Jonas Gahr Støre: In defense of dialogue

www.ted.com In politics, it seems counterintuitive to engage in dialogue with violent groups, with radicals and terrorists, and with the states that support them. But Jonas Gahr Støre, the foreign minister of Norway, makes a compelling case for open discussion, even when values diverge, in an attempt to build greater security for all.
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[@simabah]

@CRokkan Dear CRokkan, I've lived in the US for 30 years and heard many different nationalities speak English. Believe me, compared to them his accent is in fact way superior. He speaks fluently and clearly. There is a wisdom, sincerity and care you can sense from his words and that's what makes is appealing. He has my utmost respect. Best Regards.

[@LucidNeonDream]

He's right but he's late! The challenge however seems to be letting go of the arrogant attitude that our minister is talking about. We don't show them diplomacy, we shove them our ultimatums. It's a dialogue not a monologue. I'm happy to see there are brilliant people other than politicians all over the world, that are addressing the real issues, which are found within their own country's border. Governments want all the saying and none of the doing and people are fed up.

[@tovsteh]

I've always voted AP, because I like what they stand for. The only way to run a society is if we all chip in and look after each other, instead of the capitalist every-man-for-himself approach we see in the U.S. But I don't like Støre. The way he avoids difficult questions make him seem spineless to me. I get the feeling he is not in it for the job itself, but for the prestige, and whatever career may follow when the time comes for him to resign his PM position (should he be elected). He comes across as arrogant; 'Its my way or the high way' type approach. That's not politics; its the will of one man.

[@mathisj6582]

Dude.. you're wrong.... AP want YOU to chip in, so that they and their friends don't have to. They want you to look after the other so they don't have to.. You totally missed what they are all about. Støre says everytime he's near a camera that he hate tax reduction.... but he tapped his own TRESTØ and FEMSTØ for millions and millions when he could do it without taxation.. AP are bastards.... they are only good for themself.

[@Waranoa]

Who's this suit with such a clear political story?? What, it's a professional politician?! A minister even?! Oh wow..

[@Ghost00117]

Why do people want to skip the intro? I like the intro. It's calming and not in-your-face.

[@kurtilein3]

@CRokkan a little anecdote: In German, we have some dialects, one of these is bavarian. It sounds distinct, with very strong vocals and less focus on consonants. The head of a bavarian language history museum is a guy that immigrated from england. First he learned german, got it accent-free within a few years, and then he learned the bavarian dialect, and mastered the phonetics of it. Very few people can learn a foreign language, and a foreign dialect, and eliminate all accent.

[@devourerofbabies]

"We should talk to other people!" Controversial statement today. Saddens me that someone has to get up on a stage and say it.

[@user-lk8nz5rs4o]

Languages for the following subtitles: English 🇺🇸 Albanian 🇦🇱 Arabic 🇸🇦 Basque 🇪🇸 Bulgarian 🇧🇬 Vietnamese 🇻🇳 Greek 🇬🇷 Hebrew 🇮🇱 Spanish 🇪🇸 Italian 🇮🇹 Chinese 🇨🇳 Taiwanese 🇹🇼 Korean 🇰🇷 German 🇩🇪 Dutch 🇳🇱 Norwegian 🇳🇴 Persian 🇮🇷 Polish 🇵🇱 Portuguese 🇵🇹 Brazilian Portuguese 🇧🇷 Romanian 🇷🇴 Russian 🇷🇺 Turkish 🇹🇷 Hungarian 🇭🇺 French 🇫🇷 Canadian French 🇨🇦 Croatian 🇭🇷 Japanese 🇯🇵

[@jwhitenstall]

@CRokkan as a native English speaker I quite like it, it has a rounded smooth quality. xD

[@tdurran]

I like what he just said, but seriously despair for this world if the idea of including all the interested parties is considered a new, revolutionary idea in diplomatic circles.

[@baseplatecharlie]

What they need is a Malcolm Tucker in politics.

[@dookiecheez]

Wonderful talk, I found the bit about the hypocrisy of wanting democracy, but not wanting what may indeed be representative of the majority in power, to be particularly brilliant.

[@michaelemonds]

Dialogue isn't about being idealist it's totally pragmatic & needed for all our & future generations survive..

[@Hirnlego999]

"The evidence since 1968 indicates that terrorist groups rarely cease to exist as a result of winning or losing a military campaign. Rather, most groups end because of operations carried out by local police or intelligence agencies or because they join the political process.This suggests that the USA should pursue a counterterrorism strategy against al Qa'ida that emphasizes policing and intelligence gathering rather than a “war on terrorism” approach that relies heavily on military force. "

[@devourerofbabies]

@CRokkan Yeah, good point. There's a lot of movies tv shows etc. I don't get exposure to very much Norwegian TV.

[@Frey12]

Banning land mines was not started by politicians. It was started by a community in Vermont, i shit you not.

[@CRokkan]

@simabah It's nice to know most people seem to like it. I guess it just grates on my nerves since I hear the Norwegian ups and downs that he tries so hard to suppress. Sometimes you can even hear a person's dialect shine through. I don't have it myself since I spoke English from age 3, but my parents do and I was constantly trying to correct them. So I guess it's just the teacher in me.

[@eetaq1940]

@eroceanos As a Libyan, if you value human life, you value intervention in Libya. Without NATO intervention, 1 million massacred was a realistic, conservative outcome. 3 million was possible.

[@Hirnlego999]

@zamestol You're kidding right, they were imperialistic, the biggest threat the planet has ever faced. They were involved in proxy wars too. Jonas Store is speaking in favor of dialogue. Dialogue doesn't equal saying to someone like Hitler you have the right to occupy that land. As Jonas said, dialogue doesn't mean agreement.

[@Hirnlego999]

There's little money in talking and often diplomacy is meant to fail.

[@somethought]

Great talk, really great talk.

[@kurtilein3]

@CRokkan Ah cmon, unless you start in childhood it is more difficult to get rid of an accent than to learn an entirely new language. I recently met a guy from china that mastered the german language to perfection, he translates books both from german into mandarin and from mandarin into german for renowned publishers, he also writes short stories in german. And his accent is still strong.

[@lukaskoube]

Vote Ron Paul, Get A Free Country!

[@Hooga89]

The most important point he makes here though, is that talking is not the same as endorsing, or agreeing. One of the huge failures of American foreign policy in my opinion, is that they never talk to anyone they don't like, or agree with. Talking and having a discussion about certain topics might help solve alot of issues. Like Cuba for instance. They never talk to Cuba, now some 40 years after the Cold War. It's shameful.

[@eetaq1940]

@eroceanos Difference is that in Libya Gaddafi was only a few miles away from Benghazi. This is truth, I was part of enough networks in Libya who kept contact with family inside the country. My family experienced the snipers and the house raids, and they were in a relatively docile region of Libya. If Gaddafi had marched on Benghazi, a city of a million, the urban warfare would have cause mass slaughter undoubtedly.

[@Alpinex105]

@MrCattlehunter This dynamic is changing dramatically. The recent UNESCO Palestine membership gave a big fuck you to the USA.

[@CRokkan]

Great speech, though as a Norwegian I can't help but cringe every time our politicians speak English. There's just a tone to the accent that gnaws at the back of my skull.

[@jamesrands]

@tantzer That's not what "rogue state" means at all. A rogue state is one which opts out of significant elements of the international system in a disruptive fashion. How you can call any member of the UNSC a "rogue state" is beyond me. They are the guardians (for good or ill) of the international system. The US honours all treaties to which it is a party (which is surprisingly few for historical and constitutional reasons). Terrorism has a specific meaning you are aren't even close to.

[@devourerofbabies]

@CRokkan And anyway, he speaks fluently and clearly and that's good enough. I find a lot of non-native English speaking people are really self conscious of their accents, and I don't really understand why. Nobody cares. In fact, most people will probably think you sound interesting and exotic.

[@Epeenification]

@CRokkan There's just an immense lack of fluency. I'm Norwegian as well, and I quite frankly don't understand why this lack of fluency within English is so prominent not only in the older generations but younger ones as well.

[@jimothy183]

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that’s it. Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret)

[@Lobos222]

@CRokkan I dont agree. Its actually important that none mother tong English speaking politicians speak with a dialect that identifies their country. I rather people think "Yes, that strange English dialect is Norwegian" rather than "He sounds British. Hes probably partial towards them..."

[@eetaq1940]

@tantzer Ok. So what? As Nietzsche said, lying in and of itself is neither moral nor immoral. Only the repurcussions of a lie can be moral or immoral. Telling a lie that earns your friend his dream job is a moral act. Telling a lie that gets rid of a ruthless tyrant is also a moral act. And I thank NATO for that lie, because that's what it took to get China and Russia to abstain from veto.

[@zamestol]

@Lobos222 And you come to that conclusion, how ?

[@djribz]

This gentleman is a sick individual. He has countless lives on his conscience and a great, but very expensive PR-team.

[@theramblingreviewer5150]

Could you enlighten me on the lives he has on his conscience?

[@xPR3CiSiONx]

Anyone else notice the pallets behind him aren't 'OSHA'?

[@L1b3rta]

@CRokkan I think it's quite okay. It's at least MUCH less annoying than when our dutch politicians speak English.

[@devourerofbabies]

@CRokkan I can only speak for myself, but I'm a native English speaker (don't speak any other languages either ;p) and it's difficult for me to differentiate some foreign accents. To me anything from the Germanic family of languages sounds very similar. Anything Scandinavian, Dutch, etc. I can tell this guy isn't French, but I couldn't tell you where he's from other than "Europe". Just like it would be hard for you to tell between Boston vs New York or Liverpool vs Wiltshire.

[@andyrooney12]

@CRokkan I'm from the former Soviet Union & I am quite familiar with that whole region myself. Is it just me or is his accent a mix of Russian & French? It just sounds like that to me.

[@kurtilein3]

@CRokkan .... third comment my first language is german, and i think i also mastered written english, next i will learn spanish, but then japanese will follow. If you can speak german, pronouncing japanese is trivial, because there is not a single new sound. All phonemes already exist in the german language. The grammar is also easy, so all that is needed is vocabulary. In japanese, it is easy to get rid of any accent.

[@Hirnlego999]

@zamestol USA talked to USSR. Should've bombed instead huh? Dialogue doesn't mean giving the right to occupy another country.

[@eetaq1940]

@tantzer Wrong. It's because Gaddafi supporters continued resisting until he was killed. After Gaddafi was killed, the shelling of Sirte stopped. If they didn't want their city destroyed, they could have stopped killing in Gaddafi's name.

[@zamestol]

@Hirnlego999 USSR was not some rough state. They played by the rules, so of cause the potential was there. "Dialogue doesn't mean giving the right to occupy another country." I don't really know what you mean by that ?

[@noodlebamboo]

Støre is one of my favorite politicians. Thumbs up!

[@CRokkan]

@devourerofbabies I can tell the difference between Boston and New York accents, though I'm generally better with British accents, but I think we as non-native English speakers get a much more wide spectrum from popular culture.

[@CRokkan]

@kurtilein3 Well, I can't speak for everyone, but of course it's difficult. Doesn't mean it's not entirely possible. I know people who spent a couple of months in America and came back with strong accents, and I know those who've lived in England for years and still can't pronounce certain words. I would also suspect it's a little easier between certain languages than others.

[@strek0655]

@sudchn Why? I want a good explanation to why.

[@Vgard]

@jimothy183 That sounds like an oversimplification to me. Reason and force can be combined, it is not necessarily either of the two. How would you categorize propaganda for example? Strong authoritarian regimes uses propagandist rhetoric to convince the population. They use force as a threat if people violate their rules, but if force was the only necessary instrument they wouldn't need propaganda in the first place.

[@rakketakke]

@CRokkan I know that. It's because you are being faced with your own failures. The only cure is to be proud of the accent

[@eetaq1940]

@eroceanos We did. Feb 17th was declared via facebook as the day to go out and protest. The facebook group had 100,000 people on it, and on Feb 15th the earliest protests began. By the 17th, the slaughter had begun. If Gaddafi had decided to listen, and not to slaughter, things may have gone differently.

[@eroceanos]

'I believe intervention in Lybia was necessary...' yeah right, to keep oil traded in dollars. Some slippery dude, promoting dialogue to reach his goals... strange feeling I get with this man.

[@Desmaad]

Finally, some stuff of substance after all that fluff.

[@itube0047]

Smart, yes. Too bad he choose to play a game instead of doing the real stuff from day one.

[@CRokkan]

@rakketakke I do want to be proud of it, but I don't have it myself. Maybe that's why I want to correct people so badly when they speak like that.

[@rodovre]

So diplomats should make web pages and twit more. But apart from that, what is the message? People who need food and work are not likely to be impressed by a posh Norwegean diplomat offering dialogue to feed them ...

[@Desert2GardenLV]

Who the heck has a ZERO in their name?

[@kurtilein3]

@CRokkan Yes, it depends on the languages. People that have arabic as their first language can get rid of almost all accent in nearly all languages, because arabic contains so many differend phonetic sounds. English is my second language, and when im writing noone notices because i perfected my grammar and vocabulary. But i sound a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger. I dont care, ill learn Spanish instead. My accent is far less than Einsteins, and less than Schwarzeneggers, so WTF.

[@jamesrands]

@tantzer Define "terrorist" and "rogue state" and the explain how those terms apply to the US.

[@Turbolego]

@CAlex6977 it's a Norwegian letter... Here's 3 norwegian letters which are not in the english alphabet: æøå

[@SuperAtheist]

@CRokkan his English sounds okay to me

[@youartoyube]

@TheEcoApe no, it's ron paul!

[@jrlmenezes1]

@Krestianx Anthropology is not a skill nor is history. The who is obvious and he mentioned more, bottom up is not revolution, realpolitik is a buzz word, as interstate negotiation (what is a negotiation, a gun in the head in a negotiation, and it doesn't mean skills, at least not the one I think he was mentioning. Think a bit more

[@knugie]

The honor of the 0:15 ^^

[@StoneSentinel]

skip the intro, click --> 0:15

[@CRokkan]

@devourerofbabies Really? Cause I couldn't describe a "European" accent. Maybe you mean Scandinavian? Then again, the Danish sound totally different.

[@devourerofbabies]

@CRokkan Don't worry about it. Any native English speaker just hears it as "European".

[@CRokkan]

@jwhitenstall I've never heard it described like that before! I think I may like it now. ;)

[@eroceanos]

@Eetaq Who set up the armed rebels, I wonder?

[@TheEcoApe]

The worlds most professional and sensible politician right there. Remember the name.

[@pedrohadek]

@CRokkan I think we always believe our country accent is terrible. I am from Brazil and this sounds fine for me, but I can't stand Brazilians speaking english.

[@rodovre]

@CAlex6977 It is a remainder of old Latin writing (short for 'oe') just like & is shorthand for 'et'.

[@MorganHagg]

Oh, btw Petter solberg + vocabulary = Jonas Gahr Støre

[@raileanulucian]

third is not bad

[@husnainanwaar1992]

i am from ksa

[@eroceanos]

@Eetaq so they say...heard stories in Irak bout weapons of MASS destruction too...

[@jamesrands]

@maseltah I would hope so but the terms "terrorist" and "rogue state" get bandied around with gay abandon. Tantzer's response to my challenge (whilst eloquent) doesn't in any way shape or form define those terms accurately and looks to me to be a real attempt at justifying and unjustifiable statement.

[@haigfeinn]

6 words that last guy said

[@chorgin]

GO Norge!

[@jimothy183]

@Vgard In the case of an authoratarian regime it is simply a matter of using the ability to use force as a reason to cooperate. The use of a vieled threat is one. watch?v=3-son3EJTrU

[@zamestol]

@Raithulu Then why does he still want to talk to "the palestinians" ?

[@Beatnuk]

@tantzer Hah, forreal!

[@hakonolsen8781]

Did you learn nothing from this video?

[@TheEcoApe]

@Norwegiian Frp konservativ på sitt verste much? Finn én mer velinformert, mer verdensvandt, mer konstruktiv, målrettet og effektiv person. Vanskelig om ikke umulig.

[@mybroisawizz]

6th is the best :C

[@Krestianx]

@jrlmenezes1 Skills: Anthropology, history Who: Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, USA.. Trad. diplo.: Realpolitik, interstate negotiations Inclusive: Terrorists/freedom fighters Bottom up: Revolution All countries b. u.?: No.. Just, no.. Undefined? Maybe for someone that has exactly zero diplomatic/historical/educational experience in this field of study.

[@janjantimalsina1465]

👍

[@NeinDao]

thought he was Swedish at first xD

[@devourerofbabies]

@L1b3rta Everybody thinks their own accent is the worst. Don't worry about it.

[@CRokkan]

@Epeenification I suspect the difficult part comes from the rhythm of the language. Norwegian has a very prominent rhythm and it's hard to stop your voice from doing that suddenly. Some sounds are really tricky too. I know so many people who say "were" like "ver" or "church" like "shurch". Annoys the hell out of me. But we're teaching the kids from 5 years old now, so I suspect they'll come a generation that's better eventually.

[@Knight766]

@aelzin I have in mind soldiers urinating on enemy corpses.

[@jrlmenezes1]

Bad. Almost zero content. What are the skills? Talk to whom? What are the examples exactly? Nothing but good intentions. The land mines example is weak. What is traditional diplomacy? What is an inclusive process of diplomacy? What is bottom up exactly, aren't all democratic countries bottom up? Just a bunch of undefined hopes with supposed good intentions.

[@Oskoreii]

I am, right now, a little proud to be norwegian :]

[@mjusiqtube]

10th. YberBest. Ten fingers. Ten commadments. One Zero. Ten. Teen. I win!!

[@Stereotype23]

@CRokkan Be glad you arent danish :D

[@MisjonenKomi]

Fascinating I say!

[@Hirnlego999]

@zamestol Eh, you claim that USSR played by the rules but I'm the communist? LMFAO

[@sashadala346]

Another V. Quisling.

[@Styleth]

@TheYouSphere Norwegians, what are you goint to do.. xD

[@kanarinakimou]

κι εμεις τετοιους πολιτικους εχουμε... :P

[@Ko252]

He is good at talking, but shit at doing. With regards from a Norwegian voter.