Photo: voanews.com
Algiers, Algeria
April 3, 2014
Shukran, thank you. Good morning, everybody. It’s nice to be here. I
want to thank Foreign Minister Lamamra for his – Ramtane for his very
thoughtful, very wise and encouraging opening comments, a really very
comprehensive statement, Ramtane, with a great deal of thought about the
things that we need to cooperate on and work on. So I’m particularly
encouraged at the opening of this plenary session to have heard the
broad prospects of increased cooperation between us. I want to thank you
for your welcome here today, and particularly all the members of your
team and the government for such a generous welcome. We’re really
appreciative.
I want to thank our Ambassador, Henry Ensher, for his and the entire
Embassy’s efforts that they perform on a daily basis here in order to
build our relationship and to help to address many of the issues that we
talk about (inaudible). And I particularly want to call attention to
the fact that we have a very high-level, competent, experienced team
here today. This is not a secondary effort. I’ve never seen one news
outlet make as much effort to put its microphone right – kudos.
(Laughter.)
But I want to say that our team is really ready to engage. We have
people here who are deeply steeped in every sector that we will discuss
today, who – I was about to say this is not a secondary stop. This is a
very important moment for us because we believe deeply that this
relationship can grow significantly, that there is much to be done to be
able to advance our mutual interests. And in the end, diplomacy and
relationships are built on the ability of countries to be able to find
those interests and to find ways to be able to meet them together.
As Ramtane said to all of you, this is a relationship that goes way,
way back, and it’s very special for us in the United States in that
regard. The present-day American city of St. Augustine, Florida was
actually founded 450 years ago in honor of a man from this corner of the
world, the great scholar Augustine of Hippo. And as Ramtane mentioned a
few moments ago, the treaty that was signed in 1795, the Amity and
Peace Treaty that brought our countries together way back then, all the
way through Algeria’s fight for independence – the United States and
Algeria have worked together in support of peace and in support of
self-determination.
And obviously, as a former senator for some 30 years and with the
privilege of meeting John F. Kennedy as president, I am particularly
proud of the fact that he did have that foresight to speak to Algeria’s
rights as a country. And you have been through very difficult battles
even since then in order to be able to live the right of
self-determination and to be able to fulfill your dreams and
aspirations.
So we come here today very sensitive to this history. We need to grow
it. There’s much more that we can do. We need to trust each other. We
need to build trust. And we need to think carefully about the challenges
that we all face. This is a time when peace and self-determination are
facing more complex threats than ever before, and it’s easy to say the
words but it is not easy to achieve the goal. And I just want to say a
word about that because it is what makes the cooperation between nations
like ours so important.
Ramtane a moment ago said how Algeria is one of the strongest nations
in the region, and it is one of the most homogenous, notwithstanding
that there are moments of conflict. And the fact is that this country
has resources, it has a civil society, it has people greatly committed
to these values, and so there’s a natural ability for our nations to be
able to come together. We face particular challenges.
Vast numbers of young people – actually all through Africa but
throughout the region from the Maghreb to the Sahel into the Levant, all
the way into South Asia – huge populations under the age of 30, nations
where 60, 65 percent of the population is under the age of 30; 50
percent under the age of 21; 40 percent under the age of 18. The median
age of Algeria is 27 years old. So we need to make sure that we can find
jobs for these people, that their future is defined through education
and opportunity, and not through IEDs and violence.
Those who offer the violence that comes with terrorism that Ramtane
talked about don’t offer jobs. They don’t offer education. They don’t
offer healthcare. They don’t have a program to pull the country together
around its common identity. They destroy it. And they tell people, in a
direct confrontation with modernity, that everybody has to do what they
say and live the way they tell them. We’ve been through these struggles
for too long as common humanity to be cowered by that, intimidated by
it, or ruled by it. And so it is absolutely vital in this Strategic
Dialogue that we work to find common ground.
And today, experts from both parties are going to participate in
working groups that are focused on three areas: security, political
cooperation, and economic and commercial opportunities, education and
civil society engagement. So let me quickly just offer a few thoughts on
each.
First and foremost, our security cooperation: The United States will
absolutely continue to stand with Algeria to fight the scourge of
terrorism which I just talked about. And we will continue to work with
youth through the Global Counterterrorism Forum in order to combat drug
trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, both of which fund terrorism in
North and West Africa. We will look to increase our security assistance
to Algeria. We really want to work in a cooperative way, and we want to
do this so that Algerian security services have the tools and the
training needed in order to defeat al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
And we will work to address the instability that has spread throughout
the Maghreb and Sahel.
We are grateful, very grateful, for Algeria’s efforts in Mali and
Niger which underscore Algeria’s constructive role in regional stability
not only in the east, but to the south also. In the years to come, the
United States hopes to partner with Algeria to build a more robust
defense relationship based on mutual respect, and obviously, what I
mentioned earlier, our shared interests. Together, we can help other
nations in the region secure their borders, strengthen rule of law, and
build stable democratic institutions.
Second, on our economic cooperation, we will do everything that we
can in order to continue to strengthen business, trade, and investment
ties between our countries. Joint efforts like the one that connected
Algeria’s energy needs to General Electric’s energy expertise not only
benefit both Algerians and Americans, but they also bring our economies
closer together. And that’s why I’m very pleased to announce that our
Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz, will attend the Algeria International
Trade Fair in June. And the United States is delighted to be the guest
of honor at this year’s trade fair, which Secretary Moniz will be on
hand to talk about opportunities that American companies in Algeria can
unlock for Algerians and Americans together.
There are just an enormous amount – energy, as we think about the
challenge of climate change in the world, as well as the challenges we
see with the recent events of Ukraine – energy must not be used as a
weapon, as a tool of conduct in international affairs. And it is vital
for us to diversify and to find ways to produce as much low-cost energy
as possible so it is available for growth and development throughout the
world. We have an ability to build on that capacity in our partnership
very significantly. We think there’s an ability for the United States
technology to marry with Algerian ingenuity and creativity in order to
be able to build economic strength, and so that’s a huge opportunity.
Third, on strengthening the people-to-people ties that are critical
to the success of any international partnership, we have a number of
important initiatives in place today. And we hope to see even more in
the future. We look forward to building on programs like those that are
funded by the Middle East Partnership Initiative, aimed at strengthening
civil society throughout the region, and the Fulbright student
exchanges. That program here in Algeria is a very, very important one,
time-honored between us. And in order to meet the extraordinarily high
demand among Algerians to learn English, we are training more English
teachers throughout the country. Every person in Algeria who wants to
learn English ought to be able to have the opportunity to access the
resources needed to do so, and we are working very, very hard to make
that happen.
Finally, let me just mention quickly the external events that Ramtane
referred to. It is critical for the world that we find a way to resolve
the crisis of Syria, and we’re very appreciative for the cooperative
effort with Algeria and other countries of the region to do so. We also
believe there is no solution other than a political solution. There is
no military solution. But we also believe that because of what has
happened, the nature of the weapons used, gas, chemical bombs against
children, indiscriminate killing of civilians, starvation as a tool of
war, more then 140,000 people killed – we believe that it is impossible
for Bashar al-Assad and his regime to ever regain the legitimacy to be
able to govern the country. So the difficulty has been the absence of an
ability to be able to change the dynamic where we can get that
political solution, but we will remain committed, and we want to work
with Algeria and others in order to help make that happen.
On the Middle East peace process, we remain committed. The parties
met even last night and they are continuing to have their discussions.
We will continue, no matter what, to try to facilitate the capacity of
people to be able to make peace. But in the end, my friends, as all of
you know, you can facilitate, you can push, you can nudge, but the
parties themselves have to make fundamental decisions and compromises.
The leaders have to lead, and they have to be able to see a moment when
it’s there. There is an old saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but
you can’t make it drink.” Now’s the time to drink, and the leaders need
to know that.
Lastly, you have an election coming up here in Algeria two weeks from
now. We look forward to elections that are transparent and in line with
international standards, and the United States will work with the
president that the people of Algeria choose in order to bring about the
future that Algeria and its neighbors deserve. And that is a future
where citizens can enjoy the free exercise of their civil, political,
and human rights, and where global companies, businesses, are confident
in being able to invest for the long haul.
So I look forward to the developments that come out of the working
group meetings today. I particularly look forward. President Obama is
very, very anxious to see this working effort, this dialogue produce a
stronger relationship. President Obama is committed to enhancing the
cooperation between the United States and Algeria in the months and
years to come, and it’s a privilege to be here.
One last thing: We will cooperate in everything except the World Cup,
where our teams may have to clash. (Laughter.) Thank you. (Applause.)
