David Miliband

Woleswali

The article from my favourite Australian analyst David Kilcullen  makes a load of key points - including the emphasis on 398 district and provincial level governors who hold the key to the future of Afghanistan.

These are the people who define the local scene - economic, political, social. Without them, Afghans, with coalition support, can stop things going backwards, but not make progress. These are the sites of important reconciliation with former Taliban. We have got to build from bottom up even as we look to support credible elections that will lead Afghanistan from the top down.

Posted at 18:12 28 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[5]

Europe Doesn't Stop at the Pyrenees

Talleyrand said, apparently, that Europe stops at the Pyrenees. But Churchill got it right. He came to Turkey - where I am - during the Battle of Stalingrad to speak of the need for "an instrument of European government", with Turkey as part of it.

Churchill was right then and it is right now. Turkey will be the second fastest growing economy in the world by 2017 according to the OECD. It balances secularism and religious identity. It is on a reform path that is not just about Istanbul and Ankara - I met five mayors and governors from around the country as part of the British council's My City' programme  who are going to share European installation art to bring their cities to European attention.

It is a time for determination not hesitation. Turkey is not ready to join the EU now. But we have a huge amount to gain from pursuing and achieving the goal.

Posted at 16:43 28 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[10]

Afghanistan & Opium

Encouraging news from Afghanistan:  farmers are switching from poppy cultivation to other crops.  Economics, better security and access to markets are helping them make this choice.  The high price of wheat - driven by international markets, local shortages and a Pakistani export ban - has been a strong incentive for farmers to grow food crops for their own needs and for trading.  Meanwhile years of over-supplying opium, together with its high labour cost, has made poppy cultivation less attractive. 

And it's encouraging that the Afghan government - with international support - is working to strengthen licit rural markets.  Most of the north and east of Afghanistan has now been declared 'poppy free' by the UN's Office of Drugs and Crime. 

What we need to do now is to sustain this progress while the economics are in farmers' favour.  Wheat prices are starting to fall from their 2008 peak.

It is urgent that agricultural development continues - and the UK is stepping up its support.  But there's still a long way to go in the insecure south, especially Helmand, where farmers continue to grow poppy because they cannot access markets for legal crops.  With the insurgency tapping this illegal crop for its own ends, and inadequate law and order, a vicious circle has been created - which we are working hard to break

Posted at 13:46 27 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[2]

Broad minded in Athens

I am in Athens to discuss cooperation between UK and Greece.  Greek foreign policy, spurred on by chairmanship of the OSCE, stretches from trying to keep alive an OSCE presence in Georgia - frustrated by Russian insistence on separate missions to Abkhazia and South Ossetia- to a forward position on Turkish accession to the EU, and an important role in Cyprus talks.  

The UK and Greece agree more often than people realise.  Or at least we do around the EU table.

Posted at 11:27 26 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[1]

Africa Day

25 May was interestingly Africa Day, as well as a UK Bank Holiday for Whitsun, to note the 25 year anniversary of the creation of the African Union (previously OAU).  I noted last year  that the shift to AU was meant to include a move from 'non interference' to 'non indifference'. 

The election of Jacob Zuma in South Africa is creating high expectations.  The needs are obvious, even if Michael Holman is right in the Financial Times about dodgy statistics on Africa's wars, but so is international willingness to back African leadership.

Posted at 11:21 26 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[0]

Forging coalitions with the Muslim world

President Obama said a few weeks ago: "America is not and never will be at war with Islam".  Next month he will address this theme again in a landmark speech in Cairo.  The fact that he feels the need to say this, and the positive reception he has got for doing so, reveals the depth of division and distrust towards the West that has emerged since 9/11. 
 
Britain has historical baggage in the Muslim world.  We have to overcome it.  In the majority of our British Muslim citizens, we have an enormous resource, combining  the values that bind Britain together as a liberal democracy, with their particular religious identity.  And in that merging of identities are valuable lessons as we forge coalitions in the Muslim world.  
 
I will be giving a speech later today which will explore this theme.  It will set out why I think we need to understand the Muslim world better, and work with Muslim majority countries in new ways.  There are no easy cases.  But to avoid grappling with these issues is irresponsible. 

It is not good enough to categorise people as ’moderates’ or 'extremists' (a trap I have sometimes fallen into).  But there is a divide between those committed to politics and those who rely on violence.  If we respect those committed to politics, support the application of our own democratic values and help tackle the big grievances, including over Palestine, we can forge a new coalition and win consent. 

Resources: 

Posted at 11:50 21 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[12]

Mandela / Obama

The one person more popular globally than Barack Obama may be former President Mandela. It seems that a South African survey puts the two of them top of a chatroom chart. Who says youth are not political?

Posted at 11:19 19 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[0]

Indispensible Power

The Guardian today launches a Chinese edition online  For the launch I set out how China is to become an indispensible power in this century in the way the US became such in the 20th century (as described by Madeleine Albright).

It is important to keep a sense of perspective. For example Chinese GDP per head is 1/20 the US level and China will not replace the US as the US replaced Britain. But if we are not to have a "G2" world then a third leg of the stool needs to come from Europe - not a Europe modelled on a nation state, but a Europe that brings together national strengths for common work. In trade and climate negotiations we are getting there; in foreign policy it will be a long term process. But we need to work at it.

Posted at 18:46 18 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[3]

Aung San Suu Kyi on show trial

As I travel to Brussels, Aung San Suu Kyi goes on show trial in Burma. Her house arrest is bad enough; trial rubs it in. Her real case to answer is maintaining a dignified and enduring opposition to regime rule.

Her claim is simple: she won an election and now, along with a range of other groups, is being kept away from fulfilling the will of her people. We will continue to fly the flag for the cause of political and social freedom in Burma.

Posted at 14:47 18 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[5]

Congratulations to Congress

Who said the recession is bound to punish governing parties? The triumph of the Indian government in its general election is striking tribute to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party leader Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi's success in Uttar Pradesh is striking testimony to his social as well as political outreach. Five more years of strong government is a huge boon not just to India, but to the wider world.

Posted at 10:08 18 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[5]

Diplomatic Blogging

The New America Foundation hosted a webcast for new and old media in Washington. The brickbats between new bloggers and "old" media (George Stephanopoulos of ABC) were a bit tougher than the foreign policy debate. But the depth and range of think tank expertise and commentary on foreign policy was remarkable.

The new media brings speed and dialogue. It does not replace traditional diplomacy. But we are only in the foothills of exploring its power.

Posted at 18:01 13 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[1]

Sri Lanka: Stop the killing

Secretary Clinton and I issued the following statement  on the situation in Sri Lanka yesterday. We have been gravely concerned by the most recent reports of killing of civilians in and around the no fire zone. 

Posted at 14:54 13 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[23]

Next Steps on Middle East

The interview by King Abdullah of Jordan in the Times on Monday  puts in stark terms the stakes over the next few months as leaders from the Middle East come to Washington. I set out the UK position at the UN security council on Monday.

Only the two sides can make the compromises necessary for peace. But the international community can support them, and set out steps to ensure any deal is implemented. These "deposits" that I discuss in the speech at the UN make clear how we can make a practical difference.

Historical note: Yitzhak Rabin made a deposit with US Secretary of State Warren Christopher in the early 1990s in respect of the Golan Heights. The idea is simple. You put substance behind the desire for peace. 

Posted at 12:44 13 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[4]

South Africa - Zuma's inauguration

New South African President Jacob Zuma is being sworn in today.  He and the African National Congress (ANC) won convincingly in South Africa's fourth post-apartheid elections - with the queues of people waiting to vote reminiscent of those in 1994.

We will continue our high level of engagement with the South African Government; Mark Malloch Brown is representing the UK at President Zuma's inauguration and we are planning early meetings with ministerial counterparts.

This engagement matters.  First, South Africa is a key partner for the UK across many priorities and international fora, from the Commonwealth to the G20.  South Africa will have a key role in implementing the outcomes of last month's successful London Summit, and we share their concern that the international response to the economic downturn should meet the needs of both developed and developing economies.

Second, South Africa is a major regional player.  As a member of both the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) it is key for the continent's response to its internal challenges.

Third, we face shared challenges in delivering successful, secure global sporting events: World Cup 2010 in South Africa and London 2012.

South Africa has a special place for anyone who became interested in politics in the 1980s.  It burst onto my consciousness one morning in the early part of the decade when a friend of my parents - Ruth First - was assassinated by the South African security forces.  The story of the fall of apartheid defied expectations.  The struggle to overcome its legacy continues.  

The sight of black democratically elected leaders in South Africa is still remarkable.  The problems are serious but so is the goodwill around the world to make sure that the struggle was worth it.

Posted at 08:43 09 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[5]

26 for Lisbon

The vote of the Czech senate yesterday to ratify the Lisbon treaty does not bring closer a European superstate but it does bring closer some greater rationality and efficiency to European affairs.

Europe does have a foreign policy already but it needs to be better organised and needs a strong British voice at its heart.

Posted at 16:17 08 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[5]