nato/russia council, under exercises clearly demonstrates the potential in this area. both nato and russia have a wealth of experience? -- experience in missile defense. we should work to combine this experience to our mutual benefit. afghanistan is another area where we can and should do much more together. and where we already have a pretty solid foundation to build up. we have long agreed that countering terrorism and assisting the afghan government in building a stable and secure country is in nato's and russia's common interest. indeed, russia has offered land transit to contributors and to

nato allies by bilaterally to facilitate our operation in afghan starngs and this is welcome. nato and russia have achieved a great deal together in our joint work on counter training. we have advanced the professional skills of almost 1,000 officers from afghanistan and central asia. this is a good start and should give us the confidence to go much further by examining, for example, how drug moan and organized crime are fueling international terrorism. we have a firm base of cooperation in relation to afghanistan on which to build. we should now look more closely

into what else we can do together. and how we could purposely further russian engagement. it is my firm belief that there is a lot more that we can, and should do together to help afghanistan to get on its own feet. finally, maritime security, this is area where both nato nations and russia face the common challenges of piracy and terrorism at sea. again we have an excellent basis on which to build. on a national basis, russia has deployed ships to protect its shipping. and it cooperates at the

tactical level with all other actors in that area, including several nato member countries. nato and russia have already cooperated successfully in operation active endeavor. the alliance maritime antiterrorist patrols in the mediterranean. and nato his reminded russia to participate in this, and i do hope russia will accept. as you can see, there is considerable scope for nato and russia to do more together. and this will, i am sure, help us rebuild confidence and trust. but we need more than just enhanced practical cooperation

to address some of the more serious disagreement between nato and russia. hence my second proposal, which is to revitalize the nato/russia council as a forum for serious dialogue. i firmly believe that we should use the nato/russia council again in the way it was originally intended. not as a fair weather forum, but as a forum where we can all air our differences, openly and transparently. and where all our security concerns are discussed. including russia's. take for example, president's ideas on a new european security arrangement. i am aware that the o.a.c. is

the primary place for discussion, and that the president's ideas are not concrete proposals. but to the idea that these are russia's concerns of being marginalized. and that a dialogue could provide a real addeded value. we must aim to a security architecture in which russia sees herself reflected. as many of you are aware, nato has just started the process of drafting a new strategic concept. i plan to make this the most open, the most inclusive process in the history of nato, or any other organization. a process in which we will

thoroughly engage the strategic community and use new media in ways we have not done before. it goes without saying that this open process offers an excellent opportunity for the russian community to makes it voice heard. and now to my third proposal, when i look at the recent russia security strategy until 2020, i realize that russia very much like nato is strapling with a new evolving security environment. this environment confronts us with challenges that have little in common with those of

the past. but i also firmly believe that it offers an ideal opportunity for enhanced cooperation between nato and russia. we should use the nato/russia council to identify those areas where our interests comerge and where further cooperation would be beneficial. this is why i propose that we take a joint review of nato's and russia's common threats and challenges. we need and agree on a literal basis to use to further enhance our practical cooperation. and we don't have to start from scratch. nato and russia have already

conducted several joint assessments on specifics. and we have agreed on an action plan on terrorism. what we need do now in essence is to broaden this work. the agreement to conduct such a review would provide the nato/russia council with an unprecedented high-level political profile. and it would also be an unambiguous signal of our intention to work more closely together and to put our past differences behind us. it would represent a genuine new beginning for the nato/russia relationship. ladies and gentlemen, i am

perfectly aware that a proposals have i just laid out are ambitious. the historical [inaudible] of the relationships between nato and russia and between the west and russia cannot simply be ignored. and not all of our disagreements are simply based on misunderstanding. some of them are of a fundamental nature, and hence, will not disappear quickly. and i am keenly aware that nato/russia relations can quickly become hostage to domestic politics. in russia as well as allied nations. after all the state of

nato/russia relations is very much a reflection of the state's bilateral nations between individual allies and russia. so my proposals will require realism, and also consider political will. not just to launch them but particularly to prevent them from getting derailed by disagreements in other areas. carnegie's training once described russia as being merely the plantet pluto in the western solar system. in other words, while it is formally part of the system, it's located out in the fringes where it's lonely, cold and frustrated.

this situation is neither in russia's own interest nor in nato's interest. nato wants russia to be a real stakeholder in european and international security. we need russia as a partner in resolving the great issues of our time. and although many in russia may still hesitate to agree, i predict that russia sooner rather than later, will also come to realize that a more cooperative relationship with nato is very much in her own self-interest. ladies and gentlemen, this new relationship will require a lot of hard work.

but if we manage to get away from the reflects of assuming the worse about each other, and focus instead on our common interests, then we can make a gen -- genuine new beginning in our relationship, in our own interests and that of the entire international community. thank you very much. [applause] >> next, secretary of state, hillary clinton, she defended the administrations new approach to missle defense in europe, by saying that it would defend the troops and allies. and speaks of the united nations assembly meeting. this is about an hour. >> good morning, i am strob,

and it's my pleasure to welcome all of you this morning and particularly to the distinguished members of the diplomatic corp that that are with us this morning. it's a great honor to have secretary clinton with us. the entrance that all of you came in this morning may have swinging doors, but it's figurative lyly -- speaking a revolving door, as brookings institution has had eight colleagues going to work in foggy bottom and embassies and other missions around the world. i am sure, madam secretary, of the important task you are doing and all of us at brookings are proud to be a

part of them. starting monday, the secretary will plunge into a marathon of diplomacy at the united nations general assembly. she will in a moment give us a preview of the issues, the challenges, and the objectives that are most on her mind. i haven't read her speech, but this much i can predict, because it's already a signature theme of her stewardship of american foreign policy, and that's her conviction of promoting human security is related to international security. from her first remarks after her confirmation, in january, she's included developments in

security and defense. and one other point, 13 years ago, she made famous and into a personal motto, the african motoit takes a village to raise a child. and it takes a community coming together of the well-being of those come together, and the children of the vanguard of future relations. and the u.n. is a part of that community, and we are fortunate to be represented by secretary clinton next week and we are grateful for her today. after her opening remarks i will come back with her as she takes questions from you.

madam secretary, over to you. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. well, it is a great delight to be back at brookings through that revolving door that does go both directions. i spoke with strobe after i was asked to take this job as secretary state, and he said, i know you will decimate the place, and i said yes, we are, but that's part of the revolving door, people that go in and out of administrations and those who do the work here at brookings every day, the

high quality work and visionary and analytical. and i am very grateful of this team you have lead for years and the opportunity to work with them now in this new capacity. and i want to an a word of personal appreciation to strobe, most of you know he's been a friend of my husband's and mine, starting with my husband at oxford, and shortly afterwards, and he and the wonderful brook were dear friends over all of these years. and i am pleased to look out and see adrian and devin, the next generation, and to all the diplomatic corp, the

ambassadors here today, i thank each of you. i have had the opportunity to do bilateral meetings with most of you, and also the head of state, and i appreciate you're being with us today. and i also see the wonderful people who have joined the team at state and u.s.a. i.d. who are here as well. and i expressed my appreciation to all of them. i thank brookings on the opportunity to join on the eve of o.n.g.a. it's a strange acronym and causes moaning and groaning in some circles. henry kissinger was critical of unga and others have expressed their concern and disappointment with the united nations, but i believe that at

its best, united nation is not only a critical, essential institution but one that the united states has a lot of equities. so i am looking forward, not only that it's in new york and i get to go home, but it's an official as well as an personal obligation i am looking forward to. let me begin by echoing the president's statement yesterday of the approval of his security team to deploy a stronger and comprehensive missile defense in europe. this came after a lengthy assessment of the threat posed by iran's missle program. and the technology we have today and what might be available in the future to confront it. we believe this is a decision

that will leave america stronger and capable of defending our troops and allies. let me be clear of what the new system will do, as to the previous program. with the president's decision, we will deploy defense sooner than the previous program, we be able to swiftly deploy the threat of iran's missles. we will deploy defense more comprehensive than the previous program, with more interceptors in more places and with a better capacity to protect all of our friends and ally in the region. we will deploy technology that's actually proven so that we do not waste time or taxpayer money. and we will preserve the flexibility to adjust our approach to the threat, as the

threat evolves. make no mistake, if you support missile defense, which i did as a senator for eight years, then this is a stronger and smarter approach than the previous program. it does what missle defense is actually supposed to do, it defends america and our allies. and i know we have heard criticism of this plan, and much of that criticism is not connected to the facts. we are not quote, shelving missle defense, we are deploying it sooner than the bush administration, and we are not reducing our capacity to protect our interest and allies from iran, by contrast we are

increasing and focusing our iran's current capacities. and most of all, we would never, never walk away from our allies. we have recommitted ourselves to the article under nato and have sent that message to the presidents and my trips to every encounter and venue we have been in the last months. we are deploying a system that enhances our nato allies, and places more resources in more countries. two of our allies, poland and the czech republic were willing to host parts of the previous plan system, and we deeply appreciate that. we will continue to cooperate

closely with both nations. for instance through rotation of a patriot battery in poland and we have made it clear that those two countries will be at the top of the list. and let me underscore, we are bound together by our common commitment as nato allies, and also by deep, historical, economic and cultural ties that will never be left open. let me reiterate what the president said, this is defense is not about russia and it's about iran, and because of this position, we believe that we be in a far stronger position to deal with that threat and to do so with technology that works

and a higher degree of confidence, that what we pledge to do, we can actually deliver. now my main reason for being here today is to give you a brief review of our agenda next week in new york. but before i get into specifics, i saw a cartoon from the new yorker, it shows a delegate in his seat at the united nations passing a note to the delegate next to him, and the the cation read, it's a birthday card for nikstin, sign and pass it on. and this cartoon is commentary, and it represents one view of united nations, and what multilateral nations spend their time doing. as president obama leads our

delegation at this year's assembly, i hope we can demonstrate that the united nations doesn't have to be just a diplomatic talk shop, at its best, it can be an institution to bring nations together to solve global problems, and it's the responsibility of the 192 member nations during the general assembly and beyond, to capitalize on the opportunity for global progress that the united nations affords to each of us. i outlined the obama administration efforts to advance our interest and to solve our problems through a global architecture of partnership. we must begin by taking responsibility ourselves

something that under president obama we have begun to do. on issues of climate change to nonproliferation, and we have called on others to do the same. we can forge a global consensus and use that leverage to over clear incentives to all nations to cooperate and live up to their responsibilities. and we can provide strong disincentives for those who would act in isolation or provoke conflict. the united nations offers a venue and formum for nations to live together, and to live up to the charter and to provide global peace and security. i have in high -my office in the state department, a picture

of eleanor roosevelt, one of my particular heroines and sitting a desk working on human rights. and i said this before, channeling eleanor roosevelt is not a bad idea. it reminds us what is at stake as we move forward with our responsibilities, as does strobe's recent book, the great experiment. we have to have effective global institutions, that's not a choice. that's an imperative, it's up to us how to make them effective. united nations is a building and able to make those act by decisions by member nations. we in my view ignore it and walk away from it in our peril,

especially in the 21st century, where interconnectiveness gives promise to those could be ignored in the post. no issue poses a more serious threat to our security and world, and it will be a main topic next week and beyond. the president outlined a robust arms control nonproliferation agenda in prague, and we believe that it sets the template of what we aspire to, moving to a world of zero nuclear weapons. we understand that won't be easy and it will be a

generation aljen -generalization commitment, and we want to be on record and move our best efforts to move toward more effective nonproliferation and more effective cooperation, and toward hopefully arriving some day at that future goal. next week the president will chair a meeting on nonproliferation and disarmment. and recognize the importance of the nonproliferation regime and the role that the security council must play. the president has asked me to lead the u.s. delegation on a conference to the u.s. test band treaty. this is the first time that a secretary of state has attended. and give me the opportunity to underscore the