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part in sustaining a bipartisan, pro-democracy policy; from Senator Arthur Vandenburg, who set the model of putting country ahead of party, that tradition spanned the decades after World War II; through President Eisenhower, who sustained the NATO alliance through some of the darkest days of the Cold War; to President Reagan, who spoke out against communist aggression. A pro-democracy foreign policy is neither liberal conservative, neither Democrat nor Republican. It is a deep American tradition. (Applause.) And this is so for good reason, for no foreign policy can long succeed if it does not reflect the enduring values of the American people. We do not stand behind the cause of democracy simply because of the goodness of our hearts. The fact is that democracy abroad also protects our own concrete economic and security interests here at home. The democratic countries do not go to war with one another, they don't sponsor terrorism or threaten each other with weapons of mass destruction. Precisely because they are more likely to respect civil liberties, property rights, and the rule of law within their own borders, democracies provide the best foundations on which to build international
Democracies make more reliable partners in diplomacy and trade, in protecting the global environment, something we must do more of in the year ahead. (Applause.)
It is no accident that in those countries where the environment has been most devastated, human suffering is the most severe. Where there is freedom of expression and of economic pursuit, there is also a determination to use natural resources more wisely. Our task, then, is to stand up for democracy as it remakes the world. That challenge will have its costs and its burdens, but it need not divert us from the pressing need for economic, educational, and social reconstruction here at home. Indeed, I have argued repeatedly from the beginning of this campaign that America cannot be strong abroad unless we rebuild our strength here at home. (Applause.)
As Admiral William Crowe, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Reagan and Bush said recently in endorsing my candidacy, the world needs a strong America, but American strength must begin here at home, facing our problems here at home, making progress on those problems here at home. But we cannot choose between international engagement and domestic reconstruction. They are two sides of the same coin. Our econom is increasingly tied to the global economy, our access to energy supplies, export markets, new scientific developments, and even our ability to create a healthier planet all of these things require our active engagement in the world.
And there are still other reasons why we cannot retreat to a Fortress America. The collapse of Soviet Communism has not only brought new democratic forces on to the world stage, it has also unleashed some darker undercurrents: civil war, ethnic hatred, intolerance, and the spread of dangerous military technologies. There is the risk that the pendulum coul swing back against democracy, freedom, and the hope for peace in many places in this world. In the face of these opportunities and these dangers, we must have a president who can conduct both a domestic policy and a foreign policy. (Applause.)
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