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David Miliband
(Archived), LondonWorld Cup 2010 – Be on the Ball
Earlier this week we launched the “Be on the Ball” campaign, to provide advice to those tens of thousands of England fans travelling to the 2010 World Cup.
The logistics of organising travel between stadiums thousands of miles apart can be difficult - so it’s important to be prepared. Taking the necessary precautions and heeding the advice can make a massive difference. We’ve set up a dedicated World Cup advice page to help.
At the Press Conference,Tottenham legend Gary Mabbutt helped launch the campaign. I had asked the organisers to get an Arsenal player involved, but none were English so we had to settle for someone from Spurs...! (Joke)
David Miliband
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27 November 2009
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South Africa - Zuma's inauguration
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.
David Miliband
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Piracy in Somalia
Yesterday marked the launch of the European Union's naval mission to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden and along the Somali Coast, under British command. It is a hugely tough job, inextricably linked to the ground situation in Somalia, but vital for global trade and security. The mission's key roles are to protect World Food Programme humanitarian deliveries to Somalia, protecting other vulnerable shipping and deterring and disrupting piracy more widely. The mission, called Operation "Atalanta", also includes airborne surveillance in known piracy high risk areas. Warships and patrol aircraft from eight nations including the UK are so far committed to participate in "Atalanta", and the EU has made clear it would welcome participation by non-EU member states too, in recognition that this is a shared international problem and responsibility. It is a good example of the EU bringing together the resources of member states to good effect.
David Miliband
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09 December 2008
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The Doha Round is About More than Trade
Once again the world's trade negotiators are trying for a decisive breakthrough. "Last chance" meetings have come and gone. It is not easy to be optimistic after seven years of negotiation. No multilateral trade negotiation has ever failed. Many commentators now suggest that Doha will be the first.
The cost of failure would be huge. New trade from the deal would be worth tens - even hundreds - of billions of Euros annually. A shot in the arm the global economy desperately needs. At a time of global economic uncertainty Doha would lock in new economic opportunities around the world, for developed and developing countries alike.
If Doha fails these benefits will be lost. But the effects will go wider.
Doha is the first world-wide negotiation to reflect the new global economic order. Brazil, India, China and other emerging economies are equal players in the WTO, as central to its success as the EU, US and Japan. It is right, therefore, as Peter Mandelson has done, to demand that they make a fair, proportionate contribution to a world system from which they greatly benefit.
If Doha slips away, a unique opportunity to strengthen the multilateral, rules-based system will be lost - that would be a big knock to international confidence. If we cannot reach a trade agreement after seven years, can we really expect to succeed next year on a truly global successor to Kyoto? How will we generate a global commitment needed to shift to low carbon growth?
We need international institutions that accommodate the shifts of power and influence in the world and can deal more effectively with both familiar and new challenges. We still need to manage international disputes and resolve conflicts. But we also need collectively to address climate change, global economic shocks, food and energy insecurity and terrorism. The old institutions, created in the aftermath of the second world war, are insufficiently geared to meet these challenges. India, China, Brazil and others must take a proportionate but bigger share of responsibility for world problems in return for a bigger say in world institutions. In the WTO they already have that bigger say. So Doha is, therefore, a test case. It if fails, sceptics will see little chance of improving the UN's ability to respond to post conflict situations. Or reforming the IMF to give better early warning of global economic shocks. Or turning the World Bank into a bank for the environment as well as development.
The EU should lead by example. We should negotiate hard for our interests, but with an eye on the bigger picture. Our grand-children will not blame us for making the small concessions needed to achieve a trade deal. They will blame us, and rightly, if we miss the opportunity in the Doha Round to build a platform for managing the complicated and uncertain world they will inherit.
David Miliband
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BBC Majors On Foreign Policy - Shock
David Miliband
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Archived: A blog about British foreign policy and the work of the Foreign Office.
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26 November 2009