Улс төрөөр чи оролдохгүй ч улс төр чамаар оролдоно

... Гудамжны буланд байх хогийн савыг ноорхой хувцастай хэдэн хүүхэд ухаж үмх талх, бүтэн шил хайж байхад хажуугаар нь шил толь болсон жип машин сигналаа хангинуулан өнгөрөхийг ажваас өмссөн зүүсэн нь илт өөр үеийн нь хүүхдүүд байлаа. Энэ бол орон хот газар хаана ч харагдах жирийн дүр зураг. Монгол орныг маань нөмрөөд буй баян, хоосны ялгаа нийгмийн давхраажилтын энгийн жишээ юм. Энэхүү амьдралын ялгаатай байдал, нийгмийн давхраажилт, хүмүүн бидний эрх чөлөө цаашлаад улс орны тусгаар тогтнолд ч улс төр хүйн холбоотойгоор хамаарч байдаг.
Улс төр нь бүх л хүрээг хамарч бүх шинжлэх ухаантай холбогддогийг “Улс төр гэдэг тодорхой бус шинжлэх ухаан” гэсэн Отто Фон Бисмаркийн үгнээс харж болно.
Тэгвэл улс төрийн шинжлэх ухаан юу судалдаг вэ?
Ерөнхийдөө улс төрийн шинжлэх ухаан бол улс төрийн тухай, түүнээс хүн ба нийгэмтэй харилцах харилцааны тухай шинжлэх ухаан байдаг. Хүний нийгэм оршин тогтносон бүхий л үеийнхээ туршид сайн сайхан амьдралыг хүсэн тэмүүлсээр ирсэн нь бодит үнэн бөгөөд түүнийг хэрэгжүүлэх арга хэлбэрүүд нь өнөөдрийг хүртэл он цагийн шалгуураар төгөлдөржин боловсорсоор ирсэн бөгөөд үүнийг даган улс төр өөрөө шинэчлэгдэн баяжсаар ирсэн.
Үүнийг тайлбарлавал хүн гэдэг нийгэмшиж амьдардаг буюу хүнийг амьтан гэж үзвээс хүн нийгмийн амьтан юм. Нийгэмшилтийг улс төрөөс салган ойлгож болохгүй ба улс төрийг хүмүүн бидний амьдралаас салган ойлгож болохгүй юм.
Тийм ч учраас улс төр хүн бүрийн амьдралд хамааралтай байхын зэрэгцээ нөгөө талаасаа хүн бүрийн амьдрал улс төрөөс хамаарч байдаг.
Манай он тооллын өмнөх тавдугаар зуунд агуу их сэтгэгч Аристотель “Улс төр бол өөр бусад хүмүүстэй байнгын харилцан үйлчлэлд байх үйлийн тавилантай атлаа нийгэм хамт олны дотор үнэ цэнэтэй амьдрах чадвартай нийгмийн амьтан болох хүний уг чанарт суурилна.” гэж үзсэн байдаг.
Аристотелийн энэ санааг авч үзвэл нийгэм дэх хүмүүсийн хоорондын харилцаа нь улс төрд тулгуурлан тогтож байдаг учраас хүмүүн бид улс төрөөс хэзээ ч ангид амьдрахгүй юм.
Тэгвэл улс төр бидний амьдралд хэрхэн нөлөөлж байна вэ?
Та цалингаа нэмэгдүүлж, улсын халамжийн үйлчилгээнд хамрагдаж, эрүүл цэвэр орчинд амар тайван амьдрахыг хүсдэг үү?
Хүн бүр сайн сайхан амьдрахыг хүсдэг болохоор сайхан амьдралыг хүсэхгүй хүн гэж байхгүй. Тэгвэл таны сайхан амьдрахад нөлөөлөх томоохон шийдвэрүүдийг улс төрийн эрх баригчид гаргаж байдаг. Тухайлбал энгийн нэгэн оюутан байлаа гэхэд ардчилсан нийгэмд хуулийн хүрээнд, хуулинд захирагдан амьдарна. Уг хуулийг боловсруулагчид нь улс төрчид байдаг бөгөөд ямар ч тохиолдолд улс төрөөс хамааралтай амьдардаг гэсэн үг.
Улс төр бидний амьдралтай хүйн холбоотой бол улс төрийг бид хэрхэн ойлгодог вэ?
Монголчуудын хувьд зарим хүмүүс улс төрийг өөрсдөөс нь ангид зүйл гэж ойлгох тал байдаг. Хэдийгээр улс төр шууд утгаараа бидний амьдралтай холбогддоггүй байж болох ч улс төрийн үйл явц далд байдлаар нөлөөлж байдаг.
Хуулийн дагуу дөрвөн жилд нэг удаа бид сонгууль өгөх хэрэгтэй байдаг бөгөөд энэ өдөр л бид өөрсдийн саналаар төрийн эрх баригчдаа сонгож байдаг. Хэрэв бид зөв сонголт хийвэл бидний амьдрал сайжирна, буруу сонголт хийвэл буруудана. Эндээс үзвэл улс төр бол бидний сайхан амьдрах сонголттой салшгүй холбогддог бөгөөд ямар улс төрийн хүчинг сонгож байгаагаарай бид амьдралынхаа томоохон сонголтыг хийж байдаг. Таны нэг санал ч улс төрийн амьдралын олон зүйлийг шийдэж байдаг.
Би улс төрийг ойлгохдоо ард түмэн биднийг сайхан амьдруулах гэрлийг хонгилийн үзүүрт асааж, түүн үрүү явах замыг чиглүүлэгч гэж ойлгодог.
Агуу их сэтгэгч Аристотель “Хүн бол улс төрийн амьтан юм” гэж хэлсэн байдаг.
Тийм ээ! Хүмүүн бид улс төрөөс хэзээ ч ангид байж чадахгүй бөгөөд улс төр өөрөө ард түмэн биднээс саланги оршдоггүй нийгмийн шинжтэй нэгдмэл холбоо юм.

Таалан уншсан танд баярлалаа.

Хүн алхам тутамдаа сонголт хийсэн байдаг ба сонголт хийгээгүй байхдаа ч сонголт хийсэн байдаг

Дэлхий ертөнц эргэх хурдаараа хувьсан шинэчлэгдэж буй өнөө үед хүн төрөлхтөн бид улам л завгүй болж, амсхийх чөлөөгүй ажиллаж амьдрахдаа байнга шийдвэр гаргах хэрэгтэй болдог. “Амьдрал өөрөө сонголтоос бүрддэг” гэж нэгэн гүн ухаантны хэлсэн үг байдаг. Тиймээ бидний гаргаж буй шийдвэр гэж сонголтуудаас нэгийг нь сонгох тэр процессыг хэлдэг.
Өнөөгийн даяарчлал, техник технологийн хөгжлийг даган шийдвэр гаргахад нөлөөлөх сонголтын тоо өсөж байгаа ч олон сонголтоос зөв шийдвэр гаргах нь тун төвөгтэй байдаг. Та бид зөв шийдвэр гаргахын тулд эргэлзэн сонголт хийхгүй байх үе байдаг. Тэр үед бид шийдвэр гаргаагүй гэсэн сонголтыг хийсэн байдаг. Тиймээ бид ийнхүү байнга сонголт хийж байдаг.
Өдөр тутам бид сонголт хийж байдаг талаар өөр дээрээ энгийн жишээ авая. Би өдөр бүр өглөө найман цагаас хичээлтэй байдаг тул өглөө эрт босох нь миний хувьд тийм амар зүйл байдаггүй. Өглөө би сэрээд хичээлдээ явах уу, унтах уу гэж бодсоны эцэст гарах үр дүнгээс шалтгаалан нэгийг нь сонгож шийдвэр гаргадаг.
Уг шийдвэрийг гаргахад нөлөөлөх өөр сонголт байхгүй тул заавал аль нэгийг нь сонгох хэрэгтэй болдог.
Зоригтой хүн нэг шийддэг зориггүй хүн зуу шийддэг гэж аав маань байнга захидаг. Энэ нь ч үнэн бололтой. Учир нь миний багаасаа нөхөрлөсөн нэгэн найз маань арван жил төгсөөд мэргэжил сонгохдоо өөртөө итгэлгүй байсан бөгөөд аав ээжийнхээ шийдвэрийн дагуу сургуулиа сонгосон. Тэрээр эхэлж хуулийн сургуульд сурч байгаад удалгүй сургуулиа хаяж, багшийн сургуульд орсон боловч мөн л сургуулиасаа гарч ажил хийхээр Солонгос явсан. Эндээс үзэхэд найз маань олон сонголтоос эцэст нь мэргэжил одоохондоо эзэмшихгүй гэсэн сонголтыг хийсэн.
Бид байнга сонголт хийдэг талаар улс төр дээр жишээ авч үзэе. Дөрвөн жил тутамд сонгууль болдог. Уг сонгуулиар ямар хүмүүст төрийн эрх мэдлийг олгох нь та бидний сонголтоос хамаардаг. Сонгуульд оролцож буй хүн бүр нэг л хүнийг сонгодог. Харин зарим хүмүүс төр засагт үл итгэх байдлаас болон бусад шалтгаанаас хамааран сонгуульд оролцдоггүй. Энэ нь хэнийг ч сонгохгүй гэсэн нэгэн шийдвэр юм.
Тийм ээ, бидний амьдрал олон сонголтийн орчил дээр оршдог бололтой. Хамгийн гол нь бид шийдвэр гаргахдаа зөв сонголт хийсэн эсэхээс шалтгаалан үр дүн нь өөр өөр байдаг. Тухайлбал та бид ажил мэргэжил, албан газар, анд нөхөд гээд олон зүйлийг сонгосны эцэст сайхан амьдрах, тааруу амьдрахаа өөрсдөө ч мэдэлгүй сонгосон байдаг.
Нөгөө талаас нь авч үзвэл бид байгалийн зохилдлогоог даван сонголт хийж чаддаггүй. Хүн хүмүүн биеийг олохдоо өөрийн эцэг эх, хүйс, үр хүүхэд, эх орноо сонгодоггүй билээ. Мөн байгалийн аюул осол, байгалийн араншинг сонгож чаддаггүй.
Харин хүмүүн бид өөрсдөөс шалтгаалах, өөртэй холбоотой бүх зүйлд алхам тутамдаа сонголт хийж байдаг. Бид хэдий чинээ өндөр мэдлэг боловсрол эзэмшинэ төдий чинээ бидний зөв сонголт хийх хүрээ ихэсдэг гэж боддог.
Дээрхи жишээнүүдээр бид алхам тутамдаа сонголттой учирч, сонголт хийж, хийгээгүй байхдаа ч хийсэн байдгийг өөрийн үзэл бодлоор батлах гэж оролдлоо. Тийм ээ амьдрал тэр чигээрээ сонголт юм. Энэ эссэг хэрхэн дүгнэх нь хүртэл уншигч таний бас нэгэн сонголт юм.

Эх оронч Монгол хүн ...

... Алтайн уулсаас Дорнын их тал хүртэл
Алтан говиос умарын хөглөгөр ногоон ой хөвч хүртэл
Цэлгэр уудам нутаг хангайн Монгол, говийн Монгол
Цээжинд лугших зүрх миний эх орон ...
Монголын ард түмэн бид эртний түүхээсээ эхлээд эх орноо магтан эх орноороо бахархаж, шүлэглэж, дуулж ирсэн ард түмэн билээ. Бидний лугших зүрхний цохилт бүрд хамт байдаг эх орон гэж юу юм бэ?
Төрж унасан газар шороо, түүн дээр өвгөдийн цогцлоон бүтээсэн түүх соёл, өврөө дэлгэсэн газар нутаг гээд энэ бүхэн эх орон минь юм аа. Өнөөгийн даяаршиж буй ардчилсан Монгол оронд маань эх оронч гэх хүмүүс олширч, цээжээ дэлдэх болсон нь сайшаалтай ч жинэхэнэ эх оронч хүний сэтгэл гаргаж чаддаггүй нь харамсалтай. Саяхан гадаадын нэгэн танилтайгаа уулзтал, Монгол хүмүүсийн найдваргүй мөн бие биенээ муулсан зан, эх орноо худалдахаас ч буцахгүй байдлыг жигшсэнээ ярихад сэтгэл минь өвдөж байлаа.
Бид түүхээсээ Л.Дандар, С.Бодоо, Ард Аюуш гээд эх орныхоо төлөө амь биеэ хайрлалгүй тэмцэж байсан баатар эх орончдоороо бахархаж ирсэн. Дарийн утаа ханхалж, дайн болоогүй энх тогтуун энэ цагт эх оронч гэж ямар хүнийг хэлэх вэ?
Эх оронч үзэл гэдэг хүмүүн бидний сэтгэлд тээгдэн явдаг хийсвэр ойлголт бөгөөд эх орноо гэсэн чин сэтгэлтэй хүмүүсийг эх оронч хүн гэдэг. Хэдийгээр даяаршлын энэ зуунд залуучууд бид гадаад оронд амьдарч, бусдын соёлоос суралцаж байгаа нь сайшаалтай ч эх орноороо бахархаж, эх орноо хайрлах энэ сайхан эх оронч үзлээ хаяж болохгүй. Бидний эх орон, эх оронч үзэл бол хүмүүн болж төрөх ховорхон заяаны утга учир гэж би бодож явдаг. Уртын дуу, морин хуурь, говь тал, газар шороо энэ бүхнээ хайрлан хамгаалж, үүний төлөө хичэээнгүйлэн сурч боловсорч хөгжүүлэн цэцэглүүлэх хэрэгтэй. Тийм ээ, энэ л эх оронч Монгол хүмүүн миний үүрэг юм.

Эх орны ирээдүй миний нүдээр ...

Морин дээрээсээ буулгүй дэлхийн талыг эзэлж Монгол хэмээх нэрийг ертөнцөд дуурсгасан Чингис хааны байгуулсан их Монгол улсынхаа 800 жилийн ойг өнгөрсөн жил бид ёслол төгөлдөр тэмдэглэсэн билээ. Түүхээ дурсан санах энэ цаг үетэй хамт эх орныхоо ирээдүйн гарцыг бид бичилцэх ёстой.
1999 онд Нобелийн шагнал хүртсэн Амартъя Сэн хэмээх эдийн засагч зүүн Азийн шинээр хөгжсөн орнуудыг судлаад, улсын хөгжлийг түргэтгэсэн хамгийн гол хүчин зүйл “хүний хөгжил” гэсэн байдаг. Хүний хөгжил гэхлээр боловсрол, эрүүл мэнд, ... гээд олон зүйл орно.
Оюутан залуучууд бид өндөр боловсрол эзэмшиж, эх оронч сэтгэлгээтэй иргэд болж төлөвших нь эх орны ирээдүйн хөгжлийн түлхүүр нь юм. Боловсрол гэхээр зөвхөн мэдлэг гэж ойлгож болохгүй. Боловсролд мэдлэгээс гадна хүмүүн болж төлөвших ухамсар, өндөр ёс суртахуун, эх оронч сэтгэлгээ хамаарна. Энэ бүхнийг эзэмшсэн өндөр ухамсарт иргэдийг төлөвшүүлснээр эх орны минь ирээдүй гэгээлэг байж хөгжин мандах болно гэж би боддог.
Эх орны минь ирээдүй хөгжил цэцэглэлт залуучууд бидний гарт байна. Өнөөдрөөс эхэлж эх орныхоо хөгжлийн түлхүүрийг атгаж яваа залуучууд бид өндөр боловсрол, ёс суртахуунтай эх оронч иргэд болохын төлөө хичээнгүйлэн суралцаж бүх зүйлээ зориулах ёстой.

Монгол орон мандан бадартугай!

Women's Rights Are Human Rights by Hillary Clinton

Mrs. Mongella, Under Secretary Kittani, distinguished delegates and guests:

I would like to thank the Secretary General of the United Nations for inviting me to be part of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. This is truly a celebration - a celebration of the contributions women make in every aspect of life: in the home, on the job, in their communities, as mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, learners, workers, citizens and leaders.

It is also a coming together, much the way women come together every day in every country.

We come together in fields and in factories. In village markets and supermarkets. In living rooms and board rooms.

Whether it is while playing with our children in the park, or washing clothes in a river, or taking a break at the office water cooler, we come together and talk about our aspirations and concerns. And time and again, our talk turns to our children and our families. However different we may be, there is far more that unites us than divides us. We share a common future. And we are here to find common ground so that we may help bring new dignity and respect to women and girls all over the world - and in so doing, bring new strength and stability to families as well.

By gathering in Beijing, we are focusing world attention on issues that matter most in the lives of women and their families: access to education, health care, jobs and credit, the chance to enjoy basic legal and human rights and participate fully in the political life of their countries.

There are some who question the reason for this conference.

Let them listen to the voices of women in their homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces.

There are some who wonder whether the lives of women and girls matter to economic and political progress around the globe.

Let them look at the women gathered here and at Huairou - the homemakers, nurses, teachers, lawyers, policymakers, and women who run their own businesses.

It is conferences like this that compel governments and people everywhere to listen, look and face the world's most pressing problems.

Wasn't it after the women's conference in Nairobi ten years ago that the world focused for the first time on the crisis of domestic violence?

Earlier today, I participated in a World Health Organization forum, where government officials, NGOs, and individual citizens are working on ways to address the health problems of women and girls.

Tomorrow, I will attend a gathering of the United Nations Development Fund for Women. There, the discussion will focus on local - and highly successful - programs that give hard-working women access to credit so they can improve their own lives and the lives of their families.

What we are learning around the world is that if women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from violence, their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish.

And when families flourish, communities and nations will flourish.

That is why every woman, every man, every child, every family, and every nation on our planet has a stake in the discussion that takes place here.

Over the past 25 years, I have worked persistently on issues relating to women, children and families. Over the past two-and-a-half years, I have had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges facing women in my own country and around the world.

I have met new mothers in Jojakarta, Indonesia, who come together regularly in their village to discuss nutrition, family planning, and baby care.

I have met working parents in Denmark who talk about the comfort they feel in knowing that their children can be cared for in creative, safe, and nurturing after-school centers.

I have met women in South Africa who helped lead the struggle to end apartheid and are now helping build a new democracy.

I have met with the leading women of the Western Hemisphere who are working every day to promote literacy and better health care for the children of their countries.

I have met women in India and Bangladesh who are taking out small loans to buy milk cows, rickshaws, thread and other materials to create a livelihood for themselves and their families.

I have met doctors and nurses in Belarus and Ukraine who are trying to keep children alive in the aftermath of Chernobyl.

The great challenge of this Conference is to give voice to women everywhere whose experiences go unnoticed, whose words go unheard.

Women comprise more than half the world's population. Women are 70% percent of the world's poor, and two-thirds of those who are not taught to read and write.

Women are the primary caretakers for most of the world's children and elderly. Yet much of the work we do is not valued - not by economists, not by historians, not by popular culture, not by government leaders.

At this very moment, as we sit here, women around the world are giving birth, raising children, cooking meals, washing clothes, cleaning houses, planting crops, working on assembly lines, running companies, and running countries.

Women also are dying from diseases that should have been prevented or treated; they are watching their children succumb to malnutrition caused by poverty and economic deprivation; they are being denied the right to go to school by their own fathers and brothers; they are being forced into prostitution, and they are being barred from the bank lending office and banned from the ballot box.

Those of us who have the opportunity to be here have the responsibility to speak for those who could not.

As an American, I want to speak up for women in my own country - women who are raising children on the minimum wage, women who can't afford health care or child care, women whose lives are threatened by violence, including violence in their own homes.

I want to speak up for mothers who are fighting for good schools, safe neighborhoods, clean air and clean airwaves; for older women, some of them widows, who have raised their families and now find that their skills and life experiences are not valued in the workplace; for women who are working all night as nurses, hotel clerks, and fast food cooks so that they can be at home during the day with their kids; and for women everywhere who simply don't have time to do everything they are called upon to do each day.

Speaking to you today, I speak for them, just as each of us speaks for women around the world who are denied the chance to go to school, or see a doctor, or own property, or have a say about the direction of their lives, simply because they are women. The truth is that most women around the world work both inside and outside the home, usually by necessity.

We need to understand that there is no formula for how women should lead their lives. That is why we must respect the choices that each woman makes for herself and her family. Every woman deserves the chance to realize her God-given potential.

We also must recognize that women will never gain full dignity until their human rights are respected and protected.

Our goals for this Conference, to strengthen families and societies by empowering women to take greater control over their own destinies, cannot be fully achieved unless all governments - here and around the world - accept their responsibility to protect and promote internationally recognized human rights.

The international community has long acknowledged - and recently affirmed at Vienna - that both women and men are entitled to a range of protections and personal freedoms, from the right of personal security to the right to determine freely the number and spacing of the children they bear.

No one should be forced to remain silent for fear of religious or political persecution, arrest, abuse or torture.

Tragically, women are most often the ones whose human rights are violated.

Even in the late 20th century, the rape of women continues to be used as an instrument of armed conflict. Women and children make up a large majority of the world's refugees. When women are excluded from the political process, they become even more vulnerable to abuse.

I believe that, on the eve of a new millennium, it is time to break our silence. It is time for us to say here in Beijing, and the world to hear, that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women's rights as separate from human rights.

These abuses have continued because, for too long, the history of women has been a history of silence. Even today, there are those who are trying to silence our words.

The voices of this conference and of the women at Huairou must be heard loud and clear: It is a violation of human rights when babies are denied food, or drowned, or suffocated, or their spines broken, simply because they are born girls.

It is a violation of human rights when women and girls are sold into the slavery of prostitution.

It is a violation of human rights when women are doused with gasoline, set on fire and burned to death because their marriage dowries are deemed too small.

It is a violation of human rights when individual women are raped in their own communities and when thousands of women are subjected to rape as a tactic or prize of war.

It is a violation of human rights when a leading cause of death worldwide among women ages 14 to 44 is the violence they are subjected to in their own homes.

It is a violation of human rights when young girls are brutalized by the painful and degrading practice of genital mutilation.

It is a violation of human rights when women are denied the right to plan their own families, and that includes being forced to have abortions or being sterilized against their will.

If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, it is that human rights are women's rights - and women's rights are human rights. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely - and the right to be heard.

Women must enjoy the right to participate fully in the social and political lives of their countries if we want freedom and democracy to thrive and endure.

It is indefensible that many women in nongovernmental organizations who wished to participate in this conference have not been able to attend - or have been prohibited from fully taking part.

Let me be clear. Freedom means the right of people to assemble, organize, and debate openly. It means respecting the views of those who may disagree with the views of their governments. It means not taking citizens away from their loved ones and jailing them, mistreating them, or denying them their freedom or dignity because of the peaceful expression of their ideas and opinions.

In my country, we recently celebrated the 75th anniversary of women's suffrage. It took 150 years after the signing of our Declaration of Independence for women to win the right to vote.

It took 72 years of organized struggle on the part of many courageous women and men. It was one of America's most divisive philosophical wars. But it was also a bloodless war. Suffrage was achieved without a shot being fired.

We have also been reminded, in V-1 Day observances last weekend, of the good that comes when men and women join together to combat the forces of tyranny and build a better world.

We have seen peace prevail in most places for a half century. We have avoided another world war.

But we have not solved older, deeply-rooted problems that continue to diminish the potential of half the world's population.

Now it is time to act on behalf of women everywhere. If we take bold steps to better the lives of women, we will be taking bold steps to better the lives of children and families too.

Families rely on mothers and wives for emotional support and care; families rely on women for labor in the home; and increasingly, families rely on women for income needed to raise healthy children and care for other relatives.

As long as discrimination and inequities remain so commonplace around the world - as long as girls and women are valued less, fed less, fed last, overworked, underpaid, not schooled and subjected to violence in and out of their homes - the potential of the human family to create a peaceful, prosperous world will not be realized.

Let this Conference be our - and the world's - call to action.

And let us heed the call so that we can create a world in which every woman is treated with respect and dignity, every boy and girl is loved and cared for equally, and every family has the hope of a strong and stable future.

Thank you very much.

God's blessings on you, your work and all who will benefit from it.

Atoms for Peace By Dwight Eisenhower

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December 8th, 1953
________________________________________
Madam President and Members of the General Assembly:

When Secretary General Hammarskjold’s invitation to address this General Assembly reached me in Bermuda, I was just beginning a series of conferences with the Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers of Great Britain and of France. Our subject was some of the problems that beset our world.

During the remainder of the Bermuda Conference, I had constantly in mind that ahead of me lay a great honor. That honor is mine today, as I stand here, privileged to address the General Assembly of the United Nations.

At the same time that I appreciate the distinction of addressing you, I have a sense of exhilaration as I look upon this Assembly. Never before in history has so much hope for so many people been gathered together in a single organization. Your deliberations and decisions during these somber years have already realized part of those hopes.

But the great tests and the great accomplishments still lie ahead. And in the confident expectation of those accomplishments, I would use the office which, for the time being, I hold, to assure you that the Government of the United States will remain steadfast in its support of this body. This we shall do in the conviction that you will provide a great share of the wisdom, of the courage, and the faith which can bring to this world lasting peace for all nations, and happiness and well-being for all men.

Clearly, it would not be fitting for me to take this occasion to present to you a unilateral American report on Bermuda. Nevertheless, I assure you that in our deliberations on that lovely island we sought to invoke those same great concepts of universal peace and human dignity which are so cleanly etched in your Charter. Neither would it be a measure of this great opportunity merely to recite, however hopefully, pious platitudes.

I therefore decided that this occasion warranted my saying to you some of the things that have been on the minds and hearts of my legislative and executive associates, and on mine, for a great many months -- thoughts I had originally planned to say primarily to the American people.

I know that the American people share my deep belief that if a danger exists in the world, it is a danger shared by all; and equally, that if hope exists in the mind of one nation, that hope should be shared by all.

Finally, if there is to be advanced any proposal designed to ease even by the smallest measure the tensions of today’s world, what more appropriate audience could there be than the members of the General Assembly of the United Nations. I feel impelled to speak today in a language that in a sense is new, one which I, who have spent so much of my life in the military profession, would have preferred never to use. That new language is the language of atomic warfare.

The atomic age has moved forward at such a pace that every citizen of the world should have some comprehension, at least in comparative terms, of the extent of this development, of the utmost significance to everyone of us. Clearly, if the peoples of the world are to conduct an intelligent search for peace, they must be armed with the significant facts of today’s existence.

My recital of atomic danger and power is necessarily stated in United States terms, for these are the only incontrovertible facts that I know. I need hardly point out to this Assembly, however, that this subject is global, not merely national in character.

On July 16, 1945, the United States set off the world’s first atomic explosion.

Since that date in 1945, the United States of America has conducted forty-two test explosions. Atomic bombs today are more than twenty-five times as powerful as the weapons with which the atomic age dawned, while hydrogen weapons are in the ranges of millions of tons of TNT equivalent.

Today, the United States stockpile of atomic weapons, which, of course, increases daily, exceeds by many times the total [explosive] equivalent of the total of all bombs and all shells that came from every plane and every gun in every theatre of war in all the years of World War II.

A single air group, whether afloat or land based, can now deliver to any reachable target a destructive cargo exceeding in power all the bombs that fell on Britain in all of World War II. In size and variety, the development of atomic weapons has been no less remarkable. The development has been such that atomic weapons have virtually achieved conventional status within our armed services.

In the United States, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marine Corps are all capable of putting this weapon to military use. But the dread secret and the fearful engines of atomic might are not ours alone.

In the first place, the secret is possessed by our friends and allies, Great Britain and Canada, whose scientific genius made a tremendous contribution to our original discoveries and the designs of atomic bombs.

The secret is also known by the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union has informed us that, over recent years, it has devoted extensive resources to atomic weapons. During this period the Soviet Union has exploded a series of atomic devices, including at least one involving thermo-nuclear reactions. If at one time the Unites States possessed what might have been called a monopoly of atomic power, that monopoly ceased to exist several years ago.

Therefore, although our earlier start has permitted us to accumulate what is today a great quantitative advantage, the atomic realities of today comprehend two facts of even greater significance.

First, the knowledge now possessed by several nations will eventually be shared by others, possibly all others.

Second, even a vast superiority in numbers of weapons, and a consequent capability of devastating retaliation, is no preventive, of itself, against the fearful material damage and toll of human lives that would be inflicted by surprise aggression. The free world, at least dimly aware of these facts, has naturally embarked on a large program of warning and defense systems. That program will be accelerated and expanded. But let no one think that the expenditure of vast sums for weapons and systems of defense can guarantee absolute safety for the cities and citizens of any nation. The awful arithmetic of the atomic bomb does not permit of any such easy solution. Even against the most powerful defense, an aggressor in possession of the effective minimum number of atomic bombs for a surprise attack could probably place a sufficient number of his bombs on the chosen targets to cause hideous damage.

Should such an atomic attack be launched against the United States, our reactions would be swift and resolute. But for me to say that the defense capabilities of the United States are such that they could inflict terrible losses upon an aggressor, for me to say that the retaliation capabilities of the Unites States are so great that such an aggressor’s land would be laid waste, all this, while fact, is not the true expression of the purpose and the hope of the United States.

To pause there would be to confirm the hopeless finality of a belief that two atomic colossi are doomed malevolently to eye each other indefinitely across a trembling world. To stop there would be to accept helplessly the probability of civilization destroyed, the annihilation of the irreplaceable heritage of mankind handed down to use generation from generation, and the condemnation of mankind to begin all over again the age-old struggle upward from savagery toward decency, and right, and justice. Surely no sane member of the human race could discover victory in such desolation.

Could anyone wish his name to be coupled by history with such human degradation and destruction? Occasional pages of history do record the faces of the “great destroyers,” but the whole book of history reveals mankind’s never-ending quest for peace and mankind’s God-given capacity to build.

It is with the book of history, and not with isolated pages, that the United States will ever wish to be identified. My country wants to be constructive, not destructive. It wants agreements, not wars, among nations. It wants itself to live in freedom and in the confidence that the people of every other nation enjoy equally the right of choosing their own way of life.

So my country’s purpose is to help us to move out of the dark chamber of horrors into the light, to find a way by which the minds of men, the hopes of men, the souls of men everywhere, can move forward towards peace and happiness and well-being.

In this quest, I know that we must not lack patience. I know that in a world divided, such as ours today, salvation cannot be attained by one dramatic act. I know that many steps will have to be taken over many months before the world can look at itself one day and truly realize that a new climate of mutually peaceful confidence is abroad in the world. But I know, above all else, that we must start to take these steps now.

The United States and its allies, Great Britain and France, have, over the past months, tried to take some of these steps. Let no one say that we shun the conference table. On the record has long stood the request of the United States, Great Britain, and France to negotiate with the Soviet Union the problems of a divided Germany. On that record has long stood the request of the same three nations to negotiate an Austrian peace treaty. On the same record still stands the request of the United Nations to negotiate the problems of Korea.

Most recently we have received from the Soviet Union what is in effect an expression of willingness to hold a four-Power meeting. Along with our allies, Great Britain and France, we were pleased to see that his note did not contain the unacceptable pre-conditions previously put forward. As you already know from our joint Bermuda communiquй, the United States, Great Britain, and France have agreed promptly to meet with the Soviet Union.

The Government of the United States approaches this conference with hopeful sincerity. We will bend every effort of our minds to the single purpose of emerging from that conference with tangible results towards peace, the only true way of lessening international tension. We never have, we never will, propose or suggest that the Soviet Union surrender what is rightly theirs. We will never say that the people of the Russia are an enemy with whom we have no desire ever to deal or mingle in friendly and fruitful relationship.

On the contrary, we hope that this coming conference may initiate a relationship with the Soviet Union which will eventually bring about a free intermingling of the peoples of the East and of the West -- the one sure, human way of developing the understanding required for confident and peaceful relations.

Instead of the discontent which is now settling upon Eastern Germany, occupied Austria, and the countries of Eastern Europe, we seek a harmonious family of free European nations, with none a threat to the other, and least of all a threat to the peoples of the Russia. Beyond the turmoil and strife and misery of Asia, we seek peaceful opportunity for these peoples to develop their natural resources and to elevate their lives.

These are not idle words or shallow visions. Behind them lies a story of nations lately come to independence, not as a result of war, but through free grant or peaceful negotiation. There is a record already written of assistance gladly given by nations of the West to needy peoples and to those suffering the temporary effects of famine, drought, and natural disaster. These are deeds of peace. They speak more loudly than promises or protestations of peaceful intent.

But I do not wish to rest either upon the reiteration of past proposals or the restatement of past deeds. The gravity of the time is such that every new avenue of peace, no matter how dimly discernible, should be explored. There is at least one new avenue of peace which has not yet been well explored -- an avenue now laid out by the General Assembly of the Unites Nations.

In its resolution of November 18, 1953 this General Assembly suggested -- and I quote -- “that the Disarmament Commission study the desirability of establishing a sub-committee consisting of representatives of the Powers principally involved, which should seek in private an acceptable solution and report such a solution to the General Assembly and to the Security Council not later than September 1, of 1954.”

The United States, heeding the suggestion of the General Assembly of the United Nations, is instantly prepared to meet privately with such other countries as may be “principally involved,” to seek “an acceptable solution” to the atomic armaments race which overshadows not only the peace, but the very life of the world. We shall carry into these private or diplomatic talks a new conception.

The United States would seek more than the mere reduction or elimination of atomic materials for military purposes. It is not enough to take this weapon out of the hands of the soldiers. It must be put into the hands of those who will know how to strip its military casing and adapt it to the arts of peace.

The United States knows that if the fearful trend of atomic military build-up can be reversed, this greatest of destructive forces can be developed into a great boon, for the benefit of all mankind. The United States knows that peaceful power from atomic energy is no dream of the future. That capability, already proved, is here, now, today. Who can doubt, if the entire body of the world’s scientists and engineers had adequate amounts of fissionable material with which to test and develop their ideas, that this capability would rapidly be transformed into universal, efficient, and economic usage?

To hasten the day when fear of the atom will begin to disappear from the minds of people and the governments of the East and West, there are certain steps that can be taken now. I therefore make the following proposals:

The governments principally involved, to the extent permitted by elementary prudence, to begin now and continue to make joint contributions from their stockpiles of normal uranium and fissionable materials to an international atomic energy agency. We would expect that such an agency would be set up under the aegis of the United Nations.

The ratios of contributions, the procedures, and other details would properly be within the scope of the “private conversations” I have referred to earlier.

The United States is prepared to undertake these explorations in good faith. Any partner of the United States acting in the same good faith will find the United States a not unreasonable or ungenerous associate.

Undoubtedly, initial and early contributions to this plan would be small in quantity. However, the proposal has the great virtue that it can be undertaken without the irritations and mutual suspicions incident to any attempt to set up a completely acceptable system of world-wide inspection and control.

The atomic energy agency could be made responsible for the impounding, storage, and protection of the contributed fissionable and other materials. The ingenuity of our scientists will provide special safe conditions under which such a bank of fissionable material can be made essentially immune to surprise seizure.

The more important responsibility of this atomic energy agency would be to devise methods whereby this fissionable material would be allocated to serve the peaceful pursuits of mankind. Experts would be mobilized to apply atomic energy to the needs of agriculture, medicine, and other peaceful activities. A special purpose would be to provide abundant electrical energy in the power-starved areas of the world. Thus the contributing Powers would be dedicating some of their strength to serve the needs rather than the fears of mankind.

The United States would be more than willing -- it would be proud to take up with others “principally involved” the development of plans whereby such peaceful use of atomic energy would be expedited.

Of those “principally involved” the Soviet Union must, of course, be one. I would be prepared to submit to the Congress of the United States, and with every expectation of approval, any such plan that would, first, encourage world-wide investigation into the most effective peacetime uses of fissionable material, and with the certainty that they [the investigators] had all the material needed for the conduct of all experiments that were appropriate; second, begin to diminish the potential destructive power of the world’s atomic stockpiles; third, allow all peoples of all nations to see that, in this enlightened age, the great Powers of the earth, both of the East and of the West, are interested in human aspirations first rather than in building up the armaments of war; fourth, open up a new channel for peaceful discussion and initiate at least a new approach to the many difficult problems that must be solved in both private and public conversations, if the world is to shake off the inertia imposed by fear and is to make positive progress toward peace.

Against the dark background of the atomic bomb, the United States does not wish merely to present strength, but also the desire and the hope for peace.

The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions. In this Assembly, in the capitals and military headquarters of the world, in the hearts of men everywhere, be they governed or governors, may be the decisions which will lead this world out of fear and into peace.

To the making of these fateful decisions, the United States pledges before you, and therefore before the world, its determination to help solve the fearful atomic dilemma -- to devote its entire heart and mind to find the way by which the miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life.

I again thank the delegates for the great honor they have done me in inviting me to appear before them and in listening to me so courteously.