Seeing a world of instability and conflict much like Winston Churchill did 50 years ago, Margaret Thatcher on Saturday urged that NATO be refocused militarily and expanded and that allies on both sides of the Atlantic form a political and trade partnership.
In his "Iron Curtain" speech on March 5, 1946, Churchill spoke at tiny Westminster College in support of the fledgling United Nations. On the same campus, Thatcher said the United Nations and other international bodies "have given us neither prosperity nor security" since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of independent nations armed with nuclear weapons."There is a pervasive anxiety about the drift of events. It remains to be seen whether this generation will respond to these threats with the imagination and courage of Sir Winston, President Truman and the wise men of those years," Thatcher said.
The audience gave Thatcher standing ovations at the opening and end of her speech. They also punctuated her address with laughter, such as when Thatcher said the European Union had not done enough to encourage new democracies' economies because "it was too busy contemplating its own navel."
Following Churchill's lead as a former British prime minister offering a global perspective, Thatcher called for a "new and imaginative Atlantic initiative," solidly built on three philosophical pillars:
- Offering a better-defined mission and expanded membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to welcome Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. "NATO also provides the best available mechanism for coordinating the contribution of America's allies to a global system of ballistic missile defense - that is, one providing protection against missile attack from whatever source it comes," Thatcher said.
- Creation of a "Trans-Atlantic Free Trade deal" to "create a trade bloc of unparalleled wealth and therefore influence in world trade negotiations."
- Nurturing and renewing an "Atlantic political relationship" between the United States and Western Europe. Thatcher proposed an annual summit, chaired by the U.S. president, of the leaders of all North Atlantic countries.
She stressed that the partnership she was proposing would respect national sovereignty.
Churchill's speech, which Thatcher said "helped to wake up the entire West" about Soviet expansion after World War II, was widely criticized at the time because of his harsh warnings about a recent ally.
"Like my uniquely distinguished predecessor, I too may be accused of alarmism in pointing to new dangers to which present institutions - and attitudes - are proving unequal. But, also like him, I have every confidence in the resources and the values of the Western civilization we are defending," Thatcher said.