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N. Gingrich: Address to Summit 2022, Session III
Written by Hon. Newt Gingrich, speaker, U.S. House of Representatives (1995-1999)
Friday, August 12, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
Thank you all very much.
In all the years I've been involved in public life, I don't know of any time when it has been more important to have this conference and to reach out to leaders around the world. And I must say that I believe that what Mother Moon and Reverend Moon created and the way it has grown—the Universal Peace Federation—is one of the real rays of hope for a human race which is moving steadily toward a catastrophe.
I had the opportunity last week to talk at length with former [U.S.] Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has a new book out on leadership, referring back to the people he had worked with through his long career. And he said to me, it's very worrisome to watch the world grow more dangerous on almost every front, and [he said that the current situation] reminds him more of the summer of 1914 leading up to World War I than any time in his long life. He's now 99, and I think we have to take that seriously.
And one of the reasons that I always cherish a chance to be with the Universal Peace Federation is that I know that this is one organization which is worldwide, which is dedicated to growing the possibility of peace faster than the possibility of disaster.
I believe in what you're doing so much that I invited my grandson, Robert Cushman, to come with me because I wanted him to see how people from country after country, from every part of the world, could come together to talk about a better future. He's a rising junior in college. I want his generation to have a sense of hope that there can be a better future.
And I think about what we just did in putting the flowers up in memory of [former Japanese] Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe. The tragedy, at 67 years of age, of that life being cut short, the courage he displayed, year after year, in standing firmly for a Japan that was integrated into the world, that was prepared to do its share, and that was deeply committed to the future.
I also have to say that I had the opportunity this afternoon to speak with young leaders from 25 different countries in Africa. Now, many years ago, before many of you were born, I actually did a dissertation on Africa. So the idea of being in a room with this many young leaders from that many countries, it's important. Africa is the continent of the future. Africa is the continent of growth. And one of our commitments has to be that African economic development should primarily benefit Africans and not be exploited as a new economic colonialism.
Finally, I have to take a moment to talk a little bit about right here [in Korea]. It's sobering, and there's a huge conflict. And Kim Jong Un, on the one hand, sending flowers and a positive message and, on the other hand, firing a missile yesterday. Now, those are not exactly the same message. And part of the job, I believe, that Reverend Moon and Mother Moon started with was to somehow reach into the heart of the North Korean dictatorship and convince it that its future lies on the path of peace, not the path of war, on the path of hope, not the path of disaster. And that we hang in the balance. And this federation and this meeting and your leadership can make an enormous difference in which way that balance goes.
[He accidentally knocks over a glass of water on the lectern.] Sorry for being sloppy, and I apologize to the next speaker, who now has a wet dais.
But let me say, in a drier and not wetter state, I really hope that each of you will take home the memory of the people sitting around you. I can tell you the times I've been here. When I go home, the meetings haunt me because the people encourage me. I look out here at a sea of faces of every ethnic background, from every continent except Antarctica. And despite the best efforts that [former U.S. Congressman] Dan Burton and others have made, we have recruited no penguins at all from Antarctica. So we remain only six continents.
But each of you, think about it. Look around at the people near you. These are the faces of hope. This is the organization of hope. It is a great honor to be part of it, and I hope you will find this an inspiring gathering for the next two days. Thank you and God bless you.
To go to the World Summit 2022 Schedule page, click here.