i am richard haas, president of the council on foreign relations. i would like to welcome you all to today's event. i apologize for one or two pieces of housekeeping. if people would please completely turned off your soul phones and wireless devices so that it does not interfere with our sound system. it just a friendly warning to the prime minister. at today's meeting is on the record. -- today's meeting is on the record. there will be council on foreign relations members around the world that will be listening and we have some cameras here today. let me say a few things in a way of introduction. i believe it was july 24th, 1991 that the finance minister presented a budget to india's parliament. when he concluded his remarks, he quoted victor hugo. no power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come. he went on to say, "i suggest that the emergence of india as a major economic power in the world happens to be such an idea." 18 years later, it is obvious manmohan singh was correct. thanks in no small part to his leadership. those of us associated

we will first hear from richard haas, counsel for relations, who has worked with two presidents. as council president, he has truly been an entrepreneurial leader. it has always been important, but richard has he brought many scholars and expertise and wide range of subjects. his most recent book is called a " war of necessity, war of joyce," -- "war of necessity, war of choice." glenn hubbard is no ordinary academic. he is dean of columbia business and a tenured professor of finance and economics at the columbia school of arts and sciences. he has worked for the treasury and as a consultant to the federal reserve bank, and recently he wrote a book called "healthy, wealthy, and wise -- five steps to better health care system." next is robert keeton -- kag an, senior associate at the carnegie endowment for international peace. he has served in the state department as a member of the policy planning and writes a monthly column for the washington post-and is the author of a great history book, dangerous nation, america's place in the world. finally, we have mort zuckerman. his activi

i am delighted to work with richard haas, the president of the council. i expect every person in this room is indebted to the excellent work done by the council on foreign relations under richard haas' ship. -- leadership. may i say hello to our ambassador to india from the united states. he served in congress with great distinction and i have not the slightest doubt that he will serve with great distinction in new delhi. just over one year ago, manmohan singh, the 14th prime minister of india visited washington and spoke the following words these last four and a half years, there has been a massive transformation of india/united states relations. we now have a strategic partnership with the united states. then president bush said, "it is a relationship that is based on our common values that every person matters, and that everybody belongs and that everybody should worship as freely as they want to. the common values of the right of people to express themselves in a peaceful way of." -- in a peaceful way." there will be a dinner in honor of manmohan sing

with that, let me welcome richard haas. [applause] >> let me thank roger, not just for assembling my colleagues tonight, but for all that he does to introduce the themes i talk about in the next few minutes. his contributions are important. you cannot discuss the future of the united states without discussing the future of others in the world. to put it another way, the las vegas metaphor does not work. what happens here will not stay here. it will go there. what happens there will not stay there, it will come here. so our future, for better or worse, is inextricably intertwined with the future of others. at the risk of being misunderstood, though, let me say something about our future. the united states will continue to grow economically, maybe not as robustly, but it will continue to grow, it will continue to get stronger militarily. so by absolute measures, we will grow and get stronger. we begin from a higher base, as opposed to those who have gdp in the whole or per-capita. that is simply a fact of life. the fact that

we will first hear from richard haas, counsel for relations, who has worked with two presidents. ouncil president, he has truly been an entrepreneurial leader. it has always been important, but richard has he brought many scholars and expertise and wide range of subjects. his most recent book is called a " war of necessity, war of joyce," -- "war of necessity, war of choice." glenn hubbard is no ordinary academic. he is dean of columbia business and a tenured professor of finance and economics at the columbia school of arts and sciences. he has worked for the treasury and as a consultant to the federal reserve bank, and recently he wrote a book called "healthy, wealthy, and wise -- five steps to better health care system." next is robert keeton -- kag an, senior associate at the carnegie endowment for international peace. he has served in the state department as a member of the policy planning and writes a monthly column for the washington post-and is the author of a great history book, dangerous nation, america's place in the world. finally, we have mort zuckerman. his activities

we will first hear from richard haas, counsel for relations, who has worked with two presidents. as council president, he has truly been an entrepreneurial leader. it has always been important, but richard has he brought many scholars and expertise and wide range of subjects. his most recent book is called a " war of necessity, war of joyce," -- "war of necessity, war of choice." glenn hubbard is no ordinary academic. he is dean of columbia business and a tenured professor of finance and economics at the columbia school of arts and sciences. he has worked for the treasury and as a consultant to the federal reserve bank, and recently he wrote a book called "healthy, wealthy, and wise -- five steps to better health care system." next is robert keeton -- kag an, senior associate at the carnegie endowment for international peace. he has served in the state department as a member of the policy planning and writes a monthly column for the washington post-and is the author of a great history book, dangerous nation, america's place in the world. finally, we have mort zuckerman. his activi