Opening Speech for the 2009 CGS Annual Meeting

The name of our organization, "Citizens for Global Solutions" has two concepts built into it: "Citizens" and "Global Solutions." We put a lot of energy into thinking about global solutions. But today I want you to spend some time thinking about the first term, 'Citizens'. We are gathered here today as citizens of states from across the nation: from California to Maine. And we are here as proud citizens of the United States of America. (It's nice to be proud again.) But we are also here as global citizens.

The very definition of citizenship contains the concepts of loyalty and protection. We are loyal to a clan, a state, a nation, and for us the world - and in return for our loyalty we expect that by banding together and working within a common set of rules we will be able to make ourselves and our families more secure. But we are still working all this out at the global level. From our economy, to weapons of mass destruction, pandemics, genocide, to the very environment we exist in - we are not there yet. We are still exploring what the rules are and how we can work together. But we know that it is imperative that we accomplish this task. We are global citizens in a time of turmoil.

Moises Naim, the editor of Foreign Policy magazine said, "The gap between the need for effective collective action at the global level and the ability of the international community to satisfy that need is the most dangerous deficit facing humanity."

Today, we're going to concentrate on that deficit, our goals for the coming year to address it, and strategies for achieving them. We'll meet with experts, representatives from other organizations that are working on the same goals, hear what they're planning to do, and see how we can join our efforts together to increase our effectiveness. This morning, you can choose between three panels; one will examine the next steps we should take towards peace, another will discuss ways to promote a healthy environment and sustainable development, and the third will look at how to stop mass atrocities and bring those suspected of masterminding them to justice. You'll find more information on them in our program, as well as information on the speakers who will be participating.

After that, we'll take a break for lunch and also take a few minutes to hear from the winners of our 2008 Multimedia contest, which focused on the crisis in Darfur. Then it's off to the afternoon sessions where we'll look at the pros and cons of establishing a U.N. Parliamentary Assembly , and you'll be able to choose between two more panels; one will look at how to get more people involved in our work while the second panel will talk about ways to increase U.S. support for a variety of international treaties, including the CEDAW, the ICC treaty and, of course, the Law of the Sea .

These treaties are all awaiting ratification by the U.S. Congress, and they all demonstrate exactly what Citizens for Global Solutions stands for -- a commitment to work with other nations in solving our problems. Last year, then- presidential candidate Obama told a crowd in Europe, "the burdens of Global Citizenship bind us together.""

We know that many of our problems cannot be solved by any one nation alone. We must work with international organizations, like the United Nations, to find solutions that are good for all countries - not just one. When a parent in one country pollutes the air, a child in another country breathes it. When one country becomes embroiled in political unrest, the terrorism and criminal activities spawned there will soon spread abroad.

Recently veteran U.S. diplomat & Harvard professor Jonathan Moore said, "We are so tightly and dangerously tied to one another across the globe that it would turn out to be suicide to advance one's own survival at the expense of others."

Global citizens know this --- that the only way to protect ourselves, our families and our country is by making other countries safe and prosperous.

Global citizens know that helping less-developed countries establish better educational systems, fairer and more responsive governments and a means for those who are wronged to obtain justice provides security for us here in the U.S. It also means that we feel an obligation for our country to settle disputes with other nations as equals, by peaceful means, rather than by force of arms.

But simply knowing that nations need to work together is not enough. We have to work to ensure that they do. Too many governments in the world decide that the political cost of tackling long-term problems is too high, so they ignore them. Thus, our glaciers and ice caps continue melting, our nuclear stockpiles remain high, and atrocities against vulnerable people continue to occur -- all because of a lack of concerted global action.

Last weekend, international financial leaders and bankers met in England to try to craft a solution to the global financial crisis, but they were unable to reach an agreement. Each faction demanded that the others do more; each felt that it was already shouldering more than its share of the burden. Without an agreement, each faction will go off in different directions with conflicting policies and the crisis will be solved erratically and slowly.

While the lack of concerted global action could prevent us from effectively solving the global economic problems, the preoccupation on the crisis will make it hard for the Obama administration to work on advancing longer-term goals. In the heat of solving today's problems, they will find it hard to put systems into place that will create a better world --- for all of us -- in the long-term. It's up to us to make sure that doesn't happen.

We can do that by following the advice President Franklin Roosevelt reportedly gave a group of activists who wanted him to persuade the country to take a particular action. He reportedly listened carefully, nodded respectfully and then replied: "I agree with you and I want to do it. Now, it's up to you to make me do it." In other words, he was telling them that it was up to them to go out and generate the political support needed for their cause.

President Obama has made it clear that he wants to launch a new era of international cooperation, but it's up to us generate the political will for that to happen. Mindless cheerleading will not be sufficient. As Roosevelt understood, politics are made up of interlocking interests and constituencies that have to be brought to bear on certain goals. And that is why we're here this weekend -- to establish our goals and to figure out which interests and constituencies can help us achieve them. Then we will have to develop strategies on how to bring these groups together in support of our common goals. This is what we'll be looking to achieve over the next couple of days. I look forward to working with you on this during this conference and in the months to come.