A look at noteworthy addresses in...

A look at noteworthy addresses in the Southland. Amedeo de Franchis, deputy secretary - general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, spoke Tuesday at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. His speech was sponsored by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. From his address: On the Continuing Need for NATO “Today the strategic situation in Europe is practically the reverse of that which brought NATO into existence. The Warsaw Pact has disappeared. Not only the ideological threat has gone, but also the military threat. The country which threatened us all in massive ways, the Soviet Union, has dissolved. Never in history has an alliance succeeded so completely. . . . But at the same time, we can (ask) the question: With the enemy gone, is NATO needed any more and, if so, why?

. . . In a nutshell, communism has lost, but democracy has not yet won. In this type of environment of instability, we have every reason to preserve a collective security system that has really proven to be extremely efficient.

. . . NATO remains indispensable not only for the security of both Europe and the United States, but also (for) the United States’ political involvement in Europe. . . . NATO is needed as the main transatlantic link, which unites North America and Europe, as the community of destiny and action which can be the basis of a future Euro-Atlantic community and as the security shield against all the new risks that have come out in evidence after the end of the Cold War.”

On NATO’s New World Role “NATO has changed, but NATO is also acquiring new roles, mainly two new roles. The first role is that which we call outreach to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the newly independent republics of the former Soviet Union. Our objective is to project stability. . . . The second function of NATO, and what is happening now, is picking up a role in crisis management and support for international peacekeeping organizations.

. . . We cannot afford to stand idly by and passively watch the course of history unfold. We must try to influence events, to support those historical forces which shape change according to our goals and values. Progress does not come automatically. Freedom and prosperity do not just happen, they have to be achieved and maintained. Most of all, they have to be safeguarded by stable security structures. NATO is the structure we need and we must keep adapting it during the years as, and if, new challenges arise.”

Looking Ahead Thursday: Daniel Matt, professor of Jewish mysticism at the Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, will discuss “Hidden Light: Kabbalah as a Resource for Contemporary Jewish Spirituality,” at Pomona College, McAlister Center for Religious Activities, 7 p.m. Call (909) 621-8555, Ext. 2937.

Announcements concerning prominent speakers in Los Angeles should be sent to Speaking Up, c/o Times researcher Nona Yates, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053