Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume I, Foundations of Foreign Policy

113. Memorandum From the Director of the Policy Planning Staff (Wolfowitz) to Secretary of State Shultz¹

Washington, August 25, 1982

SUBJECT

• UNGA Speech

Attached (TAB 1) is a first draft of a possible UNGA speech.² At this stage we have kept headings and some aspects of an outline format to make it clearer what particular sections are designed to do.

Based on Allen Wallis’s comments (TAB 2)³ on the outline we sent you earlier, we have changed the structure of the speech substantially. It still addresses the nuclear issue—including nonproliferation—at length. But in addition to reacting, as Wallis puts it, to the agenda set by others, it also talks about our agenda—the promotion of political and economic freedom—and explains how the advance of freedom and democracy helps to promote the cause of peace.

The basic structure is:

— Man has great potential prospects; but also great dangers threaten all that has been or might be accomplished;

— The importance of efforts to control nuclear weapons: what the United States is doing to that end; also what we are doing to prevent nuclear proliferation and why we think that serves the interests of everyone;

— But we must do more than just limit weapons. We must:

— strengthen barriers to aggression;

— work to resolve regional conflicts;

— and, perhaps most important;

— We must work to channel man’s energies away from war

— economic freedom, which not only spurs development and benefits the international trading system, but enhances political freedom;

— promoting democracy and political freedom, which enhance the chances for international peace.

— THE BASIC MESSAGE: The cause of freedom is the cause of peace.

We will begin working immediately on improving the present draft, but it would be helpful to have your guidance as soon as possible. Specific ideas or comments about the development of the themes would of course be useful (and we are getting some useful comments through Allen Wallis on specifics of presentation), but the most important thing to know at this stage is whether the general themes are on target, whether you are comfortable with a speech as broad and philosophical as this one, etc.

1. Source: Department of State, Executive Secretariat, S/P Files, Memoranda and Correspondence from the Director of the Policy Planning Staff to the Secretary and Other Seventh Floor Principals: Lot 89D149, S/P Chrons PW Chrons to Secy AUG 1982. No classification marking. Not for the System. Shultz’s stamped initials appear in the top right-hand corner of the memorandum. Bremer initialed the memorandum and wrote “8/25.”
2. Not attached. Roche sent the 12-page outline to Shultz under an August 18 memorandum. (Ibid.)
3. Attached but not printed is an August 20 memorandum from Wallis to Roche.