Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.  Good evening everybody.  It's a real pleasure for me to have the opportunity to talk to you all this evening about the partnership between the United States and Switzerland.  Speaking about partnership between these two countries, you may ask the question: "How is it possible that two countries as different in size as the United States of America and Switzerland can be partners?  How can a David and a Goliath work together for the benefit of both and for the benefit of the world?"  Take the United States of America.  It has forty times as many inhabitants as Switzerland.  California alone is ten times the size of Switzerland, although I hasten to say, in order to avoid an inferiority complex, that Switzerland is 13 times bigger than the state of Rhode Island.  Or take the United States' economy:  It is forty times bigger than the Swiss economy.  Everything in the United States seems bigger and larger than in Switzerland, even the size of shoes.

 What really makes a country big and what makes a country small?  Is it really the surface area?  Is it the number of inhabitants?  Or is it the gross domestic product per capita where Switzerland equals, more or less, the United States?  Or is it the per capita expenditure on research and development, where Switzerland actually does even better than the United States?  Or is it the strength of the financial services where Switzerland has to be seen as one of the big players, especially when it comes to asset management and private banking? 

 It is my conviction that it is neither the size nor any other quantitive consideration which is the basis of cooperation and partnership between two countries.  It is much more about common interests and shared values.  We do not need much time to become aware of the values that the United States and Switzerland have in common.  Like Americans, the Swiss are freedom-minded people.  We cherish our independence, independence which we were able to preserve throughout the 20^th century, independence which is one of the reasons why Switzerland has not joined, yet, the European Union and why Switzerland will remain outside of the Union for some time to come.  Democracy is of like importance to Americans and to the Swiss alike.  Democracy in Switzerland does not just mean national elections every two or every four years.  We, the Swiss, vote three or four times per year on many issues of totally different kinds because it's a direct democracy.  Even foreign policy issues have to be decided by the people.  The last crucial foreign policy issue, as Curtis [Mack] just mentioned, was United Nations membership, which was approved last March.  It was a remarkable national referendum where we had a very narrow [vote], but we did it.  I shall return to this issue in a minute.

Direct democracy was introduced in Switzerland more than150 years ago.  Before then the Swiss political system was somewhat less democratic, but Switzerland has never been a monarchy.  Like Americans, we prefer uncrowned kings or no king at all.  When the modern Swiss Confederation was founded in 1848 we took actually much inspiration from the American Constitution.  Civil rights, the bicameral system, House of Representatives, Senate are proof of this.  Later on it went in the other direction.  The Swiss constitutional instruments chastised the popular initiative of the national referendum and it became one of the hottest export ideas into the United States.  Looking through the Swiss model a large number of American states adopted direct democratic institutions like the referendum or the popular initiative, sometimes even both.  I understand that California is familiar with these instruments, too.  Here, the direct referendum became famous with the liberalization of the electricity market.  I said "famous," not infamous and I hope you will not blame Switzerland and its direct democracy if the lights over Los Angeles suddenly go out once more.

Last, but not least, I should mention the respect of minorities and their integration in an open society without any discrimination.  Cultural diversity is of great importance to a multi-linguistic country like Switzerland, as it is in the United States.  The melting pot is nothing else than the colloquial expression for cultural diversity in one nation.  Because of these similarities historians, lawyers, politicians like to speak of our two countries as being sister republics.  Freedom, democracy, civil rights, and open societies, are common values.  Since September 11, 2001, we sadly see that these cherished values are not granted once and for all.  During the Cold War the free world had to defend them against the new conceived ideology and its advocates.  Now these values are threatened by new risks and particularly by terrorism on a scale never experienced and never seen before. 

 After September 11 Switzerland feels its relationship as a sister republic to the United States more strongly than ever.  We are sister republics in times of joy and in times of sorrow.  I'm glad to say that Switzerland has been able to develop a solid bond of cooperation with the United States government in fighting terrorism.  Together with Attorney General Ashcroft we have very recently signed an agreement on cooperation between the investigating authorities of both countries permitting the posting of a Swiss investigator in Washington and of two FBI agents in Switzerland's Ministry of Justice and Police. 

 After September 11 our immediate concern was the possible abuse of the Swiss banking system by terrorist organizations in the preparation of those despicable crimes.  However, it became quickly evident that those concerns proved to be unjustified.  In this connection I should like to emphasize that banking secrecy is in no way an obstacle to fighting terrorism.  Terrorist acts are crimes by all definitions and this automatically allows Swiss banking secrecy to be lifted in order that investigations can be carried out.  Shared values and common interests are a basis for cooperation and partnership.  Let me now explain what this means when it comes to foreign policy.

 First, multi-lateral partnership.  One month ago, Switzerland joined the United Nations.  Many Swiss people have been waiting a long time for this day and a long time to see U.N. accession happen.  September 10, 2002 will, therefore, be recalled as a great day for Switzerland's foreign policy.  On that evening the Empire State Building in New York was lit up in red and white, the colors of the Swiss flag, a truly heartwarming gesture of welcome and friendship.  You may wonder what will be Switzerland's priority within the United Nations.  Peace promotion will be one of those with a clear focus on conflict prevention and civilian peace promotion.  Protection of human rights will be another because, without respect for human dignity, there won't be lasting peace, won't be economic development or political stability.  Promotion of international law is also high up on our priority list.  As a relatively small country, Switzerland has always supported international law and we consider force only as the measure of last resort. 

 Reduction of poverty will be another issue of importance.  For Switzerland, this is not only a question of transfer of resources, but it's also about opening our markets to products from the south, about good governments in the developing countries, and about overcoming the digital divide and many other issues.  United Nations membership will provide Switzerland with a unique platform for closer cooperation with other countries, particularly with the United States.  Whether we shall always agree on all points with Washington is another question.  There may be areas where we will just have to agree to disagree with Washington.  The International Criminal Court or the issue of global warming are cases in point.  But a solid partnership can withstand disagreements.

 Now, about bi-lateral partnership.  For Switzerland in some areas of foreign policy bi-lateral cooperation with the United States is even more important than cooperation within the United Nations.  The most significant example is Iran, where Switzerland has represented and protected American interests since 1980.  After September 11 of last year, that job of go-between between Tehran and Washington became busier.  We do, of course, strongly hope that sooner or later relations between Washington and Tehran will return to normal and, if the two parties so wish, Switzerland will only be too glad to help in facilitating normalization.  Switzerland represents not only American interests in Iran but also in Cuba, and Cuban interests in Washington.  This mandate, however, has moved rather to the sidelines in recent years.

 The third example of the partnership between the U.S. and Switzerland brings us to Africa, where we have combined our expertise in connection with the longstanding civil war in Sudan.  Together [with] American officials and military personnel, and I say this in all modesty, we successfully brokered a regional cease-fire agreement early this year. 

 Ladies and gentlemen, the list of countries where Switzerland is present also for the sake of U.S. interests takes us into regions of the world, which are, frankly, uneasy, fragile and even troublesome.  For Switzerland, however, it provides a unique opportunity for meeting a challenge and bearing our part of international responsibility. 

 I come to my conclusions.  The real fabric of partnership is friendship.  Relations between the people and common understanding are more important than official meetings between governments.  Between the American and Swiss people these relations are plentiful, particularly in the area of culture.  Take just two examples relating to California.  You will find in your state two outstanding achievements of Swiss architects: the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and, more recently, the Museum of Modern Art in the same city.  And in Switzerland the most distinguished symphony orchestra of our country is right now conducted by an American, David Sigmund, an American not in Paris but in Zurich.  Sigmund has led this orchestra to internationally renowned excellence and rightly won, only a few days ago, one of the country's most prestigious cultural awards.  This is the way I see true partnership.  To sum up, the United States of America will always have in Switzerland a good partner when it comes to remaining steadfast with regard to our shared values. 

Thank you very much, and I should be too glad to take your questions.