It is an honour
to address the General Assembly for the first time, and
it is a particular honour to do so as such momentous
events unfold in the Arab world. Last week I was in
Tripoli and Benghazi. I saw the hunger of a people
eager to get on with reclaiming their country, writing
themselves a new chapter of freedom and democracy.
This has been the most dramatic episode of what has
been called the Arab Spring.
My argument today is that Libya and the Arab
Spring show that the United Nations needs a new way
of working, because the Arab Spring is a massive
opportunity to spread peace, prosperity, democracy
and, vitally, security, but only if we really seize the
opportunity.
So the events of this year present a challenge to
all of us — a challenge to Europe to show it can reform
its aid and trade strategy to be truly progressive; a
challenge to the African Union, to meet the
opportunities of this century with the same courage
that won liberation in the last; a challenge to the
Israelis and Palestinians, to take the bold steps to come
to the table and make lasting peace; a challenge to Iran
and to Syria, to give their peoples the freedoms they
deserve; and a challenge to the United Nations.
One can sign every human rights declaration in
the world, but if one stands by and watches people
being slaughtered in their own country when one could
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act, then what are those signatures really worth? The
United Nations has to show that we can be not just
united in condemnation, but united in action, acting in
a way that lives up to the United Nations founding
principles and meets the needs of peoples everywhere.
The peoples of the Arab world have made their
aspirations clear. They want transparency and
accountability of Government, an end to corruption,
the fair and consistent rule of law, the chance to get a
job and to have a stake in how their country is run, the
freedom to communicate and the chance to participate
in shaping society as citizens with rights and
responsibilities.
No one says that achieving those ambitions will
be easy. There will be false starts and wrong turns
along the way, not least where countries have inherited
sectarian and regional divisions, weak political parties,
State institutions enfeebled by misuse and a politics
distorted by the false choice between repression on the
one hand and Islamist extremism on the other.
The long process of developing a new and
accountable Government is just beginning. And across
the region, we cannot guarantee that the process of
reform is irreversible. But let us be clear. These
developments present a great opportunity for many
who have long been sold short by their Governments,
and there is an opportunity and responsibility for all of
us, too.
Just as after 1989 we helped those who tore down
the Berlin Wall to build robust democracies and market
economies, just as in 1994 we welcomed South Africa
back into the commonwealth of nations when it chose
the path of reconciliation and democracy instead of
racial conflict, so now in 2011, as people in North
Africa and the Middle East stand up and give voice to
their hopes for more open and democratic societies, we
have an opportunity, and, I would say, a responsibility
to help them.
Now the mistake we often make in the West is to
think that because the people in this region want
democracy, they will want it in the same way and with
the same outcomes that we do. We should not be trying
to impose Western values or a single template on the
region. Democracy is a process, not an event.
Participatory Government involves so much more than
just the simple act of voting. The Assembly heard not
long ago from President Ahmadinejad. He did not
remind us that he runs a country where they may have
elections, of a sort, but they also repress freedom of
speech. They do everything they can to avoid the
accountability of a free media. They violently prevent
demonstrations. And yes, they detain and torture those
who argue for a better future. So we should never
pretend that having elections is enough. The building
blocks of democracy have to be patiently developed
from the grass roots up. The process will be different in
every country. And it is not for us to dictate how Arab
nations should respond to those challenges, or to
lecture them about how to do it. But there is an
important opportunity for us to help, and we must seize
it.
There are important lessons from what has
happened in Libya. The Libyans liberated themselves.
Ordinary Libyans from all walks of life came together
and showed incredible resilience and bravery as they
rose up and drove out Al-Qadhafi. The people of
Benghazi, the brave fighters of Misurata, the people of
Zawiyah, the warriors from the Nafusa Mountains, all
of them showed incredible courage in liberating their
country. The National Transitional Council, which
demonstrated great leadership, not least as Tripoli fell,
urged people to avoid reprisals and to look to the
future — a message that still holds true today.
That revolution truly belongs to the Libyan
people. The United Nations played a vital role
authorizing international action. But let us be clear; the
United Nations is no more effective than the nation
States that come together to enforce its will. And on
this occasion a coalition of nations across the Western
and Arab world had the will to act. In doing so, they
stopped Benghazi from joining Srebrenica and Rwanda
in history’s painful roll call of massacres that the world
failed to prevent. Today, Tripoli and Benghazi are
cities transformed. Where there was fear, now there is
hope and an optimism and belief that are truly
inspiring.
But there are challenges ahead, not just in Libya
but all across the region. Economies in the region have
underperformed when compared with their peers. In
1960, Egypt’s gross domestic product per capita was
comparable with Korea’s. Today it has fallen to around
just one fifth of the size. Across the region, some
countries dependent on oil revenues, and others held
back by heavy State control have failed to diversify
and create jobs in productive new sectors and failed to
connect themselves to the economies of the region and
the wider world.
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Indeed, less than four per cent of North African
trade is within the region, making it the least integrated
neighbourhood in our world. And the promise of
economic reform has not been fulfilled. Too often
people were told economic reform would bring them
market economies with greater freedom to start up
businesses, to trade, to grow and to create wealth. But
it did not. It brought them corrupt and crony
capitalism. Now the future is for the people of this
region to determine, but I would urge them not to reject
something they have never had — a genuine, open, fair
and transparent market economy, which has proved the
world over to be the best way to create jobs and
wealth. And the need for economic success is vital,
because this is a region where 60 per cent of the
population is under 25, and youth unemployment is
nearly double the world average.
It is a region that must create 50 million new jobs
by 2020 just to keep pace with its population; that
means 700,000 new jobs every year in Egypt alone.
And these jobs should not be just for men. Let us be
honest. It is not just the men of the region who want a
job and a voice. The unemployment rate for Egyptian
women is more than three times that of men. And it is
not only the economy where they are denied the chance
to play a fuller role. It is society and politics and
culture too. But look at the crowds in Freedom Square
and we see it is the women too, finding their voices,
showing clearly that they want to play a part in
building their future.
So, in this historic period, when the voice of this
region is finally being heard, there is now a unique
opportunity for women to fulfil their ambitions too.
This is not just in the interests of women. It is in the
interests of those countries as a whole. Let us be clear.
You cannot build strong economies, open societies and
inclusive political systems if you lock out women. So
the Arab Spring will not succeed if the opportunities
that are opening up are denied to half of the
population.
Now, of course, the actions we take to support the
people in each country must be tailored to that country,
with respect for its particular culture, history and
tradition. What is right for Libya will not necessarily
be right for everywhere else. But the international
community has found its voice in Libya, and we must
not now lose our nerve. We must have the confidence
to speak out and act as necessary to support those who
seek new freedoms.
In the European Union, it is time to ensure that
the billions of euros we spend in this region each year
are used to support reform that will meet the
aspirations of the people. And there should be no more
excuses for denying the people of the region fair access
to our markets, including in agriculture. Here at the
United Nations, we have a responsibility to stand up
against regimes that persecute their people. We need to
see reform in Yemen. And above all, on Syria, it is time
for the members of the Security Council to act. We
must now adopt a credible resolution, threatening
tough sanctions.
Of course we should always act with care when it
comes to the internal affairs of a sovereign State. But
we cannot allow this to be an excuse for indifference in
the face of a regime that, week after week, arrests,
intimidates, tortures and kills people who are
peacefully trying to make their voices heard.
The voice of the African Union is vital too. Africa
has rightly challenged the world to meet its aid
commitments. I am proud that Britain will meet its
commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of gross national
income from 2013. And all the countries that made
promises at Gleneagles and elsewhere must meet those
promises too. In the case of Britain, it means we have
been able to provide £124 million of emergency aid to
3 million people facing starvation in the Horn of
Africa. But at the same time, Africa must meet its
responsibilities too.
Many will find it hard to understand why
countries in southern Africa which fought so hard to
throw off oppression themselves, have been so slow to
respond to the Arab Spring. Of course, I recognize that
many have long been committed to non-intervention.
But my argument is that where action is necessary,
legal and right, to fail to act is to fail those who need
our help. So it is welcome that the African Union is
taking steps to recognize the National Transitional
Council in Libya, as many African countries have
already done. Africa’s responsibility now is to embrace
and support Libya’s new, inclusive and democratic
future. And this must include ensuring that those
wanted for serious crimes are brought to justice, and
that the wealth stolen from the Libyan people is
returned to them.
We all have a responsibility to the Palestinians
too. A key part of the Arab Spring is the right of
Palestinians to have a viable State of their own, living
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in peace, alongside a safe and secure State of Israel.
And I strongly support this. There has been much
speculation about what will happen here this week. Let
us be clear about one fact. No resolution can, on its
own, substitute for the political will necessary to bring
peace. Peace will only come when Palestinians and
Israelis sit down and talk to each other, make
compromises, build trust and agree. So our role must
be to support this, to defeat those who embrace
violence, to stop the growth of settlements and to
support Palestinians and Israelis alike to make peace.
But the opportunity in Libya and elsewhere in the
region is not just about achieving a more open society,
prosperity and the building blocks of democracy for
their own sake — it is about security too. Some have
argued that stability in the Arab world can only be
achieved by the tight control of strong authoritarian
regimes and that reform is a threat to stability. In fact,
the opposite is true. Reform is the basis of long-term
stability. Authoritarianism threatens it.
While there is never a justification for resorting
to terror, if people’s hunger for a job and a voice are
denied, there is a real risk that the frustration and the
alienation they feel will cause them to be drawn to
more violent and extremist responses. That is not just a
problem for one region. It is a problem for all of us.
Here, in this great city, where 10 years ago, people of
90 different nationalities were killed in the most
horrific terrorist attack in history, we must recognize
that political and economic reform in the Middle East
is not just good in its own right, but that it is also a key
part of how, in the end, we will defeat Al-Qaida.
Of course, we must meet terrorist activity with a
strong and resolute security response. Al-Qaida and its
offshoots must know that they will have no safe hiding
place to plot or recruit young men to train as terrorists.
But in the long term, we must defeat not only the
terrorists, but the extremist ideology that feeds them.
Al-Qaida’s poisonous ideology has thrived on
repression. Democracy is what it fears most. People are
not in Tahrir Square in Cairo and Freedom Square in
Libya for an Islamist caliphate, but for a job, a voice
and a future. And we must heed their call, for their
freedom and for the security of us all.