Alliance of Civilisations Symposium
As globalising developments, like the internet and international air travel, make our world smaller, and as they bring our societies and cultures into closer contact, our differences can threaten those who do not understand them.
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Introductory comments
Alliance of Civilisations Symposium dinner
Langham Hotel
Auckland
Distinguished guests; it is my pleasure to warmly welcome you all to New Zealand, and to thank you for your time and commitment in attending this, the first regional symposium anywhere in the world on the Alliance of Civilisations report.
I would like to offer special thanks to the Government of Norway for co-sponsoring this symposium. The origins of Norway's partnership with New Zealand on this lie in talks I had with former Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, early in 2005 when he visited our country.
Unfortunately last minute flight cancellations have meant that Mr Bondevik is not able to continue the conversation here with us as he had hoped, but the continuing support of the Government of Norway is greatly appreciated.
The space between our main course and dessert is not the time to consider the evolution of the UN's Alliance of Civilisations initiative and the global environment in which it has developed. I'd like to address those subjects when we begin work tomorrow.
Tonight I want to reflect briefly on the opportunity we have at this symposium. This is a rare opportunity for all of us here from our diverse backgrounds to consider fundamental questions of our time : questions of identity and belonging, and questions of how to preserve what is most important to us while learning to understand and respect what is important to others.
We should not under-estimate the difficulty of the task. While the Alliance of Civilisations report has focused in particular on the Middle East as a lightning rod for tension between the Islamic and Western worlds, the Asia Pacific region has its own challenges.
The Asia-Pacific region, of which New Zealand is part, is highly diverse. Here many of the world's great cultures, civilisations, and faiths intersect. For the most part, in the 21st century we live alongside each other with a high degree of mutual respect for our various beliefs, cultures and differences. But there are points of tension and conflict, within nation states, between non-state actors and other nation states, and sometimes tensions between nation states too.
As globalising developments, like the internet and international air travel, make our world smaller, and as they bring our societies and cultures into closer contact, our differences can threaten those who do not understand them.
The risk then is that diversity becomes a source of fear and uncertainty, possibly even a source of conflict, rather than something to celebrate.
The challenge before this symposium is how to help our respective diverse communities understand and respect the things that make us different. By accepting our diversity, we are acknowledging the potential for harmony.
On that note, it is my honour to introduce His Excellency, Mr Ali Alatas, one of Asia's most respected statesmen, and a good friend of New Zealands for many years.
Originally a career diplomat, Mr Alatas has had a distinguished career, which has included serving as Indonesia's Foreign Minister from 1988 to 1998 and before that as Indonesia's Permanent Representative to the UN.
Ali Alatas was intimately associated with the evolution of ASEAN and was part of the Eminent Persons Group which last year produced a major report charting ASEAN's future.
As Co-Chair of the International Conference on Cambodia in the early 1990s, Ali Alatas played a key role in the settlement of the Cambodian conflict. More recently he has served as the UN Secretary General's envoy to Myanmar.
Ali Alatas is now the foreign policy adviser on the President of Indonesia's Advisory Council. Of great relevance to this symposium, he was a member of the Alliance of Civilisation's High-level Group which produced the report we will be considering tomorrow.
The New Zealand Government greatly values Ali Alatas taking time out from his exceptionally busy schedule to be with us and address the symposium this evening, so that we can all benefit and learn from his very considerable international experience.
I now invite Ali Alatas to address the gathering.
---------------------------------
Introductory comments
Alliance of Civilisations Symposium dinner
Langham Hotel
Auckland
Distinguished guests; it is my pleasure to warmly welcome you all to New Zealand, and to thank you for your time and commitment in attending this, the first regional symposium anywhere in the world on the Alliance of Civilisations report.
I would like to offer special thanks to the Government of Norway for co-sponsoring this symposium. The origins of Norway's partnership with New Zealand on this lie in talks I had with former Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, early in 2005 when he visited our country.
Unfortunately last minute flight cancellations have meant that Mr Bondevik is not able to continue the conversation here with us as he had hoped, but the continuing support of the Government of Norway is greatly appreciated.
The space between our main course and dessert is not the time to consider the evolution of the UN's Alliance of Civilisations initiative and the global environment in which it has developed. I'd like to address those subjects when we begin work tomorrow.
Tonight I want to reflect briefly on the opportunity we have at this symposium. This is a rare opportunity for all of us here from our diverse backgrounds to consider fundamental questions of our time : questions of identity and belonging, and questions of how to preserve what is most important to us while learning to understand and respect what is important to others.
We should not under-estimate the difficulty of the task. While the Alliance of Civilisations report has focused in particular on the Middle East as a lightning rod for tension between the Islamic and Western worlds, the Asia Pacific region has its own challenges.
The Asia-Pacific region, of which New Zealand is part, is highly diverse. Here many of the world's great cultures, civilisations, and faiths intersect. For the most part, in the 21st century we live alongside each other with a high degree of mutual respect for our various beliefs, cultures and differences. But there are points of tension and conflict, within nation states, between non-state actors and other nation states, and sometimes tensions between nation states too.
As globalising developments, like the internet and international air travel, make our world smaller, and as they bring our societies and cultures into closer contact, our differences can threaten those who do not understand them.
The risk then is that diversity becomes a source of fear and uncertainty, possibly even a source of conflict, rather than something to celebrate.
The challenge before this symposium is how to help our respective diverse communities understand and respect the things that make us different. By accepting our diversity, we are acknowledging the potential for harmony.
On that note, it is my honour to introduce His Excellency, Mr Ali Alatas, one of Asia's most respected statesmen, and a good friend of New Zealands for many years.
Originally a career diplomat, Mr Alatas has had a distinguished career, which has included serving as Indonesia's Foreign Minister from 1988 to 1998 and before that as Indonesia's Permanent Representative to the UN.
Ali Alatas was intimately associated with the evolution of ASEAN and was part of the Eminent Persons Group which last year produced a major report charting ASEAN's future.
As Co-Chair of the International Conference on Cambodia in the early 1990s, Ali Alatas played a key role in the settlement of the Cambodian conflict. More recently he has served as the UN Secretary General's envoy to Myanmar.
Ali Alatas is now the foreign policy adviser on the President of Indonesia's Advisory Council. Of great relevance to this symposium, he was a member of the Alliance of Civilisation's High-level Group which produced the report we will be considering tomorrow.
The New Zealand Government greatly values Ali Alatas taking time out from his exceptionally busy schedule to be with us and address the symposium this evening, so that we can all benefit and learn from his very considerable international experience.
I now invite Ali Alatas to address the gathering.