Atlantic Council

2016 Global Citizen Awards

Speakers:
Jon M. Huntsman Jr., Chairman, Atlantic Council;
Frederick Kempe, President and CEO, Atlantic Council;
Victor Chu, International Advisory Board Member and Global Citizen Award Dinner Co-Chair, Atlantic Council;
Paula J. Dobriansky, Board Director, Atlantic Council;
John Kerry, Secretary, U.S. Department of State;
Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum;
Adrienne Arsht, Executive Vice Chair, Atlantic Council

Awardees:
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe;
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi;
Wynton Marsalis, Musician, Composer, Educator, and Managing and Artistic Director of Jazz, Lincoln Center;
Nadiya Savchenko, Ukrainian Parliamentarian, Former Prisoner of War, and Decorated Hero of Ukraine

Location: New York City, New York

Date: Monday, September 19, 2016

JON M. HUNTSMAN:  Thank you.  Thank you, Fred.  And all of that – and the great introduction and all that stuff – will get you third place in the New Hampshire primary.  (Laughter.)  I had my choice between an introduction by the voice of God or the voice of Fred Kempe.  I chose the voice of Fred Kempe.  I hope I don’t pay for that later on.   So good evening, everyone – distinguished honorees, excellencies, dinner co-chairs, and members of the Atlantic Council Board, and International Advisory Board.  Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, welcome to the seventh annual Atlantic Council Global Citizen Awards.  And thank you so much for being with us here tonight.  An incredible crowd, a record crowd.  This is the best turnout ever for the Global Citizen Awards.  (Applause.)  Which, in a sense, is a testament to the world-class awardees that we have here tonight.  In fact, the dinner has had such popular demand that our team even began looking into whether there was seating available inside the whale up there.  We were told, no.     We’re gathered here in New York during a week when much of the world is focused on the fundamental link between leadership and strategy.  Just across town, we have some 140 heads of state and government.  They’re convened here at a single time and place, all united around a common purpose and vision of improving the state of the world.  That, and increasing New York’s metrics in unpaid parking tickets.  The last I checked, that figured had racked up to something around $16 million.  Thank goodness for diplomatic immunity for those people who have it.   As all of you know, it’s difficult to quantify the historic scale of the problems the 140 leaders convened here this week face, challenges that have seldom been as numerous, complex, combustive, or urgent.  From Mideast mayhem to Russian revanchist aggression, from Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II to Britain’s historic referendum to leave the European Union, from the rise of China to the threat of North Korea, from democratic dysfunction to violent extremism, which we are tragically reminded of, even this weekend’s bombing here in Chelsea.  From a crisis in Western political leadership to state and non-state actors alike disrupting international norms, the challenges are as profuse as they are profound.   To quote Secretary of State John Kerry, a recipient of our 2011 Global Citizen Award – we’re delighted to have you with us in the audience tonight to introduce a little later Italian Prime Minister Renzi – said he:  The fact is that our entire model of global leadership is at stake.  To quote another great man, Winston Churchill:  Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.  The optimist in me sees the scale of the challenges today as a call for us to rise to the occasion and seize the opportunity to remake the world as freer, more open, and more prosperous.     The Atlantic Council across our 10 programs and centers embodies this very ethos.  As you can see by looking around tonight, we are a community of business and civil society leaders, cutting edge experts and policymakers, united around a shared calling to solve these global challenges.  We generate ideas and we foster debate.  We build consensus, mobilize durable coalitions, and transform ideas into action.  Recipients of the Atlantic Council’s global citizen award share that ambition as well.  They exemplify the sort of leadership that is required during these most challenging times.     And tonight I’m proud to say our celebration is truly global, as we honor three individuals from three continents.  We will present Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who through the storied Abenomics of social – or fiscal stimulators, monetary easing and reforms, is changing the course of the world’s third-largest economy, reinvigorating Japan’s economic energy and optimism.  I hope his stage entrance tonight is as captivating as his Rio Olympics closing ceremony cameo where, for those of you who didn’t see it, he emerged dressed as Super Mario.   We will also salute Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi, described as the Demolition Man by The New Yorker for, quote, “Cleaning up the swamp of political challenges in Italy,” with his innovative leadership, forging vigorous solutions to the country’s social woes and persistent financial crises.   And we will honor renowned American jazz musician, and one of my heroes, Wynton Marsalis, for his contributions that introduced jazz music to the world, breaking down barriers between classical music and jazz, and using his talent to make a difference in the world, and bridging communities through his most extraordinary work.   So here to elaborate more on the work that the Council does, and the values we wish to promote here tonight, is my good friend and colleague and above all fellow Utahan, president of the Atlantic Council Fred Kempe.  Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.  (Applause.)  

MR. KEMPE:  Thank you, Governor Huntsman.  And thanks as well to Mary Kaye and your amazing family.  It’s such a pleasure working with you.   Excellencies –and let me tell you there are a lot of excellencies out there – ladies and gentlemen, Atlantic Council Board members and International Advisory Board members – 19 board members, nine International Advisory Board members here tonight.  Thank you for being here.  We launched this dinner seven years ago at the urging and with the vision of our International Advisory Board Member Victor Chu, and other members of the International Advisory Board, and with World Economic Forum founder, Klaus Schwab, as our inaugural awardee.     Klaus, who will be introducing Prime Minister Abe tonight, it is so wonderful to have you here again tonight, on this seventh occasion of this very successful awards.  So thank you, Klaus.  (Applause.)  And Victor, a man who so often turns vision into reality, just look at this room and look at the awardees.  Victor, thank you so much to you as well.  We really appreciate it.  (Applause.)  Yet, we never imagined, as Governor Huntsman said, how much more unsettled the global situation would become in this sort period of time, seven years, and thus how much more crucial would be the leadership that we celebrate each year, and by celebrating it hoping to inspire others.     The Atlantic Council this week – later this week will publish Global Risks 2035, a much-awaited, and highly unsettling, analysis of the strategic foresight for the road ahead, written by the director of strategic foresight, former National Intelligence Council senior official Matt Burrows.  He last wrote this report for the intelligence community of the United States.  And so this is the first time he’s done this sort of report outside that community and for our consumption.     Matt writes, quote, “The increased risk of a major conflict is the biggest change in the past four years.  In 2012, a major U.S.-NATO conflict with Russia or U.S.-China conflict was close to unthinkable.  The post-Cold War security order has broken down and the consequences flowing from that are immense, potentially threatening globalization.”  He continues, speaking about our domestic politics, quote, “As dangerous as the fracturing of the post-Cold War global system, is the internal fraying in the political, social, and economic fabric of practically all states.”    
The report makes for compelling reading, it goes into quite some depth in these issues, not because it describes our destiny, but because it describes a possible trajectory if left unattended.  And it motivates we at the Atlantic Council, as we are optimists fundamentally, to take on such challenges as best we can, under the motto of working together to secure the future.  We act with the conviction that we live at a defining moment in history as important as the end of World Wars I and II, and that we must either engage and lead with our friends and allies around the world, or accept outcomes that won’t be of our making or to our liking – witness Syria, witness Ukraine.   In that spirit, let me welcome by name just a few individuals in this amazing audience.  As Governor Huntsman noted, we have two former Global Citizen honorees with us this evening, Secretary John Kerry and Klaus Schwab.  I also want you to give up your prayers and thoughts this evening to an awardee from two years ago, Shimon Peres, who is recovering and in stable condition from a recent stroke.  We are delighted that our own Adrienne Arsht, the executive vice chair of our board, will introduce the great Wynton Marsalis, after Secretary Kerry introduces Prime Minister Renzi, and Klaus Schwab introduces Shinzo Abe – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.    
I had a chance to glance at Prime Minister Abe’s staff’s grid of the room.  And it’s telling.  He has an Italian flag on Prime Minister Renzi’s table.  He has a Japanese flag on the Japanese prime minister’s table.  And on Wynton Marsalis’ table, there was a trumpet.  (Laughter.)  Some flags are universal.  We also are joined by our first Young Global Citizen Award recipient, the fantastic music talent Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner.  So thank you for being here.  

We’re privileged this evening to be joined by several current and former heads of state and government:  Giorgi Kvirikashvili, the prime minister of Georgia; Rui Maria de Araujo, the prime minister of Timor-Leste; the President of Toga Faure Gnassingbe; and the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz; and the former Prime Minister of Hungary Gordon Bajnai.  We also have government ministers from around the world, including the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov and the Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni.     We also have the Minister of State from the UAE, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber.  Dr. Al Jaber is one of several strategic partners for the Council’s newest initiative, the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, January 12th to 14th.  Adnan Amin, the director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency, one of the key agencies around the world – the key agency around the world working on this set of issues, another key partner in this exciting Abu Dhabi project, is also with us.  So thank you to you as well.     And then finally, we’re delighted that so many partners are here this evening of our Istanbul Summit, which has been a flagship international convening on April 6th and 7th.  And the director of that summit is here, Defne Arslan Sadiklar.  Given the global events I’ve described, these gatherings aren’t just convenings.  We combine convenings with dynamic work.  So dynamic convenings, dynamic work, aimed at making a difference.     So thank you so much for joining us.  And now, you know, Governor Huntsman said he had to choose between the voice of God and Fred Kempe.  I’m going to leave this next voice to introduce our introducer of Prime Minister Renzi.  But let me say in advance that the secretary of state, with all the pressures on his schedule, has taken the time to be with us this evening.  Thank you so much to all of you for being here.  (Applause.)   (Music.)  

ANNOUNCER:  Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome 2011 Global Citizen Award recipient, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.  (Applause.)  

SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY:  Buona sera a tutti.  (Laughter.)  Good evening, everybody.  I want to thank the voice of God for my introduction.  (Laughter.)  And share with you, all of you, how special it is to be here tonight at this really extraordinary gathering.  Distinguished prime ministers, my colleague foreign ministers, distinguished ministers, and distinguished guests all, we thank you for coming out.  This is an extraordinary, impressive gathering.  A lot of folks from many, many different walks of life, all with great talent, all coming to celebrate a very extraordinary group of awardees this evening.      I think it’s fair to say that no matter where we come from, or what our particular callings might be, we all call ourselves Atlanticists.  And I am here to honor the contributions with all of you of a dynamic and increasingly important European leader, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.  It’s worth – (applause) – as we do that, and putting into context both Jon Huntsman’s – Jon, we thank you for your tremendous stewardship here – and Jon’s and Fred’s comments this evening, I think it’s worth reflecting that 100 years ago this month a generation was being sacrificed on the battlefields of the Somme and Verdun.  And 75 years ago, Hitler’s army began its savage march to the east, and tens of thousands of Jews were massacred in Odessa.  And 50 years ago, a wall of brick and mortar and barbed wire divided Europe, as those on one side and those who were just half-free.   So make no mistake.  There is a reason why our predecessors build the EU and forged NATO.  And there is a reason why being an Atlanticist is important.  There is a reason why visionary leaders – from Churchill, to Roosevelt, to Adenauer, to Gasperi sought to build a transatlantic community that would serve as an enduring platform for international stability, prosperity, and peace.  And we, all of us here today, and particularly the honorees, are the guardians of that vision.   That is why, in recent years, we have stood together on behalf of a sovereign and democratic Ukraine, reaffirmed our solidarity in the face of new threats to Eastern and Central Europe, mobilized a counter-terrorists coalition that is gaining ground steadily in Iraq and Syria, and negotiated an end to the dangers posed by Iran’s nuclear program, and helped to frame a global agreement that we must implement with urgency to curb climate change and preserve the environment health of our planet.  (Applause.)     Matteo Renzi comes to office with a tremendous respect and understanding of all of these challenges.  And he also knows that dealing with them will be the work of many hands.  And so it is that he reaches out, and he works to grab those hands and work with them.  But tonight, the Atlantic Council is able to recognize him as a unique and dynamic force since becoming prime minister of Italy, the youngest person ever to hold that post.  Let me be clear, this is a high-energy guy.  And believe me, most people would agree that I know an energizer bunny when I meet one.     Last month, some of you may have heard, at the G-20 Summit in China the guests of honor all went for a ride on a boat afterwards.  We all went out on this boat around this lake.  And suddenly, a very large fish came flying out of the lake and onto the vessel.  Unlike his stunned colleagues, Prime Minister Renzi leapt forward, applied his old football skills, and subdued the leviathan before it had time to swallow even a single global leader.  (Laughter.)  So there is a lot to be said for being young and vigorous, and for young and vigorous leadership.   And as the mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi was known affectionately as Il Rottamatore, The Scrapper.  And it shows, a reformer at home – I might add, a daring reformer at home – the prime minister has also become an eloquent voice on behalf of shared security and prosperity within Europe and across the Atlantic.  Under his leadership, Italy has been at the forefront of defending against violent extremism, training and advising our partners in Iraq, implementing NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.     Italy’s forward-looking diplomacy under Matteo has also helped to generate fresh hope in Libya, where I’ve been privileged to work closely with my counterpart Paolo Gentiloni, and where the Daesh terrorists have been driven back, and the new government is becoming more credible by the day.  Just as dramatically, my friends, Italy has shown the way in dealing effectively and humanely with the refugee crisis.     And we should remember that the movement of refugees and migrants is not just a narrative of desperation, not just people who have been forced to flee homes, it can also be the story, in many cases, of criminals, human traffickers, cramming people onto overloaded boats, taking their money, and then not caring whether they live or die.  And that is why Prime Minister Renzi has taken a comprehensive approach, supporting a diplomatic end to the war in Syria, addressing the economic factors that contribute to migration, and coming through when emergencies rise.   Italy has helped more than 450,000 endangered migrants to reach shore safely in the past three years.  Between the United States and Italy, we all know there have always been an amazing set of ties, and there always will be – deep, and abiding ties of family and of friendship and history and culture.  And it is cemented by shared values, invigorated by people-to-people contacts and, yes, enlivened by delicious food and sometimes even a glass of wine.  Here in America, a country and a continent named for another son of Florence, we are delighted to see Italy being led boldly in the right direction, and in full support of the transoceanic bonds long nurtured by this Atlantic Council.   So, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great privilege tonight to introduce to you for this Global Citizen Award the distinguished Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi.  (Applause.)   (Music.)   ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER MATTEO RENZI:  Mr. Secretary of State, distinguished guests, Governor Huntsman, President – it’s incredible emotion, because I believe Atlantic Council is one of the most prestigious institutions.  I believe that until today, because the decision to give this very important honor to me, it’s a signal of decline.  (Laughter.)  But I think the future could change.  (Laughter, applause.)  (Inaudible) – I am really – I am really excited for this opportunity.   And John, thank you so much for your time, for your words, for your great friendship.  And absolutely for Italy, the United States of America are not simply the best ally, but is the best friend, is the model.  And our friendship is particularly important in this moment.  But the decision to be with us tonight, it’s an incredible gift for me and for all the Italian delegation.   Global citizen, this is a time in which globalization means a lot of things.  I believe incredible importance the globalization for the alliance in the difficult theaters of war in the difficult times.  Globalization is a word we use every moment, every day, but globalization is also a message of fear in this moment for the new generation.  And this is very strange because my father and my grandfather thinking about the future as a great moment, as a great possibility.   In Europe in this moment, future is a message of fear, of preoccupation, of worry.  So we have to change the perception of future, and globalization is the key to give a message of hope against the (age ?), a message of confidence against the preoccupation.    Globalization means in Italy and in Europe save the men and the women who risk their life in the sea, Mediterranean Sea.  We can lose the votes, we can lose the point on the surveys, but we cannot lose the dignity of human beings, and this is particularly important in this moment.  (Applause.)   Then we can and we must have a strategy for Africa where globalization means investing in new technologies to give an opportunity to a new generation to share some ideas and values on the social network, but also to give a message of importance of human friendship and human relations.   Globalization means a lot of things.  Global citizens, global citizen, folks have to believe about how very important is the expression “citizen.”  There is a Latin expression of citizen.  Citizen in ancient Rome, it means civis.  And this is particularly important because civis is to belong to community, belong to city, and belong to the city is not simply to belong to a community of men and women, but a community of ideals, of values.   What is today a civis?  Civis today means belong to cultural ideal, belong to an expectation of soul, not only belong to normal community of men and women.  So global citizen for me today means a lot of things.     I believe for the future and for the new generations, global citizen is not a word, but is a responsibility.  A man who is here ‒ there is Shinzo Abe and I am really jealous of Shinzo Abe because they made ‒ Shinzo is a great friend, organized a very great G-7 this year.  And I hope I can organize a very good G-7 next year as Shinzo.  But particularly, Shinzo presented himself as Super Mario during the Olympic Games ‒ (laughter) ‒ and I’m really jealous because I’m not sure Italy could organize an Olympic Games.  (Applause.)  But particularly, I’m not in condition to show myself as Super Mario.  (Laughter.)  I will try, I will try.   But there is another guy, Wynton Marsalis, who I stole words, an epic expression or epic oratorio composed by Mr. Marsalis when he used his expression “freedom is in the trying.”  And I think to be a global citizen is exactly that, freedom is the trying, trying to be a better man and a better woman in a moment in which the fear is the great nightmare for the new generation.   So from Rome, the city of civis, from Italy, the country of beauty, I’m really, really honored and I consider it a privilege.  I come from Florence, and I finish with my city, not Rome, but Florence.  And Florentine people are received as older Italian people, a lot of thanks to United States of America.  The freedom, first of all, the freedom during World War II.  But we gave also something to the United States of America, the name.  Yes, don’t worry, because Amerigo Vespucci ‒ Amerigo Vespucci ‒ came from Florence.  It’s good, because if you decide Amerigo, because if you think about it, “my dear Vespuccian people” is not very good, the “United States of Vespucci,” it not sounds so well.  (Laughter.)  But Amerigo give the name to this incredible country.    I think the real challenge for the new generation, for the new leaders, is try to give the name to the future with a leader as John Kerry and other people who support us day by day in the difficult theaters.  We try to search the freedom in the trying and we search really to give a name to the future of the world.   Thank you so much, it’s really a great privilege.  (Applause.)   (Music.)   (Applause.)   ANNOUNCER:  Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the inaugural recipient of the Global Citizen Award, World Economic Forum Founder and Executive Chairman Professor Klaus Schwab.  (Applause.)   KLAUS SCHWAB:  First, let me tell you how honored I am to be back on this stage, and particularly how honored I am to introduce such a distinguished global personality to be the recipient of the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award this year.   Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has shown extraordinary achievement since he reassumed the prime ministership.  First, the prime minister succeeded in achieving what he calls stability in politics.  Your liberal democratic party, the LDP of Japan, is dominating the Diet and the upper house, occupying more than two-thirds of the seats.  So your political power is significant.    Some of my friends in Japan tell me, knowing that the first lady, Madam Akie Abe, has her own common powers, that the only opposition you still face, Prime Minister, is inside your family.  (Laughter.)   Second, Prime Minister, you succeeded to restore confidence in the Japanese economy.  And I quote from your address to participants in Davos this year, “The Japanese people have now unmistakably found the light of hope at the end of the long, dark tunnel they have found themselves in for no less than two decades.  They are poised to regain great confidence in themselves.”     But in introducing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, I think it’s appropriate to show you what an outstanding personality in today’s political landscape he is.  And here, I just want to mention three features.  First, in your career, you showed very early the principle to be a fighting politician, taking the right path for the country no matter how harsh the criticism may be.  Today, you are one of the few leaders in the world well known, not just for your name, but most importantly for your policies and what you really stand for.  In a world where trust in leaders is declining, so much declining, we all hope to see more leaders like you who fight for what needs to be done for the country’s future and for our global peace and prosperity, rather than those full of promises to respond to the popular trends of the day.   Prime Minister, in a world where political leaders are more and more guided by a radar system sending out signals and so constantly changing course depending on the response received, you, Prime Minister Abe, are a compass man who follows an inner compass providing directions based on strong values and on a clear mission.    But second, over the years you have demonstrated true global citizenship.  You have consistently shown great respect towards the views and values of leaders from other nation states.  And most importantly, you have always embraced the spirit and practice of open dialogue, regardless of how difficult the topic.  In this respect, you have defined your principle of global governance as a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests.     This approach of finding solutions to our global problems is the only way to maintain peace and stability in a world which has become multi-polar, characterized by the need to respect different cultures, values and political concepts.    But third, and maybe most importantly, you have become and are still a very modest, thoughtful and human person.  Just think of a small thing, a certainly unexpected, personal, handwritten thank you note that you left in your room for the hotel staff during the G-20 summit in Hangzhou, China.  We all know and we have heard you will host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.  And as it has been mentioned before, you dressed up as Super Mario who, as you all know, is an unstoppable force and famously someone who can turn his hand to addressing great challenges.  So we all hope in this room, Prime Minister Abe, that you will continue to address the great challenges of our times.    And I warmly, on behalf of everybody, present to you the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award, so well deserved.  Thank you.  (Applause.)   JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE:  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  I am humbled to receive your Global Citizen Award.    Am I a global citizen?  I don’t know.  But I know I am a globetrotter.  (Laughter.)  Since January 2013, I have gone a distance longer than roundtrip between the Earth and the moon and met dozens of leaders.  And yes, I did go to Rio de Janeiro last month to cosplay Mario.  (Laughter.)  (Applause.)   I know, I know that I must be humbled because it is the Japanese people who deserve this award.  Ladies and gentlemen, this year marks the 60th anniversary since Japan joined the U.N. in 1956.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Over the last 60 years, young aid workers from Japan have eaten the same food and drunk the same water as the local people do in developing countries.  Still others have dedicated their lives in eradicating leprosy, polio and so forth.  These are the Japanese who deserve the medal.  And so, ladies and gentlemen, I receive your award on their behalf.  Thank you.  (Applause.)   There was a time long ago when the word “Asia” was a synonym for eternal stagnation.  Karl Marx championed such an idea.  Today, Asia is the biggest consumer market, and it is in broader Asia more people live under democracy than in any other region.  And guess who have been instrumental in bringing about this tremendous growth?  Yes, certainly the Asian people themselves, but also the U.S. which has provided both its vast market and its steady security assurance to Asia.  (Applause.)  And may I say that my country, Japan, too, did its best possible effort.   The point is that the U.S. is always a residential power in the Asia Pacific region.  You cannot leave from, but can only invest more into the region.  And please do not forget that you’ll not find a better, stronger and more reliable partner than Japan in pursuit of your continued involvement in the region.  (Applause.)   That leads me to conclude by paying tribute to the launch of the Asia Pacific Center under the roof of the Atlantic Council.  Japanese are ready to cooperate with the council for its successful and bright future.  The time is right for you to make your own pivot to the Asia Pacific.  I hope that the award you gave me is emblematic for the great journey you have just embarked upon.    Thank you so much.  (Applause.)   ANNOUNCER:  Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Atlantic Council International Advisory Board member and Global Citizen Award Dinner Co-Chair Victor Chu.  (Applause.)   VICTOR CHU:  Governor Huntsman, Fred, excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, here we are, for the seventh time we are here in a gala dinner which has grown to capacity in this wonderful museum.  Many of you are here for the seventh time, and I want to express on behalf of all my colleagues at the Atlantic Council our sincere appreciation for your support.  Some of you are here for the first time.  And let me use a few seconds to explain that the concept of the Global Citizen Award is inspired by Professor Karl Schwab’s concept of multi-stakeholder communities.    We are very grateful to Klaus for supporting us every year.  And we’re particularly pleased to share that Mrs. Schwab, Hilde, is with us here again.     Hilde, thank you very much for your support, too.  (Applause.)   This year again we have three honorees who can match the highest standard of global citizenship.  Not only do they express their expertise and their talents in the domestic and regional affairs, but they manifest their leadership in the world stage to help others, to promote harmony and eventually, I hope, promote world peace.   Ladies and gentlemen, when I was before you last year, I mentioned that the most pressing problem we have is a problem of global poverty.  At that time, nearly 60 million refugees were displaced.  Today, that figure has increased to more than 65 million people.  Whether we are in the Atlantic region or in the Pacific region, I think those of us who are blessed with good fortune must do more to help.   International organizations, such as the ICRC and the UNHCR, were organized to provide emergency, temporary support for refugee problems.  The scale and the rapid increase of the refugee numbers means that these organizations are totally stretched.  May I appeal to you to give them more support.   Ladies and gentlemen, I also want to take this opportunity to thank the first main premier sponsor of this event.  And I want to particularly invite Mohammad Ghani to be recognized as our first premier partner.    Mohammad, can you stand up to be recognized?  (Applause.)   I would also like to thank all our co-chairs for this evening.  Without your support, we would not be able to reach such a wonderful capacity here.  And I hope you will continue to support us throughout the year and also in the years to come.   In the interest of time, I won’t name you individually, but could invite all the co-chairs to be up, standing, to be recognized collectively.  I’ll be very grateful.  Would you be up, standing, to be recognized, please, all the co-chairs?  (Applause.)   Thank you.  Finally, ladies and gentlemen, as in previous years, when the dinner is concluded, there will be a gift waiting for you at the exit.  Again, it is an intellectual gift.  Last year, I remember we presented you with Ian Bremmer’s wonderful book.  Very difficult to repeat that success again, but we tried.  This year, with the gracious donation by Penguin Random House, you’ll be receiving Adam Grant’s “Originals.”  The book is about nonconformity, about taking action when others keen to be on the sidelines, about cultivating the kind of creativity that will change the world.    The Financial Times, in reviewing the book, says, “Grant’s optimism about the potential of human beings to improve themselves and their organizations is refreshing.  And his willingness to challenge and test the status quo is instructive.”  That is global citizenship at its best.    I think Adam is here with us tonight.  Would Adam be standing to be recognized?  Adam?  (Applause.)  We will recognize you anyway.   Now, please enjoy your main course.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)    (End Part 1; begin Part 2.)   ANNOUNCER:  Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Harvard Kennedy School Senior Fellow, former Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, and Atlantic Council Board Director Ambassador Paula Dobriansky.  (Applause.)   PAULA J. DOBRIANSKY:  Good evening.  Esteemed guests, colleagues, and dear friends, it is my great pleasure to introduce Nadiya Savchenko at this year’s Atlantic Council’s Global Citizens Awards Gala and present her with her 2015 Freedom Award.  Ms. Savchenko was awarded the 2015 Freedom Award last year at the Atlantic Council’s Wrocław Global Forum in Poland in abstentia.  Her sister, Vira, kindly accepted the award on Nadiya’s behalf, as at the time Nadiya was unlawfully imprisoned in Russia.  Having her with us today in person is quite an honor.  (Applause.)   I would like to remind all of you of Nadiya’s incredible journey from Ukrainian patriot to prisoner of war to Hero of Ukraine, and now member of parliament.  On June 17, 2014, Nadiya was volunteering with the Ukrainian self-defense forces in Ukraine’s Donbas.  On that day, she was captured by Russian-backed separatist forces.  Then, for one year, 11 months and eight days, she was imprisoned by the Russian government and forced to face a Russian court for crimes she did not commit.  During this time, Nadiya never faltered in her convictions, her patriotism, or compromised her strongly-held values.  Through her stoic actions, such as singing the Ukrainian national anthem, she came to embody the very spirit of the Ukrainian people and to symbolize their struggle for freedom.   When she was released on May 25 of this year, she received a hero’s welcome in her homeland.  Since then, she has taken up her elected post as a member of parliament in Ukraine and in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where she continues a committed fight for a vision of Ukraine free, democratic, whose people – not a foreign power – have the right to choose their own path.   Ukraine’s famous poet, Taras Shevchenko, I think put it quite well when he said the following.  He said – (in Ukrainian.)  That means, “Struggle on, and be triumphant!  God himself will aid you.  At your side fight truth and glory, right and holy freedom.”   For these reasons and many others, it is my true pleasure to present the Freedom Award to Nadiya Savchenko, who truly does embody the very essence of the Freedom Award.  Slava Ukrayini, glory to Ukraine!  Nadiya.  (Applause.)   (The 2015 Freedom Award is presented.)   (Extended applause.)   NADIYA SAVCHENKO:  (Through interpreter.)  Good evening.  I’m happy to be among you.  I’m sincerely grateful to you for taking part in my release.  Thank you for every signed letter, for every resolution, for every individual protest or hearing.  Thank you for your pressure.  This gave me the road to my release.   Now most Ukrainians devote most of their time to fight for freedom and demands.  Freedom is what is given to people by God from their birth, but nobody has the right to take it away.  But very often, in order to take freedom, one must fight for it, even for the expenses of their own life.   And then now Ukrainians is fighting with a well and dishonest enemy.  Our enemy is Russia.  This is a country which alone actually tried to explain that they are the brother of Ukrainian.  This is a country which also, along with U.S. and Great Britain, was a guarantee of Ukraine’s security with the framework on the Budapest Memorandum providing for Ukraine’s voluntary nuclear disarmament.  But in fact, in 2014, in the violation of all international agreement, Russia invaded Crimea and unleashed a war in the Donbas.  This action of Russia indicated that you cannot trust any word or any condition guaranteed or signed by Kremlin.   It’s terrible that in the 21st century in Central Europe, in the center of Europe is coming a war being waged.  It’s a war which actually took a lot of life, but we have to stand on the side of the – (some words not interpreted).   And some time ago, America also paid a high price in order to gain its freedom and walked the path for the establish for the state, and later defended freedom and democracy during the two world wars.  Now you lead a dignified life for free people and you serve an example for many countries.   I believe in my Ukraine.  I know that we Ukrainians, too, can walk a path of establishing a free and strong state, and to be worthy partner for the maintenance of peace and defense of human rights in the world.   I wasn’t killed in the war or in Russian prison.  On the contrary, my spirit was strengthened.  Currently, numerous Ukrainians are being subject for the same test in the Kremlin torture chambers.  I remember about them and I fight for them, just like they would for – they fought for me.   My sister and my mother asked you for help back then, and now I would like to thank you for responding to their request.  Now I ask you to help me release all the Ukrainians abducted and illegally imprisoned by the Kremlin authorities.  Each inhuman sentence and act has somebody’s name behind it.  I believe that the introduction of personal list of sanctions against torturers will deter those who leave political orders and trade the life of prisoners in exchange of their own benefits.   The Savchenko List and other personal sanctions are an extremely powerful tool in the hands of democratic (worlds ?).  Use it and support human rights defenders, for each name in the list of the – (inaudible) – is somebody’s life, dreams and hopes.  If every person who wait for their release, you don’t believe afraid enemies, don’t – you have to show them their place.   Glory to Ukraine!  God bless America.  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  (Applause.)   (Break.)   ANNOUNCER:  Please welcome Atlantic Council Executive Vice Chair Adrienne Arsht.  (Cheers, applause.)   ADRIENNE ARSHT:  I think some taller people came before me.  (Laughter.)   I will be brief because I know that the real highlight is to hear our honoree perform.  A couple of things specifically to mention about him that I think relate to what the Atlantic Council’s award means.   Wynton really embodies humanitarianism.  He received the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief concert award.  So soon after Hurricane Katrina, he and his musical pals went to New Orleans and gave a spectacular concert to raise money for the citizens of New Orleans.  He goes around the world performing great music, but always reaching out to citizens in the places he visits.   Rather than read all his awards and tell you where he went to school – which was Juilliard – let me tell you two stories.   New Year’s Day 2009, a recording studio here in New York City, Sandra Day O’Connor and Wynton Marsalis sat down to have a conversation.  It was a video that was to be shown the day before the inauguration of President Obama.  And Wynton sat and talked to Sandra about jazz and why he believed that jazz was really like running a country.  He talked about the fact that getting the three branches of government to work together was really like getting his musicians to perform together.  And he felt that the struggle to get the creativity and the passion of his jazz musicians to perform jointly was very much like running the three branches of government.  And I sat and listened to that, and thought how special that was, and that Sandra and I each always carried a copy of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, which had been a gift from my mother.  And so, after the taping, I gave Wynton his own copy, and he carries it to this day in his trumpet case.  (Applause.)   Wynton taught me a little bit about conducting.  A number of years ago, in Miami, there was to be a(n) opening of a hotel, and they were honoring the performing arts center there, and Wynton.  And so, together, we were to lead the moment when the champagne corks popped.  So they had given me my own baton, and I thought this would be wonderful.  Wynton would take my hand, and together we would do this.  My tradition is classical music.  So, for me, you begin a piece going gently up and then down; the down beat starts the music.  What I didn’t know is in jazz it’s the other way, and you come down gently and you begin like that.  So here Wynton and I were holding the baton, and I was struggling to go up and he was trying to bring my arm down.  So I suggest to you that we should think more in terms of jazz, which is upbeat.   And now, on behalf – (chuckles, applause) – on behalf of the Atlantic Council, I’m pleased to present Wynton Marsalis with the Global Citizen Award.   (The Global Citizen Award is presented.)   MS. ARSHT:  OK, I’m going to take my baton.  (Laughter.)   WYNTON MARSALIS:  Thank you very much.  Adrienne, thank you.  Distinguished guests, it is an honor to be here.   I’m supposed to have some remarks here, but it’s OK.  They’re not here.  I’m a jazz musician.  (Laughter.)  We’re taught to improvise.  (Applause.)   It’s interesting to have the distinguished prime ministers of Italy and Japan here tonight, two countries that are so dear to me and an important part of the history of our music.   Just to say that the spirit of Italy, of course, through fantastic opera touched Louis Armstrong, who grew up listening to recordings of Caruso, singing Bellucci.  And the feeling of tragedy and depth of soul that he heard in those recordings, those early recordings, were translated into his horn.  He traveled around the world being, of course, the greatest ambassador that the world has ever known.   When it comes to Japan, as a nation it has given so much to us.  Jazz music, we wouldn’t have survived the recording faux pas of the ’80s and ’90s were it not for the Japanese collectors who kept the art of discography alive for us.  Many times I’m going to Japan cats would say, man, go see if you can find X record, or can you find this, or see if you can find that.  They kept it going for us.   I’m just going to tell a couple of stories.  One central point, the honor that I feel just to be considered a global citizen.  I grew up in Ketter, Louisiana.  And it’s a joke that I used to have with my friends:  man, I’m a citizen of the world, man.  We were living on one block, segregated block, between Jefferson Highway and the Mississippi River.  We had no concept of what the world was.  To stand now after all this time and have the opportunity to be an enemy of segregation for so long, and to have had the opportunity to be hosted by so many nations, and have had the opportunity to work with great artists and musicians of all stripes all over the world, to have an opportunity to work with my fantastic young musicians who – our trio, we called it trio of democracy because we had Dan Nimmer from Milwaukee, Carlos Henriquez from The Bronx, and Ali Jackson from Detroit, Walter Blanding from Ohio.  (Applause.)   I always think many times we talk about politics and finance, of course – finance and politics, finance and politics – but what happens when finance and politics lose their way?  We have to go home.  And home for us on Earth is cultural.  Home is our identity.  All human beings have some type of ethnic identity, some ethnic origin, some type of group, subgroup that they belong to.  But we also belong to a much greater group, and that is our human heritage.  And that is the heritage that is mined by the arts.  So when someone says Italy, I think of Antonio Vivaldi.  I think of Puccini.  I think of Toscanini.  I think of many great works of art – Michelangelo.  Somebody talks about Japan, for me they’re talking about the great swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, who left us with some advice:  if you want to deal with big things, deal with them exactly how you would deal with small things; just think simpler.   I go through my own history – and I’m just going to give you three examples of what I consider to be global citizenship, opportunities that I’ve had to learn from being in the world and touching people who come from different places.   The first was when I had the opportunity to go to Poland and other countries that were behind what we called the Iron Curtain at that time.  Being a brother from Ketter, Louisiana, I thought everything I read was purely U.S. propaganda.  I was like, what’s happening, afro-wearing, bell bottoms, deep down soul, this is all BS, you know they’re always lying to us.  When I went to Poland and had the opportunity to meet younger musicians, after we played a concert at something called the Jazz Jamboree in 1981, some of those younger musicians came to me and they said, man, be glad you don’t have to deal with what we’re dealing with over here.  This is something very different.  And no matter what you’re dealing with in the United States, this is a drag.  (Laughter.)  Look at what we’re eating.  I looked at what we were eating and I said, yeah, this here is a drag.  (Laughter.)  I’m used to eating gumbo and jambalaya.  I don’t know what this is.  (Laughter.)   A little later in my time I had the opportunity to meet musicians from different cultures and people from different cultures.  I’ll tell you a couple of stories, one from Italy.   We were playing a jazz festival in Ravenna, Italy, and we heard a young boy play.  He was 13 years old.  We’re sitting at the tables listening to the band play and we were critiquing the musician:  yeah, not bad, you know, he can play.  Somebody came over and said, that boy is 13 years old.  We all jumped up from the tables and went over to see who was it that was 13 years old that could play our music with this degree of sophistication.  A young kid from Sicily named Francesco Cafiso.  I got his phone number, his parents.   A couple of years later I was going on tour, and I called his parents to see if he wanted to come to a gig we were playing in Italy and just sit in on the gig.  We were having trouble with English, so they thought I said come on the tour.  (Laughter.)  So when I got off the phone, it wasn’t straight.  They called back and I said, well, I didn’t mean the gig, I meant the tour; and they said, no, no, the tour, the tour.  So I said, you know, there’s no more room on our bus.  It’s only us, a band of grown men, and you’re going to send your son out on the road with a bunch of people you don’t know?  They said, we will send him.  (Laughter.)  Sure enough, we went to take off, little did we know that half the cats in the band’s kids were going to be on that tour.  Man, we call that tour now the elementary school bus tour.  (Laughter, applause.)   You ever try to have a group of – if you have a group of musicians who are grown with a bunch of kids for two or three weeks, Lord have mercy.  (Laughter.)  Phew!  They gave us a thorough education.  With us was our young man from Italy.  Now he’s 27 years old.  He remains a genius of the alto saxophone.   Story about being in Japan.  A couple – a couple moved into our building on 66th Street in New York, and their son was a trumpet player.  His name is Tepe Yoneda (ph).  His mother’s name is Naoko and his father’s name is Atsushi.  Our kids were around the same age at that time.  We met.  Tepe (ph) started coming to my house.  I’d give him a few little trumpet lessons, we’d start to talk.  Well, I love Japanese food.  What I really love above all else is Japanese breakfast.  But you know, you can’t get Japanese breakfast anywhere.  There’s one place you can get Japanese breakfast on Central Park South.  I mean, I didn’t want to go there.  We developed a relationship, and the mother of the family would call me sometimes and say Atsushi wants to know, do you want Japanese breakfast?  So, if Atsushi wants to know do I want Japanese breakfast, yeah, I’m come down and eat some Japanese breakfast.  (Laughter.)  Atsushi would come to my house and just – he would get him a beer and sit on the couch.  He loved baseball.  He would just look at baseball.  He wasn’t too much for talking.  Never said a word.  “Hey, many, you like the game.”  (Nods.)  (Laughter.)  We would go out in the park on Saturdays and Sundays and play football with our kids.  He had been a football – American football player in Japan.   They moved back to Japan when my kids were 12, 11, and Tepe (ph) was 12, 13.  Tepe (ph) sat in my house for three days.  He didn’t say a word.  He just sat there.  As they were about to leave, I asked Atsushi, I said, hey, man, all those mornings that Naoko was calling me, did you ever ask if I wanted Japanese breakfast?  He said, what?  I said, you ever ask me to Japanese breakfast?  He said no, but I was glad you came.  (Laughter.)   I’ll leave you with a story of the great African drummer Yacub Addy, master of Ghanaian drum.  He was teaching us some of his music and he said, brother, this is a royal rhythm.  I listened to the rhythm.  I said, it doesn’t sound royal to me.  He said, that is why you will never play it correctly.   In order for us to further our agenda on Earth, for us to come closer, it’s more than business.  It’s more than politics.  It’s deeper.  We’ve got to have touches.  We have to touch people.  They have to know us and they have to feel us.  And when they feel us, they have to know that we’re for real, that we’re not playing, and we have to bring them close to us.  And we have to endure some things we don’t like.  We have to deal with traditions and things that are foreign to us, and we have to study, and we have to want to know, and we have to want to get closer, and we have to want to bear with them.  We have to want to speak the same language.   All of that is in the arts.  There’s a long tradition that artists follow.  We listen to the arts of all types of people.  I’ll never forget, when I was 15 years old, I left my segregated environment and I went to a camp in North Carolina, Eastern Music Festival.  It was some dude that was going to do a master class.  He was just a little older than us, some guy playing the cello whose name was Yo Mama.  (Laughter.)  I said, man, somebody named Yo Mama play cello.  (Laughter, applause.)  What kind of stuff is this?  That guy came, and when he started playing the cello all of us who were 15, 16 and 14 were like, damn, maybe we need to start playing.   He gave us three-and-a-half to four hours of his time that afternoon.  I never forgot that.  It burned an indelible impression on my mind, the level of seriousness of this person.  Now we all know him, legendary Yo-Yo Ma.  Everybody celebrates him.  I tell him every time I see him, hey man, you were so for real at that camp one day in North Carolina that you made a change in my life.   That’s what we do in the arts.  We’re going to play a selection for y’all that is something about the echo, something about the way that ricochets happen on Earth that we can’t explain, we don’t understand.  We send an idea and a thought, French Enlightenment and the Revolution, they’re thinking about things.  Here comes the American Revolution.  Here comes the American Civil War.  Here we are at the beginning of World War I.  Here comes James Reese Europe’s band of Afro-Americans attached to the 369th fighters from Harlem.  The Hellcats from Harlem.  They couldn’t fight with the American Army because we were segregated.  They fought attached to the French Army and they whipped a lot of booty.   James Reese Europe’s band left the spirit of ragtime, put a blessing on France that still remains.  You can still meet people who say James Reese Europe was here.  But here’s the echo and the ricochet of James Reese Europe’s syncopation, the freedom, the sound of the blues and jazz.  Here’s the echo of that coming back to the United States of America before – right before World War II.  This time, it’s two Frenchmen, “Django” Reinhardt on the guitar, Stéphane Grappelli playing violin, sending our own thing back to us, the thing that started back then with the Enlightenment that went through our Revolution, went through our Civil War.  Here they come back at us, but what are they doing?  They’re swinging with Quintette of the Hot Clubs of France.  We’re going to play now for you all a song that they played that is a perennial swinger.   It’s a great honor to address you.  It was a great honor to be here.  I must say the words of my man Francesco Cafiso, what he would always say about Italy.  He would say, Italy number one, Italy number one, Italy number one.  And I would say, New Orleans number one, New Orleans number one – (laughter) – America number one.  He’d say, no, no, no, Italy number one.  I’d say, no, no, America number one.  He’d say, no, no, Italy number one.  He’d say, OK, Italy/America number one.  (Laughter.)  That’s what we need.   This is “Minor Swing.”  (Applause.)   (Music.)   (Applause.)   MR. KEMPE:  Ladies and gentlemen, the great Wynton Marsalis and his –   (As an aside.)  Orchestra, band?   And thank you so much for coming, Prime Minister Abe, Prime Minister Renzi, Nadiya Savchenko, Wynton Marsalis.  Thank you so much for inspiring us and giving hope going forward.  (Applause.)  God bless you all.  Please come back again next year.  (Applause.)   (END)