Bill Clinton: “Well, first of all, at least from the International Declaration of Human Rights, 50 years ago, the world community…”

“Well, first of all, at least from the International Declaration of Human Rights, 50 years ago, the world community recognized that sovereignty was not the only value in human society. The Russians, even though they've criticized our intervention in Kosovo-- although now I might say the Russian soldiers are doing a very good job there, working with all the other allies--recently acknowledged in their signing off of the new charter of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, that the internal affairs of a country can become the legitimate concern of others, whether it's in East Timor--now, wait a minute. So what I think will happen is national sovereignty is going to be very, very important for a very, very long time. But countries are becoming more interdependent, and they will still have to make decisions about the kinds of internal systems they will have for how their people live together and work together; they will still be able to make decisions about when they will or won't cooperate worldwide in many areas. But if you want the benefits of interdependence, you have to assume the responsibilities of it. And we've all recognized that from the beginning of the United Nations, nobody, no country in the United Nations, has given up its sovereignty, even though some people still allege that's true. But the more interdependent the world grows, the more likely we are, in my judgment, to have more broadly shared prosperity, fewer wars, and a better life for everyone. That does not require us to give up our national sovereignty, but it does require us to act in our real national interests. Last question. Minorities on the White House Staff”