In Search of A Vision

We have firstly the task of comprehension. The second is the challenge of action attempting to do the right thing at the right time and in the right way which is extremely difficult in the best of time. The task of comprehension in an age of uncertainty demands that we wear no blinkers and have no illusions. It is especially important to ensure the we are informationally rich and analytically well endowed. It is incumbent upon us to be prepared to confront new realities and their logic however discomforting they may be preconceived notions.

This does not mean the abandonment of our personal and national, regional and global ideas, far from it. But it does mean the need for quick and continuous re-assessments of our objectives and ideals in response to quick and continuous changes in our external environment. Knowledge, because it is power, is an essential ingredient for our survival.

The challenge of action confronts us at all levels; the national level, the regional level, the inter-regional level and the global level. Comprehension without action is about as fruitful as action without comprehension. My remarks here focuses largely on the external environment of states. But I feel I cannot let it pass without stressing the central importance of action at home; the criticallity of continuous reform and reconstruction within our respective national borders. The primary determinant of our fortunes in the challenging days ahead, as in the past, will be our own national resilience. The most important helping hands we can rely on will always be the ones that are at the end of our own arms.