"Events in Kosovo" BRZEZINSKI SCOWCROFT LAVROV Interviews of 3/25/99
CHARLIE ROSE: We cannot, if I hear you correctly, fail here. Too much is at stake in terms of America's-- beyond the morality of the issue, but in terms of America's prestige and reputation and the credibility we have in the future. We cannot let this pass, and we cannot lose.ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: You're absolutely right.
I think this is the first really complex challenge to American global leadership. And, if we falter here, the consequences would be devastating -- in the first instance, for Europe; secondly, for the American-European relationship; thirdly, for our position in the world; and then, in a sense, more generally for the kind of world that we will be living in the next few years.
So, in a microcosm,
this is a real test case of what the world is about to be.CHARLIE ROSE: So, if someone says to the president, ``Make the case why Kosovo is important,'' you say, ``This is a microcosm of the way the world is gonna be in the near future''?
ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: That is right.