Mr Bill Clinton is a man, who understands the power of words and symbolism. Symbolically it is of great importance that people like Mr Clinton and Mr Blix visit our country. I hope the essence of their words reaches the people, as just small group have the opportunity to hear them in the Nordic House.
Personally, I »met« Mr Clinton on the 2nd of November 1999, at a Remembrance Day in Oslo – the fourth anniversary for the killing of Mr Yitzhak Rabin. It was very easy to become entranced by the obvious charisma, when Mr Clinton, as the last of a long line of world leaders – among them Mr Arafat, Mr Peres, Mr Putin and Mr Ahtisaari, entered the Oslo Town Hall building. In spite of the huge attraction, and well chosen words, another person in the audience captivated my attention. This was the then American Foreign Secretary of State Mrs Madeleine Albright. The very first woman to be elected to such a high office in the history of America – today Ms Condolisa Rice holds this office. Mrs. Albright sat there in Oslo surrounded by an aura of will power and strength. A trait of Mr Clinton: he has always surrounded himself with strong women.
Also here in the Faroes we are waiting in suspense for the result of a future American presidential election. In is of course exciting in its own right if a woman was to become the very first President in the world’s strongest superpower. Even more interesting however, is how the »cocktail« Angela Merkel – Hillary R. Clinton will impact the global situation. To see if a lower level of testosterone on the power pinnacles of the world will improve the opportunity to strike a better balance in decreasing tensions between the various religious fractions and thereby lower the terror threat. Mrs Angela Merkel has already shown her muscles in environmental issues, which is the world’s greatest threat today – possibly even more so than acts of terror. A Clinton is definitely better than a Bush, if the USA is to join in the small club of countries, which finally are beginning to regard environmental issues seriously.
The main issue in the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign is »American Health Choices Plan«, which is intended to diminish the massive gap between those who can afford to pay for health care and those who cannot. This was also a plan she worked hard for over the years her husband, Mr Clinton was President, and which irrespective of other issues can only make America a better place for the many.
With strong women in high office – Madeleine Albright yesterday, Condolisa Rice today, Ségoléne Royal on the doorstep in France and Hillary Rodham Clinton tomorrow, the signal is very clear: World politics can no longer afford to be just a pastime hobby for men only. The larger countries have realised that the right man for the job is quite often a woman!
Dear Mr Clinton, the country you are visiting today will most likely become the next new country on the world map. Without doubt leading political men will tell you about the aspiration of the Faroes to find its own place, construe its own level of competition and its future welfare on the international stage. No doubt someone will ask you if you can see the Faroes being an independent nation in the world of today. Please do us a favour: Whisper into the ears of our politicians and business leaders alike, that a precondition for a country – large or small – to cope being a nation in the world today is that the full potential of the human resources within the people is utilised. That a Government of men only and a Parliament consisting almost entirely of men is sending a signal to the rest of the world of a one-eyed parliament instead of an advanced society. Convey to them discreetly that one of the reasons you became one of the most popular Presidents ever in the history of the USA is, that you were capable of gathering people around you, who presented you with the most and best dimensions to your political reality – among them were the strong women.
You are familiar with the power of words and the power equality can provide in the building of a society – the building of a State.
Mrs, Bjørt Samuelsen has been working as a journalist in Norway and the Faroe Islands for many years. She was also for a period the official Press & Information officer for the Faroe Prime Minister’s office. She has since turned freelance.
