The Honorable Joschka Fischer, a renowned German politician, addressed a full house in the Bechtel Conference Center yesterday afternoon with his lecture entitled “Europe’s Prospects in a Globalized World,” exploring the challenges Europe faces in the 21st century and the increasing importance of the European Union.

The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, directed by Coit Blacker, professor of political science by courtesy, sponsored the lecture. In his introduction, Blacker summarized Fischer’s involvement in the German government, including such positions as minister for the environment in Hessen, minister of foreign affairs and member of the Bundestag, the lower German parliament.

In his lecture, Fischer advocated for the increasing unification of Europe and a strengthening of the European Union. He stressed maintaining a good relationship between Europe and the United States and argued that increasing “political globalization” will be the only way to effectively address global problems such as the energy crisis and environmental deterioration.

Fischer divided the challenges Europe faces into three major categories: history, neighborhood and globalization. Due to its divided past, Fischer called the enlargement of the E.U. one of Europe’s great success stories, stressing that this unification has not come without a struggle.

“We need to create a completely new mindset,” he said, deeming this task the most challenging one for today’s Europe.

This European integration “brings up an important question,” Fischer said. “Where does Europe begin and where does Europe end?”

While oceans provide obvious borders on the north, west and south, the eastern border is subject to a political decision. Fischer touched on the difficulties Europe faces because of its location, meshed in between Russia, Africa and the Middle East.

Although Fischer did not appear to think Russia should be included in the E.U., he stressed that it is “too big to be isolated” and warned that ignoring the country would be “foolish and dangerous.” He seemed more concerned about security threats from Africa and the Middle East, however, saying, “when Africa exports its conflicts, Europe will be address number one.”

In one of his more pessimistic moments, Fischer expressed the urgent need for a more unified E.U. with a constitution, parliament and presidency to face the serious challenge posed by the Middle East. He said that the E.U. shouldn’t be enlarged without institutional reform, saying, “maybe Europeans need another lesson from history.

“At least theoretically, the United States has the option to say goodbye to the Middle East, to decide that region is less important,” Fischer said. “Europe doesn’t have that option.”

Finally, Fischer addressed globalization and the shift in mentality that must accompany the increasingly international markets.

“If you look at post-1989 Europe, you will see an ongoing revolution without a single shot fired,” Fischer said. He said enlargement of the E.U. is part of the answer because it opens the common market, importing economies rather than people to stimulate healthy economic growth.

Looking out for the welfare of everyone will be crucial in addressing problems in the future, Fischer said. As the global economic situation shifts with the growth of the economies of China and India, a new balance of power or another arms race will not be effective in solving global problems like the shortage of energy sources or environmental pollution.

Fischer said Europe today is a good example for how to create institutions to avoid conflicts and face the challenges of this century. He said the big question is whether these challenges will disunite Europe and the United States, or whether we will have the “strategic wisdom” to work things out and cooperate.

Dirk Balfanz, a local citizen from Palo Alto who grew up in Germany but has lived in the United States for the past decade, said he enjoyed the talk, calling Fischer an “illustrious figure in Germany and a popular politician.”

Ursula Meier, another listener who has disagreed with Fischer in the past, commented on the power of his talk.

“He won me over,” she said. “He is a really convincing politician.”