv weevil visit for mark twain wrote at the buffalo and erie county public library whose

centerpiece or pages of the original handwritten manuscript of the adventures of huckleberry finn and people featured the buck against the grain about the history of the first war. >> they were desperate and came over across the atlantic during the famine and the years after things still were not great. it would take maybe working in the grain elevators or the mills and then it would go back to ireland and come back to buffalo to have steady employment. when buffalo was first created in 1932 it was divided into five political parts in this area along the waterfront along the buffalo river it's always been the first ward.

president william mckinley was assassinated to buffalo. we will tour the buffalo history museum exploring the mckinley exhibit features events surrounding his death and the gun used them to the buffalo waterfront and how it's adapted from the nation's grain center to the modern redevelopment. right now we are at silo city and this is the correction of the grain elevators. they are all owned by the owner on ohio street and it's now being regenerated for many different purposes. we do history tours where they take people around the grain elevators and tell the story of history. see all of the program saturday at 6 p.m. eastern on c-span2 book tv. and sunday afternoon at two on american history tv on c-span

three. the city tour working with or cable with only cable of elliott and visiting cities across the country will. >> he said from the beginning i look in the mirror and i don't see a president. our response to that was quite looking in the mirror but from the beginning he said this is nothing i've ever thought about. >> id i became convinced towards the end of the process that he is very competitive and i think that if he had made a decision to do it that he would have had his heart and soul into it but from the very beginning it's not something that he ever really thirsted after the association

of the united states army held its meeting this week in washington. in one discussion military and local law and force the officials discuss how the interagency cooperation and information sharing can help counter threats from extremists >> good afternoon.

my name is george cohan and i worked with the national staff and it's a privilege for me to be here with you. thank you for joining us for the third and final breakout session the goals in the association is to foster an understanding the emerging security environment and ask your professional organization association. they partner with the army and the nation's defense. the presentation will is the way of amplifying the u.s. army narrative to help further the

association's mission to be the voice for the army and support for the soldier. of course we can't do this alone. they rely on members to help tell the story until the army's story and support the soldiers and families. a strong membership base is vitally important for the advocacy efforts with the pentagon and the defense industrial base as well as the public and communities across the country through 120 local chapters. so for those of you army and homeland security professionals who are not yet members of the association united states army we encourage you to join the special introductory offer. you will find invitation on your chair, just bring it to the membership booth in the exhibit

hall a. if you are already a member, thank you for staying with us. you are very important to us. please give your invitation to a fellow professional so that he can enjoy what you enjoy with your membership. you will be doing a service to the association for the united states army and divination. so i will finish and now i would like to turn the floor over to the doctor executive vice president for global strategies for. >> there is interaction if it is an army of -- if you can hear a comic afternoon.

good afternoon. that's much better. on the importance of mexico from the homeland security is on duty with the very distinguished panel and also the distinguished audience. when you look at a map and we don't have maps to project today we have all seen those maps from the trafficking of south america through central america through the eastern pacific and they all come up and show how the

traffickers take drugs and usually the air was stopped at the u.s. border. it continued to los angeles and seattle, dallas, chicago. if these traffickers could take the drugs and pirated merchandise. the problem is we see as a result how closely intertwined the security is of that in mexico. coming through the caribbean and eastern pacific and central america the conversion going

through it is so important to work to the mexican partners to address this issue of what are those things to pass through to work with mexican counterparts at what people do is speak about seven or eight minutes or so. be thinking about what you're going to ask them. first up on the speaker today will be the general taylor who is deputy director for the plan's policy and strategy at the northern command.

one of the responsibilities is focusing on mexico, and he is going to get a strategic overview to start things off. in the department of homeland security he will address and team spent a lot of time focusing on homeland security on mexico so he will be giving a the framework the department uses to address. he will be followed by doctor duncan and the director of the mexico institute at the woodrow wilson center here in washington, d.c. to spend tremendous time in mexico as a professor here and has a great overview of all issues related to mexico and in particular the relationship to mexico and then the lieutenant general who's the

who is the commander of the u.s. army north. and among his many responsibilities, army north is the components that focuses component that focuses on the relationship with mexico. and during his time come he actually spent six years at army north in a variety of positions, said he has seen not only doing this administration under the current president of mexico but also the previous he has an appreciation for how this has gone and he will be addressing some of the strategies. here is one of his relationships with the defense minister of mexico, so we look forward to all of the panelists getting an overview and then your question so please, begin and be thinking of what you would like to ask the panelist and let me turn over to the general.

>> ladies and gentlemen i appreciate the opportunity to share a few insights to the absolute necessity of mexico from the perspective of the more than i would like to start with a little strategic context from a north american continental perspective at large because i think it is essential to understand the role of mexico plays by comparing a little to the role that canada plays in our security. now his history shows there's a number of approaches you can take to get to north america. you can take an equatorial approach where you command from the east or west coast from the sea because there is great distances involved or you can take a polar approach where you go over the north pole.

there is less a distance involved in the inhospitable land domain. but the aerial domain threat over the pole is actually an ex- essential for it. so for over five decades we have cultivated a close relationship with canada to address the ex- essential threat that exists to that has served very well. and the chairman recently articulated the nationstate and of the four, three of them can reach us in the aerial domain over that approach. and so, we have learned of the absolute necessity of a close relationship with canada we learned that was in our national interest and in that relationship we have the relationship we have in canada has enabled us to truly provide the control in the control and warning into that relationship is critical to the security of the united states and canada both our countries benefiting

from that against ex- essential threat. that relationship that we have is a model that is worthy of emulating but the threat isn't the press isn't the only threat that north america faces. the security landscape is evolving and north america faces a threat from the south. our threat from the south is not presently an existential threat but it is a security threat nonetheless into this threat that is transnational in nature, it explains between the countries if it is an organized threat it is a network threat of it is agile and adaptive and it can reach the point where it actually destabilizes the regions and it can also challenge sovereignty. so we broadly describe the threat as transnational organized crime created this

threat enters the united states through the land domain, transmitting through mexico and through the maritime domain coming up through the caribbean. it is a national security matter and they' to play every bit of an important role against that kind of a threat of canada plays against the aerial domain threat so with these kind of threats including such things as special interest aliens and the potential smuggling of weapons of mass destruction. from the safety and human rights perspective and the migration of unaccompanied children supporting the southern border strategies strategy is in our national interests in the united

states because the threats that that mexico city is on the southern border is not checked. we see them on the southwest border so we are working with mexico to provide a cooperative plan that supports the implementation of the strategy. and in the near term we are focusing on providing them with some needed capabilities like biometrics or technical communications and the long-term we are working on hoping to build sustainable capacities that will improve what we are turning as reachable interoperability is. as regional anthropic abilities. enhancing equipment commonality between the forces so we can work together. there is a leadership leadership goal that mexico can play in the region to address this kind of a threat and that is something that we are seeking to foster and what we consider to be a very historical events, we have had the leaders and the staff from the trilateral meeting in north america defense ministers, so that is our defense minister

in the united states, the canadian defense minister in the threat assessment that collates all of the threats that are facing north america as a continent. and so we are already moving closer to recognizing a shared response ability and collective security. we are working with mexico and development of an externally focused security capability in the part or capacity development network. i'm very pleased to say that from the perspective, we have an unprecedented level of security collaboration with mexico and it continues to increase annually in the four main areas that are necessary for the interoperability training

exercises and engagement and equipment into this began a number of years ago with the decision to begin fighting transnational criminal organizations and it has evolved holistically since then and that is as we interact in the leadership of mexico's army and marine force, their leadership is placing to be interconnected with the united states and they routinely talk about the collective defense of north america and these are good words to be seen. so we are routinely interfacing at the tactical and senior levels, mexico has requested that we begin interfacing with them at the operational bible and this kind of capacity development that we are working with from the perspective

promotes interoperability and that's our objective defense from north america against all threats and all domains and if we cannot attain to mexico the united states and canada, all working together in an integrated cooperative defense of north america, we will increase security on the continent and we will decrease risk in all domains against both ex- essential threat and national security threats. so it isn't inconceivable that we won't one day be able to reach the kind of bilateral structure with mexico that we angeles with canada. our cooperation on our southwest porter and other mexican southern border has been expanding.

we have information sharing agreements in place and we are working on the agreements and we are working towards, nobody of it meant. and in our cooperative efforts. from the perspective of the united states northern command it is necessary given the security given the security situation. with mexico just like in canada over 50 years ago.

hello everyone and thank you for letting me come. i appreciate it. i've been talking about the relationship relationship in the homeland security perspective. we are new players in the world right now having been around for just a touch over a decade and we are still learning who we are and if the concept as a framework is still maturing. if you look at different between the original quadrennial homeland security review done in 2004 in a more recent one you will see this been a lot of growth and we anticipate the next quadrennial review and a couple of years will continue to reflect the maturation of the department. we are also fortunate to have in our hands now a man who comes out of the department defense and who brings a significant amount of expertise working hard to help the dhs and the department of defense and partners abroad in.

it is in many ways it about a border. it started roughly. for a long time the line was viewed with baggage. it was the dividing line between the north and south. the border was the location. it could be asserted in its most pure form.

the perspective from the dc into the border to look that way but in the border region that people actually live there the border itself. it didn't exit status of the border region became known as the third country. for a long time it was a source of tension. our country is can't survive economically are not integrated

with. and second, 9/11 forced this one. we began to recognize the national security is connected and well and so the two things that the nationstates are most concerned about economic and national security became very clear that the u.s. makes it in the bilateral relationship. but we have to figure out how to make that work. the real sort of break -- there was a long history of a warming relationship -- but really i think it became on hyperdrive giving the administration went

for the first time he stood up and came to the u.s. and said we want to work with you to tackle the transnational criminal groups that are responsible for the violence.

to facilitate to allow a person or a piece of cargo to move rapidly across the border meant we were giving up security. and from the department of homeland security perspective we are able to break that down and say actually a more we know about a person or a piece of cargo the more rapidly taken crossed the border. what happens then is were able to say the border is a place of cooperation. it's a place where the u.s. and mexican counterparts can work to rapidly facilitate the movement of legitimate goods and cargo between our countries. and that sort of twist allowed us to engage in ways on the border that we've never been able to engage before. and foster and level of cooperation and collaboration

that had been for centuries almost unheard of. right now we are sort of in the beginning stages of that. just today in fact secretary johnson is down in mexico city. ease meeting with the secretaries as well as president pena nieto and he will be signing a memorandum of understanding signed a cargo inspection program to have officers at each side of the border pre-inspecting cargo moving between our countries. just even five years ago that was almost unthinkable. so i think this perspective a homeland security is played an role in helping develop u.s.-mexico relationship. i conclude as where we think we are headed. first and the joe mentioned north america's really the vision for how we engage. we think in the end of the

u.s.-mexico and candidate working together going to be how we solve many of the challenges that we all faced independently. second lien this has become more apparent. dhs and dod have worked very hard to try to cross the line between homeland security and homeland defense. our work with jdf north and army north is potentially the best examples of how we been able to cross those bridges. the ability to take the civilian authorities in mexico and partner with the defense authorities in areas where there's appropriate overlap really is a next level of integration in terms of how we started to with the homeland security challenges. and i guess i believe at that. >> thank you, michael. we have really gone from a strategic alignment piece of general kehler mentioned to sort of a framework of cooperation. let's go now to a little more of

the details within the countries. duncan? >> thank you, richard. good afternoon. great honor to share this stage with such a distinguished panel. i'm going to try to make three points today. the first focusing on some may see military traditions that we understand what the reality is that the mexican military. secondly, to look at some changes that are underway in the mexican military and thirdly to make observations about mexico's southern border with guatemala and belize. we just returned from a weeklong tour of mexico's southern border crossing all the way across to the east and seeing the entire border along the way and i wanted to share with you a little bit of what we observed while we were there. some general points about mexico's military that if things are worth mentioning so that we're all on the same page -- [speaking spanish]

[laughter] >> first of all, i think -- >> i should just mention, the general who is the defense attaché at mexico this year, and so i just want to make sure -- >> we have an auto correct, yes. first observation that i would make about mexico's military is that due to mexican political and military traditions mexico's military has been focused on homeland, the nation-state. it's been very much focused on territorial control within mexico. because of different doctrines of foreign policy and of military doctrine, then we see mexico's military has been prevented from projected itself outside of mexican territory. that means this perspective has been focused on what's happening with in the nation's borders. for a large part of mexico's military history, it's been focused on dealing with some political threats within the

country. as i will say in the second of the transitioning to focusing on organized crime is somewhat of a new task that brings with the challenges and risks. distribution of military coup in mexico. that's what makes it stand that we look at the military compared to the rest of the latin america mexico's military has maintained a distance from politics and there is a mutual respect between the local branches of government and the military branches and that's always a fine balance that is struck there, but it's a favorite important one. lastly i would say on this general observations about mexico's military is that it is the second or third most trusted institution within the country. time after time in opinion polls across the country the mexican military is one of the most trusted, first of all it is the church a second the army and '30s of the navy. after that teachers, professors, we in academics like myself.

you come ahead of us at least. now that is something that is a source of enormous pride for the mexican military. part of it comes because from the fact that so many of mexico's assistant have either served in the military or of course that family members have served in the military. and is seen as a very, very highly respected institution. let me move on to talk about some the changes i see underway in the mexican military now the relevant for this conversation about homeland security. the war on organized crime from focusing on sort of political threats, guerrilla threats within the national territory to focusing on organized crime means that there are a number of challenges that the mexican military has to do with your point is to change the nature of the threat moving from a lot of rural conflicts are now being present on the streets and cities. that's a very for different operational theater. secondly, because of the close contact with mexican citizens there's enormous concern for

questions of human rights. and, of course, there've been high profile cases where mexican military have been accused of human rights abuses and this is a very, very sensitive issue within the country. thirdly, mexico's military is being forced to take on somewhat of a police function for which i would argue it's not particularly well-prepared. i don't mean that in terms of equipping or in training but in terms of its legal basis. mexico's military does not have the legal function to be able to make progress. it is there to sort of stop the illegal activities but it can't make an arrest edge of the way for the police took a minute to the. this puts the mexican military and a difficult situation when it's operating on the streets in cities across the country. second factor which is bring about change within the mexican military is this cooperation with the united states. we've seen that through the initiative. of course, there has been a

shooting of the training, sharing of intelligence and, of course, we have seen the donation of equipment from the u.s. to mexican military. we have moved very much in the face with the other side of things is much less important than in fact intelligence sharing and the training that's under way. this is helping to shift perspectives i would argue within the mexican military. we have seen it much more come much earlier on within the mexican it and now we begin to see if favorite strong within the mexican army. this process as was mentioned earlier on begin under felipe calderón and his war on organized crime. assignment of initiative. when it came to the beginning of this government of henrique pena nieto we reached a point where there was sort of a stock, a hard stop and a re-examination of relationship with united states. a lot of people within the pena nieto can but did not feel

comfortable with the level of interaction that had been reached between u.s. and mexican security agencies and the was an attempt on the part of the mexican government to try to centralize all coordination to all cooperation with the call a single window for cooperation. that really did pose a huge challenge to security cooperation between the two countries in the first 12 months of his administration. but since then we've seen a significant opening up of flexing of security relations. so that now there is a much higher level of trust and there is a much higher acceptance within the mexican government that this is a necessary thing. of course, key events such as the rest of el chapo guzman have played a role in the and, of course, the escape of el chapo from prison has provided another threat or challenge of the security relationship and u.s. security agency's are now saying who is it we can trust, who are they competent counterpart on the mexican side?

i mentioned a few times we're talking about the mexican army and the mexican david i would mention that the fact that the navy has been a more progressive more open institution in recent history is a favorite important factor. it's seen as being a more trusted institution by u.s. counterparts at increasing what has been seen by this administration to as a was by the calderón administration before it. i think this is something we are saying forcing a change in attitude on the mexican army as well. the mexican army is now beginning to see that there are certain changes worldviews that need to be adopted if you are going to keep up with the steps being taken by the mexican navy. a generational shift. we are seeing younger officers coming through and those younger officers have been educated in a different system than their

predecessors. they have a much more open attitude to the world. they been raised in a mexican which is globalized and those attitudes are beginning to be seen as well. lastly with a view towards the future peacekeeping. maximus made the decision and will put is that international peacekeeping operation. this is something we need to focus on and understand what impact we will have upon the mentality of the military. i've got horribly over time but let me say a couple points about mexico's southern border. as we were down there crossing from west to east is extraordinary to see the massive investment has been undertaken by the government in terms of building installations on the southern border and remote from the southern border as well in an attempt to get a handle on the scale of illicit traffic is moving from guatemala in particular northwards from mexico to the united states. a lot of focus in this country has been on immigration and on undocumented migrants as they come through. i would argue far more interesting is what's happening

in terms of expanding mexico's military presence. that's something which really is remarkable. we are seeing fixed location bases that are highly credible and also seeing mobile units moving around. one in -- one in formal border crossing we visited is just a river crossing. there's a theory that goes back and forth between the two countries, between guatemala and mexico and people use it is frankly for commerce. what's interesting is there is no presence from mexican customs, from immigration, from health, et cetera, but our mexican military representatives there to try to stop the illicit flows of drugs and weapons that coming from guatemala. this is something which may seem like a small step but, in fact, his revolutionary. the fact is that you now have the presence of the mexican state at a much higher level than you've ever seen before in

mexican history along mexico's southern border that provides a new area for cooperation both with their counterparts in guatemala and belize and, of course, with the united states. and i believe that there. thank you spit that was a great context for the tremendous transition that's been made the last years in terms of how the military's role has played in the mexican society, ended a relationship with the united states. that's a great context to offer the rule, the microphone to general wiggins who can talk about how it's going on the ground. >> first, i'd like to say thanks to my mexican friends who are here. i think this visual highlights what the relationship is. i have been as short a part of army north for the past six years and have been working with my mexican counterparts over the past six years throughout all of mexico. we talk about relationships, and relationships are key.

to show you how important that is, in 2006 standing next to some water in the back of backe room, meeting with our mexican counterparts, a tall one star general at the time stand up against a wall struck up a conversation, literally now flash forward to 2009, run into this general. he is their trade commander, basically equivalent, and then flash forward issue -- a few short years later and he is the chief of defense. so i have the distinct honor and privilege to be a good close friend with general salvador del fuego who i think is the guy who is leading the transformation in the mexican army. and so you've heard a lot here and in its defense and can get to some important questions, i want to study what my perspective is of my friends in mexico, particularly the army. i have had the privilege to conduct many training sessions

with both the army and the navy. i think one thing, i'm not countering your opinion, but i think we've got to be careful how we draw conclusions between -- and we draw those conclusions from because i correlate it to teaching somebody to fish or providing them finish. it is a big difference in the process and i will tell you we worked very hard to work to rule on the intelligence of frame, for example, to talk about intel drives maneuvers and how you work site exploitation and other things to drive onto the indoor to execute an operation. i can tell you both semar and said dana have really excelled in that arena. and in some cases we've got to be careful because some of the agencies that are within mexico, and i won't remember the our, or mention as they are, you have to release the controls. you have to do that.

and so i've actually been throughout mexico. like is that i seem to programs that show has put a place. a lot of people ask me, southern border strategy, mexico's southern border strategy. that seems like a big country. how do you do that? when asked in a big they think mexico's army is i get an answer back that the army is 20,000. welcome back to the arm is about 202000 strong, 106 infantry battalions. does not include the parachute brigade military special forces. they have 45,000 reserves in their army. they've got 13,000 in the air force. ending their marine or their semar they of 32 and 24,000 respectively in the navy and the marines. is a sizable force and a very capable force and a very professional force. and azure state here that operating and one of the most complex environments in the world and that is your own home. they are operating against an

adversary at this particular time that does not respect the rules of law and does not wear a uniform. and so it is a very challenging and complex issue within their own nation and have to do it as you also heard him maintain the trust of the people of mexico. and that's a balance, a very, very difficult balance. i will tell you yet the vision of the general and some of the measures he put in place to get after human rights is a significant program and i've been to the editor happened on the ground at the national training center on a number of occasions that i've actually watched u.s u.s. army 82nd airborne paratroopers trained side-by-side with trembling. they jumped into chihuahua mexico -- with trembling. communities are bound complex, orchestrated operation side by side and within that, the comment that came out of the

after action review from 82nd airborne paratroopers was come and the most beneficial thing they got out about was the human rights training that they conducted at that facility. so they are working very hard to make sure the professionalization and those programs that the general has put forth and really gets after some of the things that you've heard about that they are taking care of and i can tell you i've seen personally. i've been on the ground with and talked specifically with an young soldiers within sedena who have been through the training and event after prosecuting to fight. so for me it did a stint on one ago and i take a look and i meet with the human rights directorate that the general has established, and i talk to those individuals and i see what they're trying to strive and get after. a lot of people approach me. they say we read about things in the paper. you have to realize as well that there's an adversary within

mexico right now that deals similarly to what we had in afghanistan and iraq. they tried to information campaign and other measures trying to make things certain places and ways. i can tell you from firsthand knowledge that i've seen on the ground trying to get after these particular issues and things. it's a professional army, one of the i take great pride in being side-by-side with. i have into the southern border i have tracked through the mountains and jungles side-by-side with the sedena soldiers and i can show you want to get to the top of one of those hills and go to the jungle and sharpen your machete for the seventh time in the first mile that your contract, you realize just a difficult it is to operate in that environment and how key it is. and by the way, you also realize that the adversary is adapted, he is very cunning, and in a lot of cases they just a just their

tactics, techniques and procedures when they go about smuggling whatever they smuggle. for me i wil want to that is the distinct privilege to work side-by-side but more important it i seen a maturation process in the military in the relationship on both sides of the border. icing u.s. military gain an appreciation -- i have seen -- an understanding of the professionalism and confidence of the mexican military. and i have seen the mexican military on the other side exude a professional conference and increasing their capabilities and capacity to take on. and i will take the threat to north america, although we talked about transnational criminal organizations, that is not the threat i think we are focusing on or should be focused on with that security peace. there is a threat out on the horizon we've yet to really materialize or understand and that bilateral defense cooperative framework that we build with our partners in

mexico is going to be key to create a defense in depth. and that strategy as a general and i truly general and i truly believe he general and i truly believe he is right, it's to incorporate the stabilization of central america and tie itself into south america with countries like colombia. we've got to work that could go to make that come to fruition and we've got to make sure that we see you often make it difficult for admission the future that's going to threaten both of our democracies that we take care of that. and that is not transnational criminal organizations. although they do pose a significant challenge and danger. i think there's a huge threat out there on the horizon that we've got to compare -- prepare ourselves for. i working with our partners in mexico making sure we stand side-by-side with israel we will find a solution to this threat to north america. thanks very much. look forward to your questions. >> thank you, general wiggins. i think what you for is a very

interesting array of perspectives. you've heard him and let's not mince words, we have three representatives on this panel who are from the government, from u.s. northern command, from department of homeland security and from army north. i think we have heard very encouraging remarks regarding the relationship. duncan is an academic. he's not from east, and from the government but not really. he's an academic so he's given us a perspective that also is encouraging. it's a little more analytical buddies also raised some of the challenges, and there are some real difficulties in this relationship. mexico has particularly after the change in government, there was this period of, about a year, where things were difficult, things were changing from the very close relationship during the felipe calderón administration to the point where we once again we could

work together but there are challenges within mexico regarding security. the role of the military in this policing function, the police has not yet taken on that mission capability that, to be able to address this issue. so there's a long way to go but getting back to our topic of homeland security, the imports of u.s., of mexico for u.s. homeland security, i think you are seeing a very positive kind of collaboration and cooperation working forward. i would very much like to hear your thoughts and your questions on these issues. so i opened the floor. i ask you, we have a microphone here on the sides, if you, sir, i think you have a microphone, two-handed individuals? so if you at hand, whe once yout the microphone, if you would state your name and what

organization or unit you are from. and then ask your question, please. open up the floor. and while we're waiting for someone to get the courage to ask the first question, i'll ask -- yes, we have one here. please. you know, please come join me. this is bob pellegrini, a very courageous man to take the first question. how about a big round of applause to bob for the first question? [applause] >> thank you, sir. we go way back to we were looking together in germany back in 79. -- we were lieutenants pashtun contemplate the idea of exporting security to the pto, peacekeeping operations, i guess what do you think will happen first, that are bringing all of the partner nations of the south together and sitting down

together and a unified effort to grow the violence coming from the south? thank you. >> it's a really important question. i see no negotiations take place in central america before unless difficult questions than that. i can tell you that it takes decades. i think we're likely to see mexican military forces in peacekeeping operations before that actually happens. and not that there isn't good cooperation. we were talking before the panel about the strength of military cooperation across the mexico guatemalan border. however, government-to-government cooperation is another issue. there's an interesting contrast their with the police case, which is the cover to cover in the mexico police case is very, very positive with the military

not so much. and another factor that is i think which are sent to microsoft of is that while the mexican military is of significant size has substantial resources and capacity, their counterparts in central america did not. one conversation we had with the vice admiral was about cooperation with her counterpart in guatemala. he said these guys want to do a good job. they want to cooperate but they don't have the resources. from the guatemala's themselves where a similar story. they say we wish with the resources that our mexican counterparts have because we would like to do a lot more. then a follow-up comment was i think really illuminating, which was, they said although we as guatemalan military do not have the resources that the mexican to do, we are the only representatives of the guatemala state in this particular area of

the country. they said nobody else is here. there's nobody from the education issue of health ministry. the people turn to us for their concerns and their interests that something which is radically different as well. so when you try to compare mexico to its central american counterparts i think you see a huge difference. that helps explain what it's going to be so complicated to do that. >> the bottom line, i will tell you and i could was every bit of that. one thing that's a little disconcerting to me, when i go down to the southern part of mexico and i see the mexican military and the guatemalans patrolling simultaneously using harris radios and to communicate with each other and that i come to our southwest border and our cbp doesn't even have harris radios. they can't communicate directly with the humvee across the border.

in some cases what makes us do with our partners to the south, particularly guatemala and in this one case believes, i applaud. because it's something or try to mitigate to be able to make it as well. i truly believe that peacekeeping operations that sedena and semar are both embarking on are going to happen relatively sooner as opposed to lead. they have already sent out personnel that are observing and embedded themselves in some peacekeeping and they are training with some countries right now. they are going to look forward to the establishment of a peacekeeping center of excellence per se within mexico to train their officers and soldiers in these keeping operations. that was initially identified to be established and i think year 19. and that's been pushed to the left not the right to hopefully get that established so that they can start training their

officers in peacekeeping operations. that's very positive, a good side and a very capable military that i believe the world could have used that type of partner at 30 peacekeeping operations with the capacity and the capability of indexing army brings to the world. so thank you very much. >> just a couple of other data points. that will illustrate that both processes are happening in palee the. so even though one may occur faster than the other, they are both happening in parallel. in our partner capacity work with mexico we have program and we're interfacing with you on the peacekeeping initiatives at the pace they desire to go and also on the regional security matters, you know, any really groundbreaking new initiative at the instigation of general. e., northcom and south, are

collaborating together on an armed forces conference where we will invite the chief of defense of central american countries, mexico, united states, northcom together to address some of the security matters and threats from a regional perspective. and that is also posi policy ded its i think you'll see that this is happening in parallel. spit one quick point, we were asked to think of opportunities for mexico counter united states to work together on global leadership issue. one of the ideas was for a north america brigade for peacekeeping. it may seem like something that is way out there but it's a very intriguing idea. if you could see the military forces of the three countries coming together in a peacekeeping operation summer around the world, there are enormous benefits that could come out of an operation or an exercise like that.

>> there's another question over here. >> general kehler, you mentioned we had tied to engage become strategic engagement which identified in your comments person operational gap in between. can you expand on that and some the potential techniques we can use to close those gaps you have identified? >> as we seek to get regularity on that request, one of the immediate things was to kind of move our level of training and participation up from the individual level. we have done an awful lot of training with mexican military forces but they have been largely individual and small unit training, one of the immediate things in working with both sedena and semar is to move that to larger unit type

operation training. so that's probably the first area where we are focusing on. second is in the staff functionality at larger unit formations on operations and the specific application is peacekeeping operations. one of the requests that we recently received, for example, was technical english and battle staff training to allow for a mexican military individuals to embed into large unit staffs that are conducting peacekeeping operations. we are seeing requests for larger type unit operational engagement. >> other questions? >> good afternoon. like dr. wood mentioned as he visited the southern border and

he is seen a lot of mexico is focusing also a lot of facilities build a. have you seen any security cooperation with mexico, with the southern border with guatemala and belize and what type of security cooperation are they doing with their southern border? >> one of the things that was enlightening to me, and i did that this question although he is for my organization, thanks. [laughter] one of the things i was enlightening to me as what i traveled down my last time to the southern border i actually saw huge security cooperation being done with mexico with our guatemala partners to build partner capacity and capability with the guatemalan military which i thought was absolutely stunning because they were actually doing planning and training with the guatemalan army. there was nobody else around. and then i saw the same thing go

on with our belize partners as well. i thought to myself at that point in time, i remember a vignette that took place back when there was a guy named chavez in venezuela. president chavez at the time said some pretty nasty things about the united states in an open forum where he had the stage, and our president of the united states at the time way back at president chavez and basically countered his comments. and i remember that a former president in mexico named fox stood up as well in mexico and chastised chavez for his comments and basically told them, sort of the same things our president said. but the difference was not a lot of people and not a lot of press, because i read a lot of precedent in central and south america, really big note to what we were saying as the americans. but when a former president of

mexico stood up and said, it rested throughout all the latin american press. anthony i learned a very valuable lesson, that mexico can raise it with some countries and bring them to the table but we cannot. that's what every guatemala, belize. i believe mexico is a key to the southern border as well because they have an incredible relationship with both those countries that are absolutely key to establishing that secured and mitigate the gaps so the adversary can't be using it. what i found out as well in southern mexico that i was absolutely interesting was the are individuals, tribal, indigenous in southern mexico that don't recognize mexico or guatemala as their country. they don't speak spanish. they speak mayan. and so when you do you'll enter these individuals that don't recognize the border, creates a complex in all of its own and, therefore, smugglers can take

advantage of that and other people can take advantage of that and traffic a number of things across that border. we have to work together in order to seal that particular piece off. that's what i say the key issue for our partners, by, with, and through. we learn that in the middle east. i think we can take that lesson and we get applied as well. what's really neat and i think perfect, and we heard it mentioned here, is it will is a north american solution. if we don't address it and a plant like that and we make it solely an american solution we will fail. security will not and the solution will not be as good as we can get to unless we do this as partners. please speak up want to get a question for michael as well. fma, i know michael, duncan mentioned that after the first year of the pena nieto administration there was a single window, and that was

somewhat brought us back from the high point of the felipe calderón administration. could you talk about from the perspective of homeland security have we overcome that first year income beyond, or watch the homeland security perspective on the? >> so two things. the first is from homeland seekers perspective actually the change in administration had almost no change in our administration. the types of things that were challenged for the government of mexico at that time were primarily sort of the heart of law enforcement type of activities, sort of the dea's nba defense. that type of engagement was particularly challenge. we were facilitating commercial trade and travel which is something that they had not only a desire to continue at the current rate but actually to expand. while at the beginning of the pena nieto administration was largely a lull in the type of hard to get engagement.

that didn't touch the department of homeland security. we were almost unscathed. we have no, i think sort of more broadly as the u.s. government, i think we're at, everything duncan's characterization was correct, we are basically where we were before but it doesn't look the same. the channels are not exactly the same. the way we coordinate is exactly the same but the level of cooperation has certain that and in many cases surpassed what we are able to under the calderón administration. >> in terms of intelligence would you agree with that as well? >> absolutely, absolutely spent if i could make a quick comment on the southern border, this notion a deal with indigenous peoples exactly something that cbp deals with on a regular basis on the border. this is one of those areas where i think the cooperation between civilian and military expertise is highly valuable. from the holistic perspective we have a lot of experience how do you deal with these regions of

the border that are not necessarily under the same sort of roses everywhere else. that's one area where i think we can collaborate and taking it down to the southern border, mexico's southern border with guatemala, it's not been highly publicized but it is somewhat well-known there's a large operation a large, i say 300 people, operations being done by mexican immigration to apprehend those smuggling people. we expect this year mexican immigration will apprehend 100,000 more people than they did in 2013. so when 2013 the apprehended about 87,000. dishy we anticipate 180 south and dashed 187,000 this is largely done by 300 immigration officers in addition to people already deployed. and highlights the importance of trying to cross this bridge between civilian and military activities.

i'm not advocating that the military should go out and arrest people who are crossing the border illegally know or am i advocating that an army should try to undertake military activities but there are places where there's overlap, developing intelligence packages to go get stash houses are using communications director five smuggling routes. i can i think in the u.s. side we started to cross those bridges and in many cases do it quite well with the military where they provide direct support to the civilian action. if we hope that i'll take root in mexico in weight hasn't quite yet i think there's a lot of growth that can happen. >> thank you, michael. thank you all. i hope you all are encouraged as i am with the kind of cooperation we've been hearing about. unfortunately, that time -- jenna, you have a question? well, if you don't mind in terms of time, we would love, please come if you have a question or comment, we would love to hear

it. is coming. >> thank you. i'm the general, defense in mexico. thank you to appreciate your comments on the mexican army, but unfortunately at this moment in the media that are the concept about a mexican soldier don't have the culture about the human rights come general they can say about that. andino what this concept in the mexican army and the navy and air force. do you think this problem, the drugs, you say that have exact

lull against to permit mexico or the mexican army to the criminals, do you think it's possible to the soldiers in mexico have a problem in this moment? because of the human rights is long, culture into soldiers, but the media maybe don't know what is the exactly problems, education in the schools in mexico. i don't know. >> i think it's a very quick answer to i would say that the next incumbent in general has done a poor job of sharing information with the mexican public and with the international media about exactly those kinds of programs.

a lot of people are unaware that those kind of training, either national or cooperative with the track, that those programs exist. i think is also very, very difficult when we're dealing with a huge institution, that is the mexican army, to make that transition overnight. it's a huge task to try to change the mentality the way of thinking of your average soldier as well as of their leader within a short period of time. the education that happen within mexico for some of the younger troops that are coming in, where human rights has been a standard issue within the education system, i think it's a lot easier. but a lot of it is about changing the culture within an organization i think. as we see large organizations across the world it's very, very difficult to do that. you can change the organization. you can change equipment, change operation by changing the culture and we think is a very difficult task to do and it

takes a long time. i think this is were i was come back to with mexico, which is we have to celebrate a lot more about all the good things that have happened with mexico while at the same time recognize how far we have to go come on all of the dishes were talk today, i think that applies. i would say that is especially true for human rights. >> very quickly if i could make a comment on that. the issues in mexico, the army in particular has been trying very hard to work on human rights issues. last year there were a couple of incidents at which the mexican public became very concerned about human rights. as duncan mentioned, the use of the military in this role of a policing function has brought him into a different role. so it is highlighted this issue of the military's ability to deal with the public in this manner. but i called your attention, gender, to some of the examples

from colombia. columbia literally had to change the culture and they did. want other things, the reason i want to highlight this is that bringing the media and is so important. because if they don't know, they can't talk about it. but if you bring to an end, the other side of that is they are going to want to have an input and shape how you do 20. so there's a double edge to this by changing the culture takes that. i thank you for your question. i think all of you and i'm sorry that we have gone way over our time. this has been a fascinating panel. i appreciate all of our perspectives as well as your questions. will you please join me in thanking our panelists for a wonderful job. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

>> congress is on the final days of their columbus day break, both house and senate will be back to work next week. legislative visits resumed tuesday in the house. the senate starts debate monday at 4 p.m. begin with legislation to grant the federal money for sanctuary cities. live coverage from the house floor is on c-span, and the senate right here live on c-span2. >> this monday on c-span's new series dr. mykel kochenderfer -- "landmark cases" the mississippi river around new orleans has become a green brown for cholera and yellow fever partly due to o

the slaughterhouse in the air and dumping their byproducts into the river. to address this problem louisiana allowed only one government run slaughterhouse, crescent city and opportunistic district and the other houses took them to court. follow the slaughterhouse cases of 1873. we're joined by former solicitor general and constitutional law attorney and michael ross to help tell the history of this time period in the south, the personal stories of the butchers and the state of things in new orleans as well as the attorneys and supreme court justices involved in this close decision. be sure to join the conversation and we take your calls, tweets have faced a comment using the hashtag landmark cases live monday on c-span, c-span3 and c-span radio. for background on each case order your copy under the landmark cases companion book. it is available for $8.95 plus shipping at

c-span.org/landmarkcases. >> a signature feature of booktv as are all the coverage of book fairs and festivals from across the country with top nonfiction authors. here's our schedule beginning this weekend. >> south korean president park is in washington, d.c. this week

and later she'll be holding a joint news conference with the president obama at the white house. data set for 1:40 p.m. eastern live right here on c-span2. right now on c-span2 the south korean president from last night when she spoke at the center for strategic and international studies here in washington about how her country and international community should deal with north korea. prior to remarks a brief introduction. >> good afternoon, everyone. honored guests, my name is victor cha, i'm a senior advisor here at csis and professor at georgetown university. i want to welcome you to the csis statesmen's forum and thank you for joining us today for this very special event. in the run up to this present work in washington, d.c., csis has held a series of events known as korea going forward over the summer we held a number of conferences about korea and in the past few weeks really

series of briefings for our friends and partners in town prevent the visit of the president to washington. and today we are honored to host the csis statesmen's forum with president park. before we proceed i want to take a moment to give a special thank you for our partners and friends for korea going forward. we want to thank in particular our good friend and sponsor, grover capital management, as well as and core technology and friends of the korea chair. without their generous support the korea going forward series could not happen. one note of logistics before we begin. we would like you to all remain at your seats after the president has finished her speech and until she has left the building. andrew schwartzman is our senior vice president for external relations, and he will inform you when to exit. and when he doesn't forget we hope that you will join a

reception with an atrium afterwards. ladies and gentlemen, the common refrain today is that the u.s. south korean relationship as the best it's ever been. the greatness of the relationship has been not just him, interest and common values and to deep reservoir of trust. president park when he was president obama tomorrow morning, confident that policymakers and people in washington have with regard to great is due in no small part to our guest of honor tonight. so ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to the president of the republic of korea, her excellency park geun-hye. [applause]

>> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. thank you all for coming. this is an enormous privilege for us to be able to welcome president park geun-hye. she's been so generous to welcome us on numerous occasions to blue house. it is an enormous pleasure for us to welcome her here to csis. president park in some sense personally embodies the glory and the tragedy of korea. she has an interesting history. she was a young student, graduated in electronics engineering. i didn't know that. went to grenoble and it was there when she received an urgent message saying you must return to seoul as soon as possible.

she arrived, she got off the airplane pictures walking by a newsstand and saw a picture of a newspaper that had her mother's picture on it and it's an assassinated. the tragedy that he has had to endure. and she had to endure. she became the first lady of korea at the age of 22. it was the starting point of a career that is still unfolding in a great and marvelous way. this summer, korea with her yet another one of the great crises that periodically and fix the continuity of the peninsula. it was a test. every crisis has to crises. one involving the immediate effect, and the other is a question, what the government be up for this crisis? resident marc pucci at all the strength that we needed to be successful. and may i humbly say, she won. so with you applause would you

please welcome and congratulate the president of the republic of korea, park geun-hye. [applause] [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: president john hamre, ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to meet you. my thanks go out to the csis of staff who worked so hard to organize this event. late last month i was in new york to attend the united nations general assembly. here i am back later in washington, d.c. my trip to new york and so i'm back to washington is a

testament to the korea-u.s. allies which is being guided by the founding ideals of the united nations and which continues to involve an ever stronger and dynamic alliance. in my keynote address at the 70th the u.n. general assembly, i spelled out korea's commitment to contribute to international peace, security and shared prosperity. for korea itself has been a beneficiary of the postwar order and a trusted partner of united nations. that journey korea embarked on in the seven decade since the war has been a process of bringing to life the values and ideals of the united nations, and also history of the korea-u.s. allies to continue to evolve. the korea-u.s. allies has created, defended the values of democracy, the free market system and human rights of the korean peninsula and develop into vibrant economy through the

ashes of war. our two countries adventure together on this great journey spanning 70 years and now we stand poised to make another leap forward. the journey ahead will be charted together by our two countries as staunch borders in the service of humanity. distinguished guests, countless opportunities and challenges will await us along our quest. as our wealth grows with economic interdependence, and as the frontiers of space and technology are gradually pioneered, mankind in this era of hyper connection has enjoyed unprecedented levels of abundance. we know only too well that risks and challenges abound in our world. as threats both old and new become blended, problems both regional and global coexist, and a line between geopolitical and economic becomes blurred.

these risks and challenges will only become more complex and multidimensional. we now live in a world where no country can remain untouched from the events that occur across the globe as new threats to climate change, infectious diseases, violent extremism, cyberattacks transpire across borders. from syria, yemen, ukraine and north africa many repeat regions are written with a strike at the result, 60 million refugees. the single largest american crisis since the end of world war ii. north east asia is not an exception. in my speech to a joint session of congress t two and half years ago i pointed to the asia paradox, the paradox the continued unabated. the phrase return to geopolitics no longer stands out in place

the long-standing disputes intentions are doing their ugly heads and the state has expanded to include disease come out of space and cyberspace. 20 years ago dr. brzezinski warned in his book the grand chess board that asia has the potential political volcano could erupt. and less we carefully manage the situation comedy economic dynamism of this region which has led world growth for decades to be severely impaired. ..