General Wesley Clark called for America to renew our Atlantic ties in a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York Thursday.

"As President, I will rebuild our relationships abroad and the alliances which maintain them," Clark said. "I will strengthen them, so that we can solve problems together, so that the use of military force is our last resort not our first, and if America must act with force we can call on the military, financial, and moral resources of others."

Clark put forth proposals designed to repair our deteriorating relations with Europe and the rest of the world.

"After President Bush told the world, 'you're either with us or against us,'" General Clark noted, "even some of those who _were_ with us are now against us. And those, like Tony Blair, who are still with us pay a political price for it. America is hurt as well. We are less secure when our friends suffer for standing by our side. With fewer partners, we are left to meet dangers alone."

Clark said that to restore the Atlantic alliance, we need a mutual commitment. America must declare its commitment to work with its democratic allies as a first resort, not a last. European nations must make the same commitment.

"I believe alliances are indispensable, " Clark insisted. "I prefer coalitions of the committed rather than coalitions of convenience."

America must improve rather than spurn treaties, Clark argued. This commitment includes the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the Kyoto Agreement. Working on international agreements is not just good policy for the United States. It will breathe new life into the Atlantic alliance.

Clark said we should craft an agreement on collective responses to new threats including the menace of terrorism, failed state, ethnic cleansing, international disputes, and nuclear weapons and mass destruction proliferation.

"With a common threat perception along these lines," Clark said. "I believe we can restore the basis for collective action and American leadership that the world wants and our people deserve."

Clark argued that we must work with our NATO allies to promote human rights and the rule of law in the greater Middle East.

"We will not succeed in transforming the Middle East by threatening to change regimes by military action," Clark said. "A better model is offered by the joint approach Europe and America took after the Cold War to transform Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Together, we successfully promoted stability, security, economic reform and democratic progress throughout that region."

Clark acknowledged that multilateral action isn't always easy.

As NATO commander, Clark put the contributions of 19 NATO allies together to wage the war in Kosovo.

"Was it more cumbersome to fight that way?" Clark said. "Sure. Did it require more persuasion and argument to get things done? You bet. But we were far stronger together. We won the war, in no small measure because Milosevic could not break the will of 19 democracies united in common cause. And today, the Balkans are at peace and stable. Our allies are providing the vast majority of peacekeeping troops and the bulk of funds for reconstruction."

› Read the speech.
› Read the latest news on Clark.