Is unable to be here for the hearing. I am quoting him now. The greisinger rising global challenges and increasingly complex and competitive strategic environment, America Needs a leadership with wisdom and experience that only statesman of this stature can provide. This committee and this nation thank you for your service and we are grateful for your continued voices of reason during these troubling times. We look to you for the lessons of history as we all week to secure a safer, freer, and more prosperous world. World. One of the most enjoyable Committee Hearings i have experienced was three years ago when we had a hearing of the same come up with kissinger and schultz were here, a lot of the comments that you made were very prophetic. Here we are three years later and a lot of these things have happened. Speaking on behalf of the entire committee, we look forward to having the chairman back and im sure he will be. Now more than ever the challenges of todays world require strategic vision. Each of you is uniquely qualified to help this committee think through, not only our present challenges, but also the strategy needed, the insights and wisdom you offered then were discerning. The Trump Administration recently released a new National Security strategy and a national ofch emphasizes the priority competition, the danger of rogue nations, and the enduring threat of terrorism. The National Defense strategy is a frank, realistic view of the global strategic environment. It offers the blueprint for protecting our National Interests and reestablishing americas position as the undisputed leader of the free world and it shows a commitment to restoring our military ,dvantage across all domains and strengthening and expanding key alliances. Usask each of you to help think through the strategy, the members of this committee are well aware that the keys to success of many strategies require resources, we need to cast aside partisan politics and pass an appropriation bill while finding a way to fix the defense hurt ourcaps that have military in terms of readiness and modernization. Sen. Reed thank you very much, mr. Chairman. I would like to represent dr. Ome dr. Kissinger and schultz, certainly a distinguished panel and we are grateful you are here. Each of you have played a very Important Role in some of the most monumental foreignpolicy decisions in our nations history, on behalf of all the members of this committee we look forward to your testimony. This mornings hearing on global challenges in u. S. National security follows the release of the new National Defense strategy. This strategy, which supports the president s recently released National Security strategy, states that the central challenge facing our nation is the reemergence of longterm strategic competition with russia and china, and that this competition replaces terrorism as a primary concern in the u. S. National security. Without question, russia remains determined to reassert its influence around the world, most toently by using an alliance undermine the american peoples bait and our election process as well as other western election. It continues to threaten the rulesbased order in the asianpacific region by Economic Force over smaller neighbors and undermining the force of navigation. Given the experience of our panel, i would welcome their assessment of the strategic strategy proposed by russia and china and what recommendations they have for how the United States can counter these powers, both militarily and by utilizing other critical elements of national power. Power competition may be the current geostrategic reality, neglect equally complicated challenges. North Koreas NuclearBallistic Missile efforts are a great National Security threat. Iran continues their aggressive Weapons Development activities, including Ballistic Missile development efforts, while pursuing other destabilizing activities and the reason region. The United States must stay focused on countering security threats from isis in iraq and syria while also building the capabilities of afghan National Security forces and denying any safe haven for extremists. In the coming weeks, this committee will hear directly from secretary mattis and Senior Leaders at the Defense Department on how the National Defense strategies will address challenges facing our nation. As we begin, it would benefit to begin with an assessment of the new strategy and whether it strikes the appropriate palette between great power, a petition, and the threat posed by great regimes, regimes, terrorist or nations, and other actors. The importance of allies and partners. The esteemed panel before us knows better than most that Robust International alliances are essential to keeping our country safe. The National Defense strategy unveiled last week with a premium on bolstering current alliances while pursuing new partners. I am deeply concerned about statements from the president to have undercut americas position in the world, and dismissed the position in the world the United States has established following world war ii. These actions influence our influence in the world. Reduce our influence in the world. The administration has promoters proposed dramatic cuts to the state department. May cerned we own militaryn our advantage at the expense of Necessary Development in diplomacy and essential tools of national power. Experience of this panel in cultivating diplomacy, i welcome their input on what more can be done for these political relationships and the importance of nonmilitary elements for our National Security. I want to thank the witnesses for being here and for their lifetime of service and dedication to the United States of america. Thank you, senator reid. Normally we ask our witnesses to confine the remarks to a certain time. I would not be so presumptuous. Talk as long as you want to. Dr. Kissinger, you are recognized. Thank you for being here. Dr. Kissinger it is a great honor to have this opportunity and i would like to say one word about our chairman, who i have , since he50 years returned from vietnam. Time, i had been they had offered to let me take him on my plane back to the United States. Ground that the nobody should get special himtment, and when i met here at the white house he came up to me and said thank you for saving my honor. Has preserved the honor of our country as a great whoior, but also as someone whenever the week were threatened and interest were clearuted, he made it that america was on their side and that he was not simply a warrior, but a defender of our values all over the world. Thank you, particularly for this occasion. Review theked me to International Situation and i have taken the liberty of submitting a statement to the committee, and i will use my a few generalake to yourand then reply questions. Say howalso like to meaningful it is to me to sit next to my friend and mentor, george schultz, from whom ive. Earned so much i will deal with this in three parts. The urgency example five other Nuclear Challenge from north korea, the immediate,xemplified by the middle east specifically iran, and a exemplified by great power relationships and by the reentry of great power politics as a key element of international the International Situation facing the United States is unprecedented. Is more than ang coincidence of individual crisis. Rather, it is a systematic, systemic failure of world order. Hich is causing momentum it has led to an erosion of the International System, rather than its consolidation, a rejection of territorial acquisition, expansion of neutral trade benefits mutual trade benefits without collusion , without the hallmark compounding this dynamism is the pace of Technological Development whose extraordinary progress threatens to outstrip our strategic and moral imaginations and makes the ategic equation a tenuous challenge todiate interNational Security is posed by the evolution of the north Korean Nuclear program. Paradoxically, it is only after pyongyang has achieved nuclear and intercontinental that measures to deal with it have begun to be applied. Possibilitysed the that an International Effort intended to prevent radical a radical regime from developing a Nuclear Capability will culminate in the that regime is perfecting its capacity. For the second time in a decade, an outcome that was widely considered unacceptable is now urgent. Erge of becoming about the Nuclear Program of korea is not the threat it poses to the territory of the United States, significant as it is. My most immediate concern is the korea stillf north possesses a military Nuclear Capability in some finite time, the impact on the proliferation of Nuclear Weapons might be , because if north korea could maintain its capability in the face of opposition by china and the United States, and the disapproval of the rest of the countries will feel that this is the way for achieving International Prominence and the upper hand in international therefore, i think the denuclearization of north korea must be a fundamental objective, and if it is not reached, we have to prepare ourselves for the perforation proliferation of weapons to other countries, which will create a new pattern of International Politics which will affect our concept of deterrents and our possibility of deterrents and it will have to be carefully examined, in which this committee will go on to address. We face thee east the International System as it existed at the end of the First World War and at the end of the second world war. Every country in the region is either a combatant or a theater and, to me, the overriding concerns at the moment are these, we have , butssfully defeated isis the question now is the success of what happened next and i am occupied that in the territory once occupied by Iranian Forces could become dominant and we could see a belt of urging that goes from beirutron tehran to and undermines the structure of the middle of the region and challenge. Ongterm to what i want to refer has been identified by the dominantation as the ,lement now, the relationship the great power relationship andeen the United States china and russia. There is no doubt that the military capacity of china as well as the economic capacity is growing. There have been challenges from russia which have to be met, especially in ukraine, crimea, and syria. These fundamental questions what is the strategic relationship between these countries, these of the the prospect of peace these of vis the prospect of these. Peace. Other values compatible enough to encourage an agreed legitimacy . These are the challenges that we face. The balance of power must be maintained, but it is also necessary to attempt a strategic prevents the balance of power from having to be tested. This is the key issue in our relationship. Let me conclude. Let me conclude by stating that i think that the fundamental situation of the , that weates is strong have the capacity to meet these challenges. Has to deal with significant domestic adjustments and it is possible that we can balance the best that they can balance those against the pressures that it that they can balance those against the pressures that it can exert. Russia is domestically also in considerable difficulty. Is, that we can favorable balance of iter, but we must couple with a political structure in peacethe issue of war and as a diplomatic, as well as a , because theession evolution these challenges to technology that bothogy elements of our national , and iy must be stressed am confident that we can achieve these objectives. In that spirit. Thank you. Sen. Reed thank you very much. We pause for a moment. We have a quorum. I asked the committee to consider a list of pending nomination. All of these nominations up and before the committee and the required length of time. If theyre a motion to favorably report this list . There is a motion, is there a second . Those in favor say i, all opposed say no. The eyes have it. Secretary schultz, thank you for being your. Dr. Shultz thank you mr. Chairman. I would like to pay tribute to senator mccain. Like henry, i have known him a very long time. He fought for his country in combat. He had doored terrible suffering as a prisoner of war and he managed to handle himself with dignity and pride. He has served a senator and president ial candidate as and president ial candidate, i remember those countryith the slogan first. That is john mccain and was john mccain always. Senator, im sorry you are not here. Much ito to know how how you you have have served our country. Express myo my appreciation for testifying alongside my wrens Henry Kissinger and rich armitage friends Henry Kissinger and rich armitage. I want to underline one of the things henry brought out in this testimony. That is the concern we must have about Nuclear Proliferation. As you remember in the reagan. Reagan put into, president reagan thought Nuclear Weapons were immoral. Trying to get them reduced and we had quite a lot of success. Anthose days people had appreciation of what would be the result of a nuclear war if they were ever used. I fear people have lost that sense of dread. Now we see everything going in the other direction, Nuclear Proliferation, the more countries have Nuclear Weapons, the more likely that one is anyone thatoff, gets this material the more material that is lying around, the more people can make a weapon. This is a major problem that can blow up the world. I think we have to get at it. The right way to start is what henry said, to somehow be able to have a different kind of relationship with russia. Russia and the United States have the bulk of all the weapons. And then start something. I will have some comments to make about russia in a minute. Things, numberwo one is a demographic outline, and i want to speak about that. I also distributed a prepublication book, and im going to talk particularly about two articles in the book. One is by a retired marine corps colonel who was at the National Defense university. The other is by lucy shapiro and her husband, she is a biologist and her husband is a physicist at stanford. Lucy is the smartest person in any room she is also fun. It is in is in, and is also fun. Im going to draw on these two papers. Is thatmy main point there are four major portions forces acting in the world that are going to disrupt it greatly and rapidly. Anything we do has to be aware of these disruptions. The first is typography. Topography. The blue lines are 2015 to 35. How things are shrinking rapidly. Falling,es are longevity is rising, and a sense we used to think of populations as being a lot of young people and a few older people, now it is totally reversed. With huge implications. Theink it is worth noting big declines coming in the population of china and russia. Russias economy is not as big as italy and it has twice the number of people. It shows you how poorly they are running their economy. Their population is shrinking. In a sense, we have russia playing a weak hand aggressively. We need to put a stop sign on that and get to talking. I think the first thing you notice is the World Population is changing, it is getting older for the most part, the places in the world that are seeing a big increase in populations are mostly in africa and some parts of asia. These are places where there are big explosions of population, these are also places where the economies are not good, and where probably adverse conditions are most likely to arise. I think it is, certain that a bigis going to be effort for people to migrate away from those places. How the world is going to handle this large migration. We have to start thinking about it. That is. 1. Point does go has to do with two have to point do with governance. We are surrounded by communication. Information is everywhere. Some of it is right, some of it is wrong. Some of it is put up for a purpose and some of it is neutral. It is hard to sorted out. Diversity is everywhere. People can look at this information, they can communicate, they can organize. We get a lot of government by protests of one kind or another. We have to learn all over again have to govern over diversity, just as government is having a , things like Nuclear Proliferation come along which can only be dealt with by intergovernmental cooperation. This crisis in government is a very important thing to address and try to think through. Chan