United Kingdom, 2010

The nations

represented here know how deeply the world has

changed in the six and a half decades since the United

Nations was formed; since the spirit of international

citizenship, of peoples and nations combining their

energies to solve our shared problems, gave birth to the

United Nations. Today, that spirit is needed more than

ever.

All of us have to respond to a world that is

profoundly altered. As a community of nations, we face

three profound challenges: a redrawing of the map of

power, including a big shift in economic power; the

globalization of problems, not least terrorism and

climate change; and increasingly fluid forms of identity

and the rapid circulation and potency of new ideas.

Taken together, these mean that we are in a new world.

All three demand matching responses. So we must

reform and renew our multilateral institutions in line

with the changing map of power, strengthen our actions

on international peacebuilding, climate change and

development, and promote liberal values and human

rights to win the conflict of ideas.

The truth is that in all three of these areas we are

not doing anything like as well as we must. The

effectiveness of multilateral approaches is in question

in the wake of the financial crisis, the failure of the

climate change talks in Copenhagen and the stalling of

the Doha Trade Round. And too many nations and

international institutions have been too reticent about

promoting enlightened human values. We need to inject

new life into our institutions and new confidence into

the expression of our ideals.

Turning first to the altered geography of power, it

is an often-stated fact that the old economic order is

being transformed and that what were once labelled

emerging economies are now, in many cases, global

economic players. The distribution of military power,

too, is altering, so power is being wielded in different

places and in different ways. This power shift requires

us to reform our international institutions, to reinforce

the rule of international law, and to free up

international trade.

In recent years, our multinational institutions

have sometimes struggled to adapt to the new

circumstances, so reform is essential. And a good place

to start is right here at the United Nations. The Security

Council must be reformed to reflect the new geography

of power. The United Kingdom is clear and

unambiguous in our support for permanent seats for

Brazil, India, Germany and Japan, and for African

representation. Put simply, the United Nations cannot

speak for the many if it only hears the voices of the

few. We welcome the priority that the President has

promised to give to the Assembly’s continuing

negotiations on this issue.

Closer cooperation on counter-terrorism is also

vital, and we welcome the Assembly’s affirmation of

the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

We must stand shoulder to shoulder in the struggle

against terrorism.

The United Kingdom will always champion the

United Nations. If it did not exist, we would have to

invent it. But let us be frank. Without a radical

overhaul, the United Nations will not provide the

leadership the world seeks from it and needs from it. It

is also important that the vital role of the European

Union in promoting development and prosperity be

adequately represented in the Assembly.

The redrawing of the power map also makes it

even more important that the writ of international law

extend across the world. Laws are the solid

representation of our collective values. That is why it is

so important that we uphold and reinforce the

instruments of international justice, including the

International Criminal Court and specific tribunals,

such as those for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

I strongly welcome the comments of President

Obama yesterday on the vital importance of the Middle

East peace process. I can assure the Assembly that the

United Kingdom is committed to helping lead to the

end of hostilities that have been so profoundly

damaging for all sides.

The prevention of nuclear-weapons proliferation

is another huge priority for the international

community. The United Kingdom welcomes the

success of the Review Conference of the Parties to the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

this May, and I can assure the Assembly that we will

continue to play our part in making the world safer

from the threat of nuclear weapons.

I was ready today to welcome the progress made

in this week’s meeting of the E3+3 group on Iran. I

was ready to also straightforwardly reiterate our

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concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme. But instead,

once again, an issue of grave global concern has been

overshadowed by the bizarre, offensive and attention-

grabbing pronouncements by President Ahmadinejad

from this rostrum yesterday. His remarks were intended

to distract attention from Iran’s obligations and to

generate media headlines. They deserve to do neither.

The reshaped world of power also increases the

need to open our borders to free trade. A trading world

is a safer world. A world trade deal, which is within

reach, would be worth $170 billion annually to the

world economy. Two years ago we were very close, but

we failed to seal the deal. We simply cannot afford

protectionism. Today, we have to recognize that we

will need an even more ambitious deal than we

envisaged then if we are to get an agreement. Greater

access to markets, particularly for least developed

countries’ exports of agriculture, supports growth and

reduces poverty.

The second of the three big shifts we have to

adapt to is the globalization of many of our problems

and of many of the solutions to those problems. Our

economies are, of course, tied ever more closely

together, as recent events have dramatically proven.

Prosperity and poverty in one part of the world impact

on economic activity and security elsewhere.

Diseases can span the globe in a matter of days.

Terrorism is conducted by international networks

across the world. Environmental threats do not respect

borders. We are used to thinking about stateless people.

We have to get used to the idea of stateless problems,

too. Conflict takes place between, across and within

national boundaries, but wherever it takes place it can

threaten the interests of all nations. Conflict

undermines our collective prosperity and destroys

development. We must work harder to prevent conflict

by tackling the sources of violence. And where conflict

does break out, we must be ready to help resolve it.

So let me take this opportunity to acknowledge

the invaluable contribution of United Nations

peacekeepers to laying the foundations for sustainable

peace around the world. We owe them all, and the

Governments that provide them, a great debt of

gratitude. The United Kingdom, along with France and

other partners, has been at the forefront of supporting

and encouraging United Nations efforts to deliver more

strategic and effective peacekeeping. We will continue

to provide that support.

But peacekeeping alone is not the answer. We

need peacebuilding, too. The United Nations is

uniquely placed not only to keep the peace, but also to

make it last. Effective peacebuilding can address the

underlying causes of conflict and strengthen local,

regional and national capacity to contribute to long-

term stability in fragile States.

The coming year will see some significant

challenges to the United Nations efforts to promote

international peace, justice and security: in the Sudan,

where we will see a referendum on the future of

Southern Sudan, while continuing to look for progress

on justice in Darfur and more widely; in Somalia,

where the African Union peacekeeping mission is

playing a brave and crucial role, and where the

leadership of the United Nations could be decisive; and

in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where much

progress has been made but where we have seen again

in recent weeks how much more remains to be done to

achieve real security and stability for many of its hard-

pressed people.

The United Kingdom remains fully committed to

the mission to bring peace and prosperity to

Afghanistan. Afghans are increasingly taking

responsibility for their own affairs. This year’s Kabul

Conference and, most recently, parliamentary elections

have demonstrated Afghan commitment. Challenges

remain, but progress is being made. The United

Kingdom will continue to work with its international

partners to support Afghans to build a better

Afghanistan.

The United Kingdom is wholehearted in our

support for international development. Like many

nations, we are having to take tough action to reduce

our financial deficits, but we are not budging a

millimetre from our commitment to development. We

are standing by our promise to devote 0.7 per cent of

gross national income to international development

assistance from 2013, and we will enshrine this

commitment in law.

When disaster strikes, we must respond quickly

and generously. Right now, Pakistan faces a

humanitarian disaster of unimaginable proportions. As

the Secretary-General has said, this is the largest

disaster in the 65-year history of the United Nations.

So we must ensure that the United Nations appeal is

properly funded to cover both humanitarian relief and

reconstruction, and we must ensure that there is enough

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support over the long term, not least in helping

Pakistan to achieve the levels of economic growth that

will allow the country to rebuild itself. I am very

proud, as the representative of a European Union (EU)

member State, that the EU has recently shown real

leadership in promising to look at improving trade

access for Pakistan in response to the disaster. I very

much hope that others can follow suit.

So, economic power has shifted and problems

have globalized, but at the same time the power of

ideas has grown enormously. Identities have become

more fluid. It is not possible to put people into neatly

labelled national boxes any more. This means that

winning the battle of ideas is as important as military

prowess.

The work of international institutions must

continue to be guided by the values on which those

institutions were founded: the rule of law, both

domestic and international; the right to freedom of

expression and belief; democracy; and equality before

the law. These values are sometimes described as

Western values, but only by people who do not know

their history. Four centuries ago, the great Mughal

emperor Akbar was legislating for religious freedom

and equality in what is now India, while in parts of

Europe heretics were being burned at the stake. The

truth is that these liberal values of equality, law and

self-determination cannot be claimed by any nation or

hemisphere. They are global values with global force.

They are also the values at the heart of the United

Nations Charter.

We should never apologize for promoting the idea

that women and men are equal; never flinch from

insisting that Governments chosen by their people are

better; never shy away from our insistence that nobody

should be silenced because of their religion or beliefs.

The United Kingdom will therefore continue to

push for human rights across the world. Since the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in

1948, the United Nations has developed a global legal

framework of human rights standards. We want to see

the Human Rights Council do more to ensure that

States implement their obligations and use the 2011

review to improve the Council’s ability to respond

effectively to situations of concern, such as the

outrageous abuse of democracy and human rights in

Burma.

United Kingdom foreign policy will be shaped by

the three big challenges I have set out today: a power

shift, the globalization of problems, and the rapid

circulation and potency of ideas. The United Kingdom

Government will fearlessly promote our ideals and

interests while remaining realistic in our approach.

This is the spirit in which the United Kingdom

Government is conducting a root-and-branch review of

our own strategic defence and security policy. Our last

review took place in 1998, but the world has changed,

along with the character of the threats we face. This is

not to say that we did not face grave threats before, but

they were more fixed, more visible and more

predictable. Today, the threats to our security are not

rooted in specific States. They are more fluid and often

less visible: terrorism, organized crime, or attacks from

cyberspace. We must judge our security not by our

ability to deal with what we know, but how able we are

to respond to unpredictable threats.

The United Kingdom will also show leadership

by example. As fierce advocates of the international

rule of law, we will practice what we preach. No nation

can insist on the law and then act as though it is above

it. But our approach will also be hard-headed and

realistic. In recent years we have learned — in same

cases the hard way — that democracy cannot be

created by diktat. Freedom cannot be commanded into

existence.

The new coalition Government, now five-months

old, will restore Britain’s international reputation by

pursuing a hard-headed foreign policy based on liberal

values.

The world has changed, but the values that should

guide us have not. We have to renew our international

institutions in line with the new realities of world

power and influence, and fearlessly project the ideals

of democracy, equality and freedom. Great things are

demanded of us. Great things are necessary from us. It

falls to our generation of leaders to meet these

challenges together.