Alternative to clash of
civilization is dialogue among cultures
By Jacque Chirac, French President
This dialogue on "global governance for
sustainable development"is crucial as never before. At a time when humanity must
invent a common destiny for itself, it is faced with such complex questions that it is
wondering how it can resolve and overcome them. We are confronted with major challenges.
The challenge of the divide between a
developing world and hundreds of millions of people who are marginalized and prisoners of
poverty. How can we help the poorest countries to break the vicious circle of
underdevelopment and, in particular, to successfully take up the challenge of NEPAD, this
venture for the renewal of Africa launched by the Africans themselves?
The challenge of our modes of production,
which are natural-resource-intensive to the extent that they exceed our planet's
regeneration capacities. How can we devise a development that will enable everyone to
realize their potential without destroying nature?
The challenge of a time when an ever-smaller
world is bringing about the juxtaposition of cultures that may view one another as rivals
or even enemies, at the risk of triggering a clash of civilizations.
Today, the responsibility of governments is
to resolve these contradictions so that our peoples become aware of all that globalization
promises, and its potential for trade, people-to-people exchanges and freedom is realized.
France, as you know, has begun trying to
achieve a more humane and controlled globalization. Therefore it would be most interesting
to emphasize on four key themes, namely responsibility, solidarity, diversity and ecology.
First, the theme of responsibility.
International Exchanges/National
Sovereignty/UN
Increasing exchanges, growing
interdependence, the need to address common threats together and the gradual disappearance
of frontiers should lead us to call into question certain concepts around which
international relations have been built.
The notion of national sovereignty is
changing. States, as guardians of the national identity and political legitimacy are, and
will remain sovereign. However, they are also from now on collectively responsible for the
world's future. To what extent can leaders be allowed to commit gross violations of human
rights? To what extent can irresponsible behaviour be tolerated in the management of
natural resources or in financial management? What authorities are empowered to set the
limits and have them enforced, or to decide if the use of force is legitimate and to what
extent?
the irreplaceable role of the UN and of the
multilateral system in this respect is important. A United Nations showing more efficacy
and cohesion, whose missions, powers and resources have been strengthened, respectful of
civil society and concerned with the issue of democracy. But we are all aware of the work
that remains to be done for multilateral institutions to be fully recognized as the
expression of a sort of general interest for humanity, for them to acquire the will and
the ability to act whatever the circumstances, assured that their rules will be observed.
If we fail to build this world governed by the law and a regulated use of force, we will
be condemned to a confrontation between the centres of power.
Second, the theme of solidarity.
Millennium Goals/ODA/International
Tax/UK Proposal For International Financial Initiative/Private-Sector Investment
To achieve the Millennium Goals and those of
the Johannesburg Summit, which form humanity's common objective, we know that we need in
the region of fifty billion more dollars in official assistance per year.
Where are we to find this money, given that
national budgets are subject to strong constraints?
France has made a commitment to increase her
contribution to international solidarity. Additionally, we must explore new avenues in a
pragmatic and unbiased way. I am thinking for instance of international taxation that
represents a modest levy on the immense wealth generated by globalization. I am interested
in the British proposal for an international financial initiative making it possible to
collect through borrowing the additional resources required for the economic takeoff of
the poor countries. I think it essential to devise new mechanisms to attract
private-sector investment back to those countries.
Whatever the solutions chosen, all those who
embody a global consciousness must make a commitment and strive to explain that this
humane gesture on the part of the wealthy in the direction of the poor is also a gesture
of wisdom and responsibility which will help us to break free of the nightmares of hunger,
poverty, AIDS, illiteracy and oppression.
Cultural Diversity/Clash Of
Civilizations
Third, the theme of diversity.
We are experiencing a contradiction between
the evolution of the world towards more unity and the perverse phenomenon of
standardization, contributing to concerns about loss of identity and the decline of man's
genius. We must resolve this conflict between the aspiration for a more open, i.e. freer
world, and the ensuing weakening of human identities. We must reconcile the need for
universal values, necessary for a controlled globalization, with respect for the diversity
of civilizations and cultures.
The alternative to a clash of civilizations
is dialogue among cultures: learning to respect others in our daily lives, to be curious
about others and to accept otherness. This is not inherent in human communities whose
identity is often based on exclusion. Hence the proposal for a Global Convention on
cultural diversity which would not only state a principle, but also affirm a fundamental
condition for the success of globalization
Environmental
Protection/Natural-Resource Management/Bioethics
The last theme is that of environmental
protection, natural-resource management and the status of living beings.
We note that, despite our efforts at Rio and
Johannesburg, we are progressing too slowly. The Kyoto Protocol has not yet entered into
force even though climate change is taking place before our very eyes. Implementation of
the Convention on Biodiversity is proving difficult even though natural species are
disappearing. Man's place in nature deserves to be reassessed, in order to establish a
more harmonious relationship with the natural environment without which man cannot
survive. In the age of GMOs, cloning and eugenics, we must also fix the rights and duties
of man with respect to living beings, namely the terms of universal bioethics.
How can we take more effective action to get
others to share these concerns, to involve the poor and emerging countries in the task of
protecting the environment, so that this challenge becomes an integral part of their
strategies? How are we to persuade the populations in rich countries to change their modes
of production and consumption, invent a new, more quality-conscious and
environmentally-friendly way of life?
For her part, France has decided to reply to
these questions, in particular by launching work on the Constitutional Charter on the
environment and the rights of future generations.
Education – Doctors in
the Making
Internationally
sought-after: many budding young doctors see a place to study medicine at a German
university as a great opportunity. We visited two medical students at the Charité
university clinic in Berlin
By Rainer Stumpf
It’s just a fleeting moment. A prick,
dabbing away the blood, applying the plaster. But for Crisitina Pirvulescu it’s a
very special moment. "When you use a syringe for the first time and it goes well,
you’re proud and think: now I’m a real medical student." Almost lovingly
she tells of the day in Campulung, her home town in Romania, when her mother had a cold
but didn’t want to go to hospital. Without hesitating the 23-year-old medical student
used her syringe for the first time: "It must have hurt a little bit, but my Mum
reacted really well and just smiled."
Not unlike the man on whom Luis Garcés
Pérez applied his syringe for the very first time. He was highly impressed by the
expertise of the 23-year-old medical student from Spain, almost euphoric in fact. "I
saw the patient several times again that day. Every time we met he gave me a thumbs up
sign and assured me I would make a good doctor." And as the two of them sit there in
an office for exchange students at the Berlin Charité,
the Humboldt University’s teaching hospital, they look back and smile at their fear
of the first injection. After six and five years of medical studies respectively, they
have long stopped counting the numbers of needle pricks. They now face far different
challenges. Cristina is preparing for her state examination in September and has started
work on her doctoral thesis in gynaecological oncology, while Luis has to learn the German
equivalents of patient’s chart and hip joint. After all, he only arrived in Berlin at
the beginning of the winter semester 2002/03, and before he left Spain he just had enough
time for a four-week intensive course in German.
Cristina and Luis are two of about 8,500
foreign students currently studying human medicine at 34 universities in Germany –
almost half of whom are women. This means that ten percent of up-and-coming doctors at
German universities come from countries such as France, Poland, the USA or China, to name
but a few. Their percentage corresponds almost exactly with the overall proportion of
foreign students in Germany, namely 10.4 percent. Studying medicine has lost its appeal to
German students over the past few years, because there was a previous excess of graduates.
Many high school graduates have also been deterred by the often tough working conditions
in hospitals, where up to 36 hours on standby duty is no exception. According to a study
by the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, medicine has fallen from second to fourth place
in the popularity chart of favourite university courses.
The attraction of Germany as a place to study
has maintained its popularity among budding doctors from throughout the world.
"Germany is extremely well-known and well-liked, and students are equally keen to
gain a place at one of our universities," says Bianca Köndgen, who organizes
exchanges with 500 partner universities for the medical faculty of the "the Friedrich-Alexander University" of
Erlangen and Nuremberg. She is increasingly having to reject new cooperation requests from
foreign universities. Ulrike Arnold, who is responsible for international cooperation at
the Virchow Clinic campus of Berlin’s Charité hospital, talks of similar
experiences: "There’s a big demand to study medicine in Berlin." There are
122 exchange students studying at her university as part of the European Union’s
Erasmus programme alone.
Germany was Luis’ first choice from the
very start, whereas Cristina originally wanted to go to France, but no places were
available there. "Thank goodness," she says, "I’m so happy now that
I’m here." Both of them really like the campus atmosphere at the Charité, one
of the most famous and long-standing hospitals in Germany. Numerous worldfamous physicians
have worked at this hospital since the founding of the university clinic in 1710.
In the 19th century Nobel prizewinner Robert
Koch, for instance, headed the former Institute of Hygiene. Emil von Behring and Paul
Ehrlich, who both received the Nobel Prize in 1901 and 1905, founded modern immunology at
the Charité.
On today’s Virchow Clinic campus history
and the modern age stand side by side. Almost one-century-old buildings along an avenue of
trees are interspersed with newly erected specialist clinics which, with their glazed
foyers and light-flooded bistros, seem to have more in common with modern office design.
Fulfilling a lifetime dream
Both Cristina and Luis always dreamt of
studying medicine. And both of them aimed at this profession from an early age. In
Cristina’s case it was a very early age indeed: "When I was five my grandfather
died. At the time I couldn’t understand why people die at all. And this question has
occupied my thoughts ever since." Luis more or less grew up with patients, illness
and healing: his father is a doctor, three cousins are physicians, his mother is a nurse.
Despite this Luis’ father was not impressed by his son’s choice of profession.
He advised him to study something different for a change – without success.
The enormous workload involved in studying
medicine did not deter the young man. In Germany 13 semesters of study are the standard
requirement. Training consists of pre-clinical foundation studies and senior clinical
studies. This entails a precise knowledge of the human body – including under the
microscope. Luis and Christina put on their white coats in the microscopy lab and sit down
at two microscopes. A couple of desks away some excited whispering breaks out: a group of
students, four women and a man, are discussing what exactly they are viewing. Cristina
sits at her microscope and takes one slide after another from her study specimen box,
looks briefly through the lens, says: "That’s a sample of a liver."
It’s no problem, after all every organ is "like a house; it has its own
architecture that makes it recognizable".
Before Cristina graduates she will have to
complete an in-house practical period as a so-called "doctor in practice" after
finishing her senior studies. She and Luis will have gained further practical experience
during short clinical phases and a "practical year" that are compulsory for
qualification. Once they have both successfully completed this, they will receive their
"Approbation," the permission to practice professionally as a doctor.
This then opens the way to specializing in a
particular field in hospitals. There is a great deal of learning involved, but this is the
foundation of the high level of education. "Medical studies in Germany are among the
best available in the world," says Professor Gebhard von Jagow, president of the
association of medical faculties of the Federal Republic of Germany. He maintains that,
above all, the theoretical training is "outstandingly good". However, the
practical aspects could still be improved and extended. As of October 1st this demand will
be met with newly formulated qualification specifications that lay greater emphasis on
practical training. For instance, there will be smaller groups during demonstrations with
patients and new practical training blocks.
But Cristina and Luis agree that the most
important insight is learned neither at university nor during clinical training. What
really makes a good doctor? Luis’ sums it up: "You always have to remember that
the patients are in a special situation. A good doctor must always maintain an equilibrium
between emotions and medical knowledge." |
