Opening Plenary
Toward a New Century: Strategic Initiatives of the State of the World Forum
Moderator: Mikhail Gorbachev, President, Soviet Union (1985-1991)
Principles: Oscar Arias Sanchez, President, Costa Rica (1986-1990); Lee Butler,  Former Commander, SAC, US Air Force

Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev called on individual citizens of the world to take action to end the nuclear arms race in a speech that was at times critical of United States foreign policy and of current Russian president Boris Yeltsin.  "Today there are those in my country who reject all the steps that were made towards peace and towards the end to the cold war and the arms race.  All of those people today are getting important ammunition by the current policies of the United States;  ammunition for further criticism and objections to the policies that brought an end to the cold war."

"But even this is not the most important thing.  People in Russia were hoping that the end of the cold war would mean real involvement of the United States and western business  in the modernization of Russia.  We didn't want handouts or gifts.  We wanted mutually beneficial projects that would strengthen the fabric of cooperation between our countries,  that would be a base for building trust."

Oscar Arias Sanchez

"But even this is not the most important thing.  People in Russia were hoping that the end of the cold war would mean real involvement of the United States and western business  in the modernization of Russia.  We didn't want handouts or gifts.  We wanted mutually beneficial projects that would strengthen the fabric of cooperation between our countries,  that would be a base for building trust."

"Russia opened up.  Russia opened up its economy.  I believe we foolishly went too far.  We had a kind of economy that was totally non-competitive and it should not have been opened up that way; it should have been done step by step.  The situation that we see today is that there has been a fifty percent production decline in Russia.  We have a fifty percent decline in the real income of people and their standard of living.  Half of our population is either near or below the poverty line.  Russia sends tremendous resources to other countries and the hard currency used this way is not being used to modernize the economy.  It is being used to buy food or consumer goods instead of being used to produce those food or consumer goods in our own countries.  All of this creates the situation where life in Russia is deteriorating.  But that would not have happened had we continued to exist as a single nation.  In the past, I was criticized for moving too slowly towards a market economy.  And I said we are moving fast enough and faster than our society can accept.  We didn't have full understanding on this issue in the past and then people who replaced me decided to take a more open, allegedly more democratic road , but strategically I think it was a mistake.  The West, as a result,  lost real interest in Russia."

Youth Summit Delegates

"But even this is not the most important thing.  People in Russia were hoping that the end of the cold war would mean real involvement of the United States and western business  in the modernization of Russia.  We didn't want handouts or gifts.  We wanted mutually beneficial projects that would strengthen the fabric of cooperation between our countries,  that would be a base for building trust."

"Russia opened up.  Russia opened up its economy.  I believe we foolishly went too far.  We had a kind of economy that was totally non-competitive and it should not have been opened up that way; it should have been done step by step.  The situation that we see today is that there has been a fifty percent production decline in Russia.  We have a fifty percent decline in the real income of people and their standard of living.  Half of our population is either near or below the poverty line.  Russia sends tremendous resources to other countries and the hard currency used this way is not being used to modernize the economy.  It is being used to buy food or consumer goods instead of being used to produce those food or consumer goods in our own countries.  All of this creates the situation where life in Russia is deteriorating.  But that would not have happened had we continued to exist as a single nation.  In the past, I was criticized for moving too slowly towards a market economy.  And I said we are moving fast enough and faster than our society can accept.  We didn't have full understanding on this issue in the past and then people who replaced me decided to take a more open, allegedly more democratic road , but strategically I think it was a mistake.  The West, as a result,  lost real interest in Russia."

Also speaking was Lee Butler, former Commander in Chief of US Strategic Arms Command, who brought in a perspective not often heard at gatherings such as these. "Over the last 27 years, I was embroiled in every aspect of American nuclear policy making.  I have approved thousands of targets for potential nuclear destruction.  I have read a library of intelligence reports on the former Soviet Union and what we believed to be its capabilities and intentions, and I have seen an army of experts proved wrong.  As an advisor to the President on the employment of nuclear weapons, I have anguished over the imponderable complexities, the profound moral dilemmas, and the mind-numbing consequences of decisions that would invoke the very survival of our planet."

"I believe that a swelling chorus of reason and resentment will eventually turn the tide.  As the family of mankind develops a capacity for collective outreach, so soon will it find avenues for collective action.  The terror-filled anesthesia which  numbed rational thought, made nuclear war thinkable and grossly excessive arsenals possible during the Cold War is gradually wearing off."

"The nuclear war must end," Butler declared, saying that the nations of the world need to take steps to disarm warheads and disassemble arsenals.  "Nuclear war is a raging insatiable beast whose instincts and appetite we pretend to understand and cannot possibly control."

Gorbachev applauded what he called Butler's "moral decison to speak out about nuclear war.  "It is difficult for us to understand the kind of moral struggles it took for him to make such a statement today. This statement should be heard not just by us but by the public and the politcy makers."

former United States Senator Alan Cranston

Gorbachev applauded what he called Butler's "moral decison to speak out about nuclear war.  "It is difficult for us to understand the kind of moral struggles it took for him to make such a statement today. This statement should be heard not just by us but by the public and the politcy makers."

"I remember the first time I talked about nuclear weapons with western policy makers.  I had a large sheet of paper in front of me which was divided into a thousand little blocks.  And those little blocks represented all the nuclear weapons at that time in the world and ninety percent belonged to the USSR and the US.  Which means that by 1984 or 85 we had stocks of nuclear weapons that could destroy all life on earth 1,000 times over.  During the arms race I don't know what kind of advice General Butler was giving to his President, but I know what kind of advise I was hearing at that time from our generals, and judging by that I think it was the mirror image of the advice on the other side.  Given all that, I really admire and applaude the moral decision, the step made by this General representing modern, responsible thinking and I hope this will be the majority of thought in the world."

"We cannot make changes in Europe and in the world without cooperation with the United States." Gorbachev continued.  "We cannot move Europe towards a new cooperation without the United States.  But that does not mean that the Untied States should regard itself as the only force that is capable of dictating how the world should live and what the standards should be.  The role of the United States today is enormous, but it should be based on the different approach on a bridge that draws upon the potential of the people and the solidarity with the people of other countries.  In our efforts some people think this is the time for the US to rule the world.  That would have grave consequences, not just in the security area but also for other countries.  I very much would like our forum to have a candid discussion; a moral discussion.  By doing that we should urge the policy makers to really think about the opportunity after the Cold War to make us move faster towards a harmonious relationship bewteen man and nature, economic and social life without any kind of dictatorship."

Brian Swimme, author of The Universe Story and a specialist in mathamatical cosmology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, called on the world leaders present to "move towards a greater human wisdom" regarding environmental problems.  In his talk, which ranged from a description of life on Mars to his explanation of the meaning of life, he criticized people for creating chemicals without regard for the ecological destruction they cause.  "We are a people with macro-power and micro-wisdom," he said.  "There are numerous, what people would call human developments, that have led to ecological devestation, militarism, and an ongoing battle with poverty.  We have the ability to create chemicals, but they in turn create a vast wasteland of ecological destruction."

Other panalists included the former president of Costa Rica Oscar Arias, former US Senator Alan Cranston, Vincente Fox, the governor of Gaunajuato Mexico, and Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg of the World Jewish Congress.

--Lyn Duff, 20 years old
20 year old Reporter, Pacific News Service