Optimism Moves you Forward

By Ambassador Philip T. Reeker

December 31, 2008

“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past but by the responsibility for our future.” George Bernard Shaw.
 
George Bernard Shaw is not American, but he is one of the great literary figures of the Modern Era, a heritage we can all share. Perhaps this is a strange quote to open a piece in which I was asked to reflect on 2008 and give my thoughts about the coming year, but I think it captures well where we find ourselves at this moment.  Macedonia is truly at a point where it must decide whether it will define itself by looking back or looking forward.  Will you work together to secure the best possible future for all of the citizens of the country, or will you allow political or ethnic divisions to divide you and keep you from attaining the goals so many share?  Will you define yourselves by the disappointment at Bucharest or will you show your true character and strive for dignified solutions to ongoing disputes?  Will the authorities and citizens continue to be judged by the flawed elections that took place in June 2008 or will you show the world that Macedonia is a country where democracy reigns?  These are enormous challenges but each of them presents the opportunity for the country to be made wise and to secure a prosperous future in a Europe that is whole, free and at peace.
 
My own country took an enormous step forward in the last year in addressing one of our searing historical realities, racism and the legacy of slavery.  In elections that captured the world’s attention, Barack Obama won a solid victory, and will become the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009.    Though this momentous event signifies and enormous blow to racism in the United States, it by no means signifies the problem has been solved.  We too will need to continue to work to take responsibility for our future. 

The election of Barack Obama has resulted in an outpouring of positive commentary about the United States in many countries throughout the world, including many that are not among our closest friends.  We, as a country, will need to be careful not to focus on the "recollection of our past"--the election -- but instead to use this goodwill to focus on the enormous challenges facing the world including the current economic crisis, the continuing threat of terrorism and the effort to curb climate change.   Each of these challenges is global in nature and will require that we work together with countries throughout the world if we expect to overcome them.
 
In closing, I would like to say that I am optimistic about the coming year. Perhaps that is because my former boss, Colin Powell, regularly reminded us that, "Optimism is a force multiplier."  I think he is right and know that we will need to work together in the months and years ahead to confront both local and global challenges.  I believe that if we have the wisdom to do so instead of looking backwards to define ourselves, we will be in a better position a year from now and have taken a huge stride forward towards securing a better tomorrow for future generations.