Four-star General Wesley Clark spoke to an audience of American University students Sunday night in the amphitheater, calling upon them to assume a leadership role in the future of the United States.
His speech touched upon a variety of topics that he sees as challenges facing the United States in the coming years. Citing the Cold War, the United States needs a new model for engagement and a consistent strategy in foreign affairs, Clark said.
"We won the Cold War without ever shooting a shot at the Russians, but lost our organizing principle," Clark said.
For the future he offered a model of "engagement and interdependence" focusing on economic, political, and military reliance with other nations. He singled out China as "the one country that can affect America in a big way," stressing the need to integrate China with the world, not to try to "contain" it.
Clark also spoke about domestic issues, levying criticism of relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina and the need for the United States to form a strategy to deal with problems. Clark, a Democrat, criticized the president for not dealing with global warming effectively, and for appointing Michael Brown as head of FEMA.
A question-and-answer session following the speech included questions concerning the threat posed to national security by AIDS in Africa, containing China, and Clark's future political plans. Clark continued to stress his theme of interconnectedness and interdependence throughout the question-and-answer session.
Student reactions following the speech were mixed.
"I thought he was an amazing speaker," said Laura Gibson, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. "I think he would make a much better president than who we currently have."
Adam Goller, a freshman in CAS said that Clark was well educated in economics. "[General Clark] saw the future where the new policy is economics," he said.
Jeremiah Young, a junior in the School of International Service, believes that Clark's plans for the future don't address present problems of the U.S. like Iraq.
Clark's speech is the kickoff event for this year's Artemas Ward Week. In the past, the festival was held during the spring, but this year was swapped with homecoming events.
Jordan Landry, Deputy Programmer for Artemas Ward Week, explained it was decided last year that homecoming was not an effective programming event when held in the fall.
"It was decided that the event would be more effective if pushed to the spring, therefore placing the General Artemas Ward Festival in the fall," said Landry.
General Clark's speech is the first of several events to be held this week. Other events include Monday's "Political Barbeque" from 4:30-7:00 p.m., Friday's Artemas Ward Carnival, from 1:00-5:00 p.m. and Saturday's first annual "Breastival" to raise breast cancer awareness.
General Clark is a retired four-star general that served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander during the Kosovo campaign. He rose to national prominence in 2003 when he ran for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination after a successful "Draft Clark" campaign by his supporters.
