I am sorry I could not be with Secretary Rumsfeld and Defense Minister Struck as you celebrate the tenth anniversary of the George C. Marshall Center, but I want to congratulate you for a job well done.

Ten years ago, East European and Eurasian nations were undergoing broad and far-reaching transformations. The need to reach out to these emerging democracies was clear, and the Marshal Center fulfilled that need.

Back when I was Secretary of Defense and the Marshall Center was proposed, the intention was to help the former Warsaw Pact nations develop security structures appropriate for democratic states. Today, the Marshall Center exists to help educate leaders throughout the region as they forge brighter futures for their countries.

The Marshall Center does more than help its students understand how national strategies and security policies are formulated. By promoting dialogue and the free exchange of ideas, the Center serves as a source of peace through mutual understanding. Your courses advance and strengthen democratic defense institutions, and your conferences and events are designed to build enduring partnerships among the nations and peoples of Europe and Eurasia.

Since 1993, more than eight thousand participants have attended Marshall Center outreach programs, and almost three thousand military and civilian officials from fifty-one nations have graduated from Marshall Center resident courses. These men and women either already are, or are likely to become the ambassadors, ministers, general officers, and leaders of their countries. That’s quite an influential group – and the Marshall Center has helped to strengthen their democratic commitments … to sharpen their professional skills … and to further their friendships with colleagues from other countries.

I am particularly proud of the Marshall Center’s German and American partnership – a long-standing partnership that testifies to the strong bonds of friendship between our two peoples. These bonds will endure because they reflect our common ideals and shared democratic commitments.

As all of you know, the world has changed profoundly over the past ten years. The Cold War is over, but freedom-loving nations are being tested again – this time by terrorist networks, terrorist states, and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

No one can predict how long the war on terror will last, but its outcome is not in doubt: the forces of freedom will prevail. And I have no doubt that many of the architects of our future victory have received invaluable lessons, and have forged enduring friendships, thanks to the Marshall Center.

I wish the Marshall Center continued success in your great mission of building a more open, more democratic and more peaceful world.

And once again … congratulations!