For the first time in a long while, I found myself listening with genuine admiration and even applause. A statesman of uncommon moral courage – one who embodies the very essence of principled leadership. Here stands a figure fully worthy of serving as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.
If only the global order were entrusted to such courageous leaders, anchored not in narrow interests but in the most humane convictions – guided by truth, justice, peace, and the deepest humanitarian belief – then the world stage would be transformed into a realm of dignity, conscience, and enduring peace and justice.
This is a voice that reminds us of the fundamental values we must all respect in order to coexist – that war, in any form, is the most ruinous and foolish of choices, bringing only mutual destruction.
오랫만에 박수치는 마음으로 진지하게 경청한 제80회 UN 총회 연설. 차기 UN Secretary of General 자격이 충분한 용기있는 지도자. 세계 질서가 지극히 상식적인 가치를 중심에 지닌 노블한 정치인들이 주 무대에서 활약하는 세상으로 바뀐다면 – 얼마나 아름다운 세상이 될 수 있을까. 작지만 강한 나라, 원칙과 가치를 수호한 인상깊은 핀란드 대통령의 UN 연설.
Notable Quotes
• • • “War is always a failure of humanity. It is a collective failure of our fundamental values.”
• • • “ In its simplest form, foreign policy is based on three pillars: values, interests, and power. I come from a relatively small country, Finland. Our toolkit is mainly about values and interests. Power – hard and soft – is a luxury of bigger players. The power of a smaller country arises from its capacity to cooperate with others. Smart diplomacy is what gives a smaller player at least relative influence. ” “ Regardless of size, each and every member state of the UN has agency – a say in how the new world order will look like. It is important that we all use this power wisely and responsibly. I fully appreciate that our interests differ – depending on our geographical location, history, state of development or culture. But fundamental values are something we should all share. We have commonly defined some of the most essential of them in the UN Charter. ” “ A transactional or multivectoral foreign policy is dominated by interests. Interests drive the practical choices of states, and this is entirely legitimate. This kind of foreign policy is based on a realistic understanding of power. Power defines the limits of what is possible for each state. However, values should underpin everything we do. Even a transactional or multivectoral foreign policy should rest on a core of fundamental values. Without them, foreign policy will ultimately run into a wall. ” “ The 193 members of the United Nations do not have to agree on every minute detail of values, but we have to have a common understanding of the fundamentals. They include the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, the prohibition of the use of force, and the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. These values are the building blocks of who we are and what we stand for as United Nations. The broad international community has, overwhelmingly, an interest in upholding them. Russia has no right to continue its aggression against Ukraine. Israel has no right to violate international law in Palestine. States have no right to use Sudanese or Congolese territories to fight proxy wars for their economic or strategic self-interest. ” “ The UN was created to maintain and promote peace, stability, development and friendly relations among nations. In order to achieve this, a balance between three elements was required. The power, at the highest level, was represented by the Security Council. The interests of the wider membership were to be reconciled in the General Assembly. The values were enshrined in the Charter and consolidated as rules of international law.
Today, the UN is struggling to fulfil its central promise of delivering peace and stability. Countries have increasingly taken the liberty to break the rules of international law, and to use force to gain other peoples’ territories and suppress other nations.
The United Nations of today does not sufficiently reflect the realities of the balance of power.All too often, it fails to serve as a forum for the coordination of interests.The values at its core are too often not respected in good faith.
We all want to have the freedom to make choices and a possibility to influence the world around us. Today, many countries are seeking answers in multipolarity or transactionalism. If the UN fails to deliver, this trend is accelerated. ” “ Our values can divide us. Fundamentally, however, they should unite us around the basic principles of humanity, the rule of law, and the prohibition of aggression. Our interests differ, and it is only right that we promote them. However, our choices have consequences. Opportunism will eventually be forced to confront the problems it tried to ignore. Power will constantly seek a new balance. We must adapt to the change. Nevertheless, we should not allow the rise of hard power to blind us. The power of legitimacy, integrity and rules will remain strong. ” “ On the one hand, there is aggression and a total disregard for civilian life, and an attempt to undermine the fundamental principles on which the international order based. On the other hand, there is a bastion of freedom that is defending its right to exist and to make its own choices. The battle for what consequences we will draw from this aggression is not yet over. ” • • •
너무나 탁월하고 정석적인 연설이라 국제정치학을 가르친다면 좋겠다고 생각했는데 실제 정치학자 출신으로 교수/총장으로 재임하기도 했다. 러시아의 푸틴이 우크라이나를 침공하지 않았다면 핀란드 대선에 출마하지 않았을 것이라는, 국제정세가 개인의 운명에 개입한 흥미로운 사례. LSE에서 William Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire 교수의 지도를 받은 국제정치학 박사.
“LSE has had a number of extremely bright Finnish students in recent years – but Alex was one of the most outstanding.”
/ Prof. Wallace
2024년 노르웨이 국빈 방문 중 BI 노르웨이경영대를 방문해 강론한 <The New World (Dis)Order> 내용도 매우 흥미롭다.
2pm /
고명환 작가의 강연. 사람마다 각자의 신념과 인생의 방향에 따라 “좋은 책”이라 여기는 기준과 선호하는 작가는 다를 수 있지만 – 어떤 책을 선택하더라도, 모든 책의 본질은 동일하다. 스스로는보지못하고, 결코상상하지못할타인의시선을지속적으로경험함으로서내면의기준과지평선을끝없이확장해가는것.
I just finished watching a lecture by a former k-comedian turned entrepreneur. While each person may judge what makes a “good book” differently – shaped by their own beliefs and direction in life – the essence of all books remains the same. By continuously engaging with perspectives we could never have imagined on our own, we endlessly broaden the horizons of our inner standards and vision.
+ A. Stubb 핀란드 대통령의 생각들
싱가포르의 리콴유 전 총리처럼 전세계 정세와 국제관계를 꿰뚫은, 세상에 대한 탁월한 통찰을 지닌 리더들의 인사이트는 아무리 들어도 지루하지가 않다. 배울 수 있는 관점이 너무나 많기에. 모처럼 흥미로운 마인드를 지닌 이를 알게 되어 무척 기뻤던 하루.
Leaders of extraordinary vision and profound insight – like Singapore’s late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who could see through the complexities of world affairs and international relations – never grow tiresome to listen to. There is always an abundance of perspectives to learn from.
Today was a truly joyful day, as I had the chance to encounter the interviews and speech of this exceptional leader from Finland, whose mind is both bright, deeply strategic and insightful.
/// No, I do not support the Nazis /// But this is quite an interesting documentary on uniform styles.
“Dress like the Museum Exhibit” National Museum of Korea
핀란드 대통령의 연설에서 시작해.. être à l’ouest 로 끝마친 – 너무나 enfp 했던 하루. Talk about an ENFP kind of day – from the Finnish president’s speech, all the way to a stylish Nazi uniform documentary and the National Museum of Korea’s “Dress Like the Museum Exhibit”. If that isn’t Être à l’ouest, I don’t know what is…
Yvette Yang 
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