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Round Table: Dialogue among Civilizations United Nations, New York, 5 September 2000 Provisional verbatim transcription

Address by Giandomenico Picco (Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for dialogue among civilizations)

Mr. Picco: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for participating in this discussion, and indeed dialogue. We are trying to conduct this conversation this afternoon as a real dialogue. The way I suggest we proceed is that I will introduce some of the questions that all of us have been asking when reflecting on this dialogue and I will then ask each participant to comment for a few minutes on each of these questions, the understanding being that there will be a real interchange among us on each of these questions. At the end I will try to summarize the conversation, to the extent that a summary is possible. If that is acceptable then I suggest that we proceed in that way. I have the advantage of being in the Chair so I take it that will be agreeable.

If that is the case, then let me introduce the first question for conversation. One of the key reasons why a dialogue among civilizations seems to be so relevant today is the self-evident need for all to learn how to manage diversity better. The increasing interaction and contact among peoples is not only the result of information technology and the globalization of the economy, it is also a consequence of the increased voluntary and involuntary movement of individuals in groups across borders of all kinds, and indeed the transmission of ideas. By the end of the last decade it was clear that not only could large countries affect small countries but also vice versa. The financial crisis of 1998 was a stark example of that. This reality has made obsolete any autarchic illusion. If time has any effect, and it does, relations with "the others" will simply become more frequent and not less. Learning how to manage diversity among ourselves is accordingly no longer an option. But the issue of dialogue seems to be an overwhelming concept. It is also a very general concept. So my first question will be: how do we focus the conversation on, or approach to, dialogue so that it becomes relevant.

While I have the benefit of having the microphone I will ask former United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, who was my Secretary-General for many years of my life in this Organization, to make the first comment. My choice is very subjective, not objective, and comes from my heart but I hope I will be forgiven for asking Ambassador Perez de Cuellar to start with his comments on what should be our approach to focus our conversation on the dialogue among civilizations.

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