Subject: UN Millennium Summit - Day 3
Date: Friday, 8 September 2000 20:35:00 EDT
From: Peter Meisen, GENI President
"Economic projects are a very good basis
to resolve political issues"
-- Vladimir
Putin, President of the Russian Republic
It is rare that one gets to meet any President, let
alone the President of the Russian Republic. Vladimir
Putin has received tremendous attention in the past
few weeks — some negative and some positive.
In his press conference, attended by 200 world media,
this reporter posed the following:
"Mr. President, regarding the Russian Far East
and the rapprochement between North and South Korea:
The Siberian Energy Institute has 2 Directors, Lev
Belyaev and Nikolai Voropai, who have worked for
years to integrate the electrical grids of Russia,
china, Japan and North and South Korea — very much
like the Baltic Ring Loop now being developed. The
energy integration would benefit the economies and
prospects for peace on the Korean Peninsula. North
Korea would seem to have the most to gain, yet remains
the biggest hurdle.
Mr. President, Russia leads the world in long distance
high-voltage transmission technology, could be a
peacemaker here. Do you know of this plan? And can
you comment?
While I was not able to write his complete answer,
he summarized it best with the quote at the top of
this report. It was most encouraging.
It is clear that a few issues are supreme in the
minds of most all leaders:
- Poverty and
underdevelopment — The rich/poor gap damages
individual lives and relationships between nations.
- Peace and security
between, and within nations — The world community
must be able to prevent conflict, and not just
intervene between warring factions.
- The African continent has special needs
and requires special attention — As President
Thabo Mbeki of South Africa stated, "Africa is
not a problem, but a joint responsibility."
As well, many leaders advocate a transformation of
the UN system of rules, voting rights and funding
responsibilities. The statement that made such clear
and insightful sense: "We cannot continue to navigate
in the 21st Century with the map of 1945."
And not to forget the smallest and most fragile of
nations — the small island countries who are at risk
of disappearing as global warming causes sea-levels
to rise. The Prime Minister of the Maldives said it
so well:
"When the UN meets to usher in yet another century,
will the Maldives and other low-lying island nations
be represented here? Not only a sobering thought
but an alarming one. Now, I have only 30 seconds
left, it would be a pity to disperse from this gathering
without a final commitment to save the earth. I
don’t wish to be cynical, but are we to believe
that the world really cares? Are we to believe that
all humanity is one? Inaction speaks louder than
words. Ladies and Gentlemen, my time at the podium
is up. But I pray that that of my country is not."
Submitted by Peter Meisen, Sept. 8, 2000 8:30pm EST
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