- The Guardian, Tuesday 12 February 2008
British foreign secretary will warn of China's impact on world democracy. Photograph: John Stillwell/PA
The foreign secretary, David Miliband, will today set out the clearest exposition yet of Labour's recast foreign policy when he will argue that mistakes made in Iraq and Afghanistan must not cloud the moral imperative to intervene - sometimes militarily - to help spread democracy throughout the world.
He will warn that the rise of China means that the world can no longer take "the forward march of democracy for granted", and that Britain must unambiguously be on the side of what he describes as "civilian surges" for democracy.
In a speech in Oxford today entitled The Democratic Imperative, Miliband will say that he believes the debate about the Iraq war "has clouded the debate about promoting democracy around the world. I understand the doubts about Iraq and Afghanistan, and the deep concerns at the mistakes made." But he will add: "My plea is not to let divisions over those conflicts obscure our national interest, never mind our moral impulse, in supporting movements for democracy." Miliband, who is due to travel to China in a fortnight, will also argue that people inside China and outside are rightly concerned about the next stages in its political development.
Among a string of practical proposals to support democracy, the foreign secretary will suggest:
· encouraging economic openness as a means of tackling corruption and increasing transparency, including in China;
· a new round of provincial elections in Iraq, to help to bind in former insurgents who want proof of their local influence, and the chance to join the Iraqi security force;
· organisations like the UN or Nato should consider offering "security guarantees" to new but fragile governments, conditional on them abiding by democratic rules;
· support for "civilian surges" for democracy led by "literate, better-educated people able to access information and communicate with others".
The foreign secretary will argue that fostering democracy in the Middle East "is the best long-term defence against global terrorism and conflict".
He will also warn that the spread of democracy is far from guaranteed, and that since the millennium, "there has been a pause in democratic advance ... countries with new democratic systems are struggling to establish roots.
"After the end of the cold war it was tempting to believe in the 'end of history' - the inevitable process of liberal democracy and capitalist economics. Now with the economic success of China, we can no longer take the forward march of democracy for granted."
Miliband's broad-ranging speech reflects his deep concern that a combination of factors, including widespread distaste for the American neo-conservative movement, disillusionment at the practical failures in Iraq, and a feeling that some underdeveloped countries, such as Kenya, are simply too tribal for democracy, is storing up a powerful isolationist mood in Britain.
The foreign secretary, who has just returned from Afghanistan and Bangladesh, believes there is an urgent need to restate the case for the universal value of democracy.
He will argue that interventions in other countries must be more subtle, better planned, and if possible undertaken with the agreement of multilateral institutions. But "we must resist the argument of the left and the right to retreat into a world of realpolitik".
Miliband believes that in the 1990s "something strange happened.
"The neo-conservative movement seemed more certain about spreading democracy around the world. The left seemed conflicted between the desirability of the goal and its qualms about the use of military means.
"In fact, the goal of spreading democracy should be a great progressive project; the means need to combine both soft and hard power. We should not let the debate about the how of foreign policy obscure the clarity about the what."
