Finally, the united strength of the Atlantic Community has flourished in
the last year under severe tests. NATO has increased both the number and
the readiness of its air, ground, and naval units--both its nuclear and
non-nuclear capabilities. Even greater efforts by all its members are still
required. Nevertheless our unity of purpose and will has been, I believe,
immeasurably strengthened.
The threat to the brave city of Berlin remains. In these last 6 months the
Allies have made it unmistakably clear that our presence in Berlin, our
free access thereto, and the freedom of two million West Berliners would
not be surrendered either to force or through appeasement--and to maintain
those rights and obligations, we are prepared to talk, when appropriate,
and to fight, if necessary. Every member of NATO stands with us in a common
commitment to preserve this symbol of free man's will to remain free.
I cannot now predict the course of future negotiations over Berlin. I can
only say that we are sparing no honorable effort to find a peaceful and
mutually acceptable resolution of this problem. I believe such a resolution
can be found, and with it an improvement in our relations with the Soviet
Union, if only the leaders in the Kremlin will recognize the basic rights
and interests involved, and the interest of all mankind in peace.
But the Atlantic Community is no longer concerned with purely military
aims. As its common undertakings grow at an ever-increasing pace, we are,
and increasingly will be, partners in aid, trade, defense, diplomacy, and
monetary affairs.
The emergence of the new Europe is being matched by the emergence of new
ties across the Atlantic. It is a matter of undramatic daily cooperation in
hundreds of workaday tasks: of currencies kept in effective relation, of
development loans meshed together, of standardized weapons, and concerted
diplomatic positions. The Atlantic Community grows, not like a volcanic
mountain, by one mighty explosion, but like a coral reef, from the
accumulating activity of all.
Thus, we in the free world are moving steadily toward unity and
cooperation, in the teeth of that old Bolshevik prophecy, and at the very
time when extraordinary rumbles of discord can be heard across the Iron
Curtain. It is not free societies which bear within them the seeds of
inevitable disunity.