Secretary Rumsfeld; Minister Struck; Distinguished Ministers, Ambassadors, and Consul Generals; Ladies and gentlemen.

Today is a great day for the Marshall Center and for the 10,000 graduates and participants from 51 north American and Eurasian nations that have participated in our programs over the past 10 Years.

It was a little over a decade ago that the security environment in Europe and Eurasia changed dramatically. Western leaders saw an opportunity to extend a hand of friendship and partnership to former cold war adversaries.

In the early 1990’s, then United States Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and German Minister of Defense Volker Ruehe saw the need for an educational institution devoted to European defense and security studies.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to introduce a message from the Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney.

As Vice President Cheney noted—the Marshall Center is a joint initiative.

Germany and the United States-- as committed friends and allies united by common values and a common objective, together established the George C. Marshall European Center for Security studies.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to introduce a message from the former German Minister of Defense, Volker Ruehe.

Today we meet in a building dedicated to the memory of Konrad Adenauer. Accepting the outstretched hand of George C. Marshall and The United States, Konrad Adenauer transformed Germany into a prosperous, democratic state founded on the rule of law, market economics, and the human rights of all men and women.

Today we continue to build strong partnerships based on the terms established by these two great statesmen.

Today we are honored to have seated in this hall, ministers of defense, ambassadors, and counsel generals from 40 nations in the Marshall Center’s partnership area. Among these distinguished guests are three gentlemen I feel obligated to mention by name.

Georgian Minister of Defense, David Tevzadze---a graduate of the Marshall Center’s first Executive Program residence course conducted in 1994. Minister Tevzadze was a colonel and director of the Georgian Ministry of Defense Foreign Affairs Office when he attended the Marshall Center. Minister Tevzadze, welcome back to the Marshall Center.

And from the Romanian Ministry of Defense, State Secretary Sorin Encutescu, graduate of our senior executive seminar on May 15, this year. Sorin, welcome back.

And from Albania, Ambassador Gazmend Turdiu -- 1998 senior executive seminar-- head of NATO/WEU section in Albania.

To all nations that have seized this outstretched hand of friendship and partnership, we thank you for your commitment to our common goals!

May I extend a special thanks to Secretary Rumsfeld and Minister Struck for accepting our invitation to be keynote speakers at this 10-year anniversary celebration. Their presence represents the continuing commitment of our two nations to work together with all our partnership nations.

Our task 10 years ago was to lay the foundation for democratic practices that would lead to generations of peace, stability and economic growth throughout Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Manfred Woerner, secretary general of the North Atlantic Alliance, led NATO in establishing a partnership for peace to work cooperatively with these new democracies toward common security objectives. We have a building down the street dedicated to the memory of this great European leader.

Frau Woerner is with us today. Frau Woerner, you honor us with your presence.

In our early years, Marshall Center residence courses were primers in democracy designed mainly for mid-grade military officers and civilian officials who grew up in authoritarian regimes and societies. Today we are increasingly focused on developing effective cooperative solutions to today’s Security challenges. Such as combating terrorism, preventing or controlling proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, defense transformation, enhancing border and homeland security, and active measures against organized Crime and corruption.

The vision of George Marshall, Konrad Adenauer, and Manfred Woerner as well as that Of Dick Cheney and Volker Ruehe, of a prosperous, whole and free Europe is based on the unchanging principles of democracy, human dignity, and free markets---all principles that the Marshall Center will never abandon.

Their spirit lives in the work done in this Institution each and every day.

It would be fair to ask:

-- Is the Marshall Center making a Difference?

-- What are our measures of success?

We could easily highlight the graduates that are now ministers, ambassadors, diplomats, and general officers.

We could note the trend toward youth—participants today are younger, more women than ever before, and there is an equal mix of military and civilian representatives attending our courses and seminars from multiple government agencies.

We could also note the thousands of times graduates come back to the Marshall Center through our knowledge portal. The knowledge portal provides up-to-date defense policy and foreign policy statements in English, German and Russian and access to thousands of current periodicals and books---all on line and available each and every day. Our graduates don’t leave the Marshall Center, they remain connected for life.

We could also note that the Marshall Center team was instrumental in assisting countries like Ukraine, Georgia, Croatia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia in developing national security and Defense strategies.

In addition over 60% of our outreach and conference programs address the global war on terrorism from a variety of perspectives.

The list could go on and on.

While all of these indicators point to some level of success I believe the most important feature is difficult to measure.

The success of the Marshall Center is founded in the trust and confidence developed between and among our participants—your young men and women—your current and future leaders…whose interactions create new networks, new understandings, and new solutions to national, regional, and international problems.

Success is based on the transformation of the ideas and understanding that results in decisions and policies leading to peace, prosperity, and stability.

This is truly the most meaningful measure of success—shared trust and confidence the political and military leaders of our region have in each other.

As director of the Marshall Center, on behalf of our faculty and staff, I want to thank all of you here today, and all of the governments and people you represent, for allowing us to partner with you to make this dream of a democratic, peaceful, and prosperous continent a reality.

Today is truly a great day for the Marshall Center.