Queens College Radio Courses; The United States in a World of Revolt; WNYC

<v Speaker>The role of modern diplomacy and the role of the citizen <v Speaker>are no longer as far removed from each other <v Speaker>as in the past. <v Speaker>Originally, modern diplomacy, which took its start <v Speaker>in the 17th century, reached its heights <v Speaker>in the 80s was the craft for a small group <v Speaker>of specialized, specially trained professionals <v Speaker>who had extraordinary powers given by their monarchs. <v Speaker>Among themselves this small select group, usually <v Speaker>with the same social and educational background, took <v Speaker>care of the problems of the world, at least what the world <v Speaker>was regarded at the time, namely Europe. <v Speaker>Thus, for example, the classic example was ,uh, when <v Speaker>Napoleon was defeated.

<v Speaker>The Congress of Vienna, using precisely these techniques, <v Speaker>set up the Europe to be rich for almost one <v Speaker>century up to World War One, enjoyed peace <v Speaker>without any major war. <v Speaker>The time of that type of diplomacy is gone probably forever. <v Speaker>Social changes and major political changes all over the world <v Speaker>have gravitated towards a new approach in international <v Speaker>affairs. The center of gravity is no longer Europe, Africa, <v Speaker>Asia, Latin America, the United States and the USSR <v Speaker>have emerged as leading powers. <v Speaker>Since World War One, the new approach to diplomacy, <v Speaker>the open diplomacy, diplomacy by conference and diplomacy <v Speaker>by mass media has become stronger and stronger.

<v Speaker>In our present time, people would no longer put up <v Speaker>with the notion that a small group of people responsible only to <v Speaker>heads of the states should dispose of their fates. <v Speaker>War has become total. <v Speaker>So has peace. <v Speaker>Therefore, the citizen today, and especially <v Speaker>a citizen in a demo-democracy like ours, has a special <v Speaker>task and role in helping our foreign policy. <v Speaker>What is it you would ask? <v Speaker>First it is to understand the essence of <v Speaker>the world. Second one is to discuss it with your fellow <v Speaker>citizens. Third one is to participate in the large <v Speaker>number of social, religious and non political or political <v Speaker>citizen groups who deal in public issues. <v Speaker>Only through these techniques can the

<v Speaker>citizen make democracy effective and workable. <v Speaker>Now, the first phase of this, of course, is the understanding. <v Speaker>All of you who have the patience and the time to listen in to our discussions <v Speaker>are automatically started on the right path on the first <v Speaker>one. Let me therefore try to examine <v Speaker>on a one - two- three basis our findings, <v Speaker>refresh some of your memories, and add a few more items which you may want <v Speaker>to keep as you carry on your own interest in foreign affairs from <v Speaker>now on. We have discussed the new role of Asia <v Speaker>in some to some extent and especially we emphasized <v Speaker>the new role of communist China in Asia. <v Speaker>Communist China, which undoubtedly is emerging as a major world <v Speaker>power. And the ramifications of her relation, not

<v Speaker>only with the United States, but with the USSR are are challenging <v Speaker>and new. Let us therefore examine the <v Speaker>trend in Asia and get the overall picture, <v Speaker>which appears to us. <v Speaker>The first point is that the center of gravity <v Speaker>has, as we have said before, repeatedly shifted away from Europe, definitely <v Speaker>towards Asia. <v Speaker>The second point is that U.S. <v Speaker>policy in Asia is in a crisis. <v Speaker>Why? You could say for the simple reason that up <v Speaker>to now, our foreign policy in Asia has been a diplomacy <v Speaker>on an ad hoc basis. <v Speaker>We had no overall policy for Asia. <v Speaker>Whenever the trouble came, we tried to be as effective as we could. <v Speaker>Sometimes we succeeded. Sometimes we did not.

<v Speaker>I should add immediately, to point three point <v Speaker>three is very important. <v Speaker>Remember our discussions and bear in mind that <v Speaker>the traditional fabric of society all over <v Speaker>Asia is in a fast process of disintegration. <v Speaker>There is a gap between the social disintegration <v Speaker>and the need for reconstruction. <v Speaker>This is a crisis situation which has ramifications <v Speaker>to all aspects of Asiatic life, including all <v Speaker>the non political aspects as well. <v Speaker>At the same time, in our world today, Asia is <v Speaker>in a more and more close contact with the modern <v Speaker>world. The ideas, the technology and the

<v Speaker>power policies of east and west of our contemporary world affect <v Speaker>Asia. Now the fourth point is <v Speaker>that whether we like it or not, communist <v Speaker>methods have an appeal in Asia, <v Speaker>especially in South East Asia. <v Speaker>This is a strong statement and perhaps it deserves some analysis. <v Speaker>The prevalent attitude in Southeast Asia and <v Speaker>South Asia as well seems to be that it is the <v Speaker>methods of the West which are more desirable, <v Speaker>but which seem to be less workable under <v Speaker>the circumstances of that area, whereas communist methods <v Speaker>are less desirable but seem to be

<v Speaker>more workable. <v Speaker>Thus, it is not a matter of likes or dislikes <v Speaker>for communism or western methods east versus west. <v Speaker>It is the method of Asiatics trying to find the <v Speaker>most workable, most practical, and the fastest way of <v Speaker>the eleva-elevating themselves. <v Speaker>Now, point 5 will give you additional details. <v Speaker>We have seen in our discussions and you have seen if you studied our <v Speaker>guide to world affairs, that the nations in Asia <v Speaker>have a great diversity. <v Speaker>They are far from being the same. <v Speaker>The masses in China are different for the masses in India, and both are <v Speaker>different when the masses in Japan or Pakistan and so forth. <v Speaker>Nevertheless, in spite of these sharp divergences, <v Speaker>there are some very important common denominators.

<v Speaker>Let's examine what they are. <v Speaker>A. They are the continued poverty of the masses <v Speaker>of people and their lack of opportunities <v Speaker>to advance higher. <v Speaker>B. There is the growing realization <v Speaker>in the masses and modern newspaper, radio <v Speaker>and movie techno technology helps this ambition. <v Speaker>Eh Strong realization that progress can be achieved <v Speaker>and this has become a main political issue all over Asia. <v Speaker>C. Because the social changes <v Speaker>beaky uh are becoming rapid, living patterns <v Speaker>change and new social interrelations replace <v Speaker>them. Asia is realizing that her own

<v Speaker>all value is value set is no longer valid. <v Speaker>The individual feels extremely insecure. <v Speaker>There is a vacuum in Asia, not only political, <v Speaker>but social and in many cases cultural. <v Speaker>And D. All over Asia, the <v Speaker>states both old and the emerging new states, states <v Speaker>which came into independent existence since the end of World War <v Speaker>Two. They all lack the necessary trained <v Speaker>specialists for public administration, engineering, <v Speaker>public health, education, etc.. <v Speaker>In other words, there is a great lack of trained men and <v Speaker>women in an vast area which is trying to <v Speaker>adjust itself to the 20th century.

<v Speaker>Now these are common denominators all over Asia. <v Speaker>[Page turns] Perhaps there is one more point <v Speaker>I'd like to emphasize as a common denominator and this is point E. <v Speaker>And that is the prevalence of very strong <v Speaker>nationalism all over Asia. <v Speaker>That nationalism has again, two characteristics <v Speaker>which are also common denominators. <v Speaker>They both accentuate the sharpness, the intensity <v Speaker>of nationalism. One of these characteristics is a general <v Speaker>intolerance towards the minorities. <v Speaker>The second one is a strong and tight foreign sentiment. <v Speaker>And this manifests itself in public life as well as in foreign policy. <v Speaker>This entire foreign eh feeling has a strong <v Speaker>anti Western and often specifically anti American edge.

<v Speaker>Asiatic non alignment with East and West <v Speaker>has definitely this strong anti foreign <v Speaker>nationalistic feeling. Um, <v Speaker>point F is the last one in this common denominator, and that is that <v Speaker>all of the countries of Asia depend on the <v Speaker>outside world economically. <v Speaker>Their raw material production may or may not be adequate, <v Speaker>but the lack of processing industries, basic transportation, <v Speaker>etc. makes it impossible for them to be self-sustained. <v Speaker>They have to get help from somewhere from the outside. <v Speaker>Well, this was point for now. <v Speaker>Point 5, about Asia in our summery is the following. <v Speaker>How does it look like to the citizen sitting here in New York City?

<v Speaker>What will happen in Asia? <v Speaker>Probably again, I would like to put it on an A, B, C, D <v Speaker>basis. Point A is undoubtedly <v Speaker>as times go on, the trend seems to indicate that <v Speaker>Asia and the states of Asia are becoming <v Speaker>more and more important in world affairs, while <v Speaker>the present leading powers, namely the United States <v Speaker>and the USSR, are to lose some of <v Speaker>their importance. This is the tendency. <v Speaker>Now B. <v Speaker>There is a tendency for greatly increased contacts <v Speaker>with the United States, and this will result <v Speaker>in a rather keen awareness of everything. <v Speaker>American. American attitudes. <v Speaker>American actions. Happenings in America.

<v Speaker>This in itself is a message to the citizen. <v Speaker>What we do at home, how we do it, why <v Speaker>we do it, is now a matter of discussion, criticism <v Speaker>in faraway countries, even in Asia. <v Speaker>C. There is going to be a continued and increased contact <v Speaker>among the states of Asia with a decrease <v Speaker>of some of the present sharp divergences like uh <v Speaker>Pakistan and India. <v Speaker>And D. <v Speaker>There is definitely in the cards a development <v Speaker>for a new phenomenon. <v Speaker>What I would call a new Asiatic power <v Speaker>politics. And this will be based on <v Speaker>three main Asiatic pillars: India,

<v Speaker>communist China, and Japan. <v Speaker>These three are emerging as major powers <v Speaker>in world affairs and they will become the first time in history <v Speaker>the countries who will play major Asiatic <v Speaker>world power rules. <v Speaker>Therefore, this seems to be the overall trend in Asia. <v Speaker>Well, what else? <v Speaker>What is the conclusion of this? <v Speaker>If this seems to be the trend, if these are some of the things to look <v Speaker>out for <v Speaker>what can the citizen do to as(sist), [page turns]to help, to participate? <v Speaker>How far are we or are we not on the right track in Asia? <v Speaker>I have in front of me a study, a study prepared <v Speaker>for the United States Senate for the Committee on Foreign Relations, <v Speaker>which was prepared for committee use recently on our foreign policy,

<v Speaker>United States foreign policy, in Asia. <v Speaker>And here are some of the recommendations which I <v Speaker>felt would deserve your interest. <v Speaker>I will only give you the very gist of it. <v Speaker>There are [page turns] altogether as far as recommendations <v Speaker>are concerned four major groups of recommendations. <v Speaker>The first one is the following. <v Speaker>The United States should take the lead <v Speaker>in concentrating all the assets and talents <v Speaker>of the free world to assist the nations of Asia. <v Speaker>The programs for such help are no <v Speaker>longer programs of financial aid alone. <v Speaker>They are programs of combination of knowhow and training <v Speaker>of Asiatics themselves.

<v Speaker>The second one is second recommendation is that although substantial <v Speaker>U.S. aid has to continue for about a decade <v Speaker>or so in Asia, there are non-governmental channels, <v Speaker>private trade investment, which should play a growing role in this <v Speaker>trend. <v Speaker>Multilateral cooperation should be given greater opportunities <v Speaker>and support by the United States. <v Speaker>Multilateral, that is, that regional organizations <v Speaker>within Asia, economic, social and <v Speaker>if necessary, political unions within Asiatic <v Speaker>people should get the backing of our foreign policy. <v Speaker>The third point is that the United States <v Speaker>and this is a main point I'd like to explain. <v Speaker>The United States must find means of taking into <v Speaker>account more uh more effectively

<v Speaker>the attitudes of Asiatic people than we did up to now. <v Speaker>Recently, you may have seen in the newspapers some studies about the <v Speaker>problem of foreign languages in our diplomatic service. <v Speaker>The Soviet diplomat in Asia is more often <v Speaker>than ours able to speak to the persons in their own language. <v Speaker>We have a pathetically low rate and it's not the fault of our diplomatic service <v Speaker>up to the past. We did not take the trouble into <v Speaker>going in this. We felt that we could handle <v Speaker>the affairs of Asia in English just as well. <v Speaker>This was true in the past. It's not true today. <v Speaker>And it's not only the actual technical part of <v Speaker>it. Asiatics do speak in English and especially eh Asiatics in <v Speaker>governmental service do. <v Speaker>It is a deeper going significance which I would like to

<v Speaker>stress to you. Uh this, incidentally, is my own comment <v Speaker>and is not part of the report which I referred to. <v Speaker>Asiatics, <v Speaker>like every ancient culture which is <v Speaker>trying to adjust to the technical needs of a modern <v Speaker>age, have a complex certain amount of shyness, <v Speaker>and they feel living and thinking in <v Speaker>symbolism that it is a special respect. <v Speaker>Its special value given to them by <v Speaker>a westerner. <v Speaker>if the westerners, wherever, wherever he comes from, takes the trouble in <v Speaker>learning their languages. In other words, learning an Asiatic language not <v Speaker>only means the technical means of communication <v Speaker>between human beings. It also means, and this is my interpretation of this <v Speaker>recommendation, a deeper understanding of how Asiatics

<v Speaker>think, why they say what they think. <v Speaker>Remember in the past, the white men could disregard <v Speaker>the colored man in Asia. <v Speaker>He could feel that it was the white man's burden to take care of Asiatic <v Speaker>problems. And there was some rather old fashioned <v Speaker>attitude which may have gotten past the Asiatic criticism <v Speaker>in the 18th and 19th century. <v Speaker>Today when we are facing 400 million people in China. <v Speaker>Almost 700 million uh in a I'm sorry, 400 million people in India. <v Speaker>Almost 700 million people in China. <v Speaker>This is ridiculous for us to adopt the same attitude. <v Speaker>Asiatics are very sensitive. <v Speaker>It is our it is our vital interest to understand <v Speaker>them, understand their cultures. <v Speaker>To try to see Asiatics not only in terms of the ratio

<v Speaker>of bathrooms and telephone sets, as important as they may be, not <v Speaker>even the TV or the radio sets. <v Speaker>There are other values, too. We do not have to adopt them, but <v Speaker>we have to give them at least the respect due to ancient civilizations. <v Speaker>This has not been given in the past, and that's where the citizen <v Speaker>can do a great amount. <v Speaker>It may range from visiting a Japanese movie <v Speaker>to getting a record or so far Eastern music, or joining <v Speaker>a society uh which is interested in fostering the culture of Japan <v Speaker>or India or any other part of Asia. <v Speaker>In other words, it is the human interest level with the people in Asia. <v Speaker>This may become very effective, sometimes at least as effective <v Speaker>as making out a check or sending over the cash. <v Speaker>This is one thing we must bear in mind. <v Speaker>[Scribbles] One more recommendation which this Senate Foreign Relations Committee

<v Speaker>study gives, and that is that non official organizations <v Speaker>and individuals should do their own role, especially on the cultural <v Speaker>and business level. <v Speaker>This means exactly that our government realizes <v Speaker>that governments as such are restricted travel <v Speaker>to Asia, welcoming visitors from Asia, <v Speaker>exchanging cultural uh cultural offerings. <v Speaker>This type of citizen to citizen approach is much more effective <v Speaker>in the case of Asia than it may be to many other continents. <v Speaker>Let me try to emphasize one more factor from this study, which <v Speaker>struck me quite strongly. Uh the <v Speaker>study feels that we have to expect <v Speaker>China to emerge within the next decade as

<v Speaker>a major world power, whether we like it or not. <v Speaker>As far as our China policy is concerned here, again, <v Speaker>the citizen's role is very important. <v Speaker>I should clarify it and repeat myself once again. <v Speaker>This is not a matter at this point whether our government should <v Speaker>or should not recognize the government in Beijing. <v Speaker>This is a matter of consideration for all of us citizens and our government. <v Speaker>But this has no longer the importance it had perhaps <v Speaker>a half a dozen years ago. <v Speaker>What we have to do at this point is to face realities <v Speaker>in China. Some of our newspapers, especially in the metropolitan area, <v Speaker>have given excellent reports on what is happening inside China. <v Speaker>Frightening, frightening picture, indeed, <v Speaker>a gigantic economic, social, political

<v Speaker>upheaval. The sacrifice is enormous. <v Speaker>But if you remember some of these reports which you have eh, <v Speaker>you have read in the last week of November and early in December <v Speaker>in one of the local major daily newspapers, you will soon find <v Speaker>that what is happening there is a gigantic <v Speaker>effort to make a first rate industrial <v Speaker>nation out of backward agricultural country within <v Speaker>a decade. The sacrifice is enormous. <v Speaker>The very low living standards of Chinese peasantry are <v Speaker>lower even more. <v Speaker>Intellectuals, pro-Western, Chinese or just the plain old fashioned Chinese <v Speaker>are sacrificed ruthlessly. <v Speaker>As far as our values are concerned, such price could never <v Speaker>and should never be paid.

<v Speaker>But the value scale of the Chinese communist leaders is different from ours. <v Speaker>We have to expect that while they will not succeed <v Speaker>in all these all the purposes they have set <v Speaker>for themselves, they certainly have a chance not to fail either. <v Speaker>In other words, there will be a new emerging China. <v Speaker>A new emerging China. And it may be the task of the USSR <v Speaker>to put [background noise] a leash on the communist China, somewhat <v Speaker>like we ourselves did on Joan Kai-Shek China some years <v Speaker>ago. <v Speaker>If the Soviet Union's attitude is sincere, <v Speaker>namely they are anxious to avoid a major world conflict, it <v Speaker>is their interest also to pacify and keep China <v Speaker>quiet and refrain from any major belligerent action. <v Speaker>As far as we are concerned, and this is the last point I would like to

<v Speaker>make. We citizens have to realize that if <v Speaker>the situation in Asia was China I just referred to in the center of <v Speaker>it is changing as rapidly as we see it, week <v Speaker>by week, naturally, the attitudes within Asia <v Speaker>are also changing. There is emerging, I think, <v Speaker>a major Asiatic superiority complex. <v Speaker>We all may live long enough to see Asiatics feeling somewhat <v Speaker>sorry and sad for Westerners. <v Speaker>And of course, Westerners as seen from Asia would include the Russians <v Speaker>too, as being just hopelessly technologically minded and <v Speaker>even in that respect, somewhat backward nations. <v Speaker>Because, after all, how can the manpower resource of the USSR <v Speaker>or the United States or Western Europe compare with the <v Speaker>manpower potential in Asia?

<v Speaker>Once you have the basic industries, this reservoir <v Speaker>of human resource is almost frightening. <v Speaker>In other words, very soon I feel the situation <v Speaker>will change. It will be the Western countries who will have <v Speaker>to take heed of what the people of Asia wants to do. <v Speaker>And it is our interest as citizens of the world and citizens <v Speaker>of this country to be proud of our Western heritage and <v Speaker>at the same time be tolerant and understanding and sympathetic <v Speaker>to the human yearnings of Asia. <v Speaker>My conclusive note is we have to take into consideration <v Speaker>that at this point we are still the one country <v Speaker>which can offer to these new nations of Asia, not only a friendly <v Speaker>hand or cash, but know how, understanding, <v Speaker>and a concept of society relationship

<v Speaker>between a human being and human being which has been developed in <v Speaker>America. This is still probably the most human, <v Speaker>the most friction proof way of living <v Speaker>with your fellow citizens that we have on this world. <v Speaker>This concept, which gets down to the very core of <v Speaker>being American, is something which we could offer to the peoples of Asia. <v Speaker>Thank you very much.