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30 August, 2008 Ukraine if you want to
Foreign Secretary David Miliband made two things clear on his visit to Ukraine last week; Britain is not afraid to show leadership in Europe over how to handle a resurgent Russia; and he is not afraid to show leadership in Britain.
Speaking in Ukraine's capital Kiev, Mr Miliband said Moscow had to avoid the "temptations of power politics" in its dealings with Georgia, and placed the responsibility for the recent deterioration in its relations with the west squarely at Russia’s door. |
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Russia is weaker than the Soviet Union was, and its power is built on shakier foundations. It cannot project military and ideological power around the world, as the Soviet Union once did, and Mr Miliband’s speech was also an attempt to lay out exactly how Russia’s current behaviour will do it no favours in the longer term.
Mr Miliband’s call for ‘hard-headed engagement’ with Russia, and his clear statement that the UN, EU and NATO are not for turning on their previous commitments to Ukraine, showed clear policy thinking and a willingness to be seen to lead. This contrasts starkly with the Prime Minister’s elusiveness throughout August.
Despite the excited chatterings in political circles David Miliband has wisely stopped just shy of open challenge to Gordon Brown’s leadership, preferring instead to be visibly doing leader-like things. This is hopefully because Mr Miliband recognises that despite the Labour party’s current dire straits, a leadership challenge is not the answer.
Whoever replaced Gordon Brown would probably be pushed into an election which the government would likely lose. The ensuing recrimination would also risk dragging the party back to the dark ages of internecine strife which crippled it as an electoral force throughout the 1980s.
A more sensible approach lies in the question of what ever happened to the ‘government of all the talents’? There is no doubt that Gordon Brown’s natural strength does not lie in getting people to like him. He does, however, have a world-class mind and strong convictions – with these talents he should be concentrating on simple delivery from his government, harnessing the individual strengths of his team to achieve more than sum of its parts. After all, that’s surely the job of a leader?
See also: The battle of Clarke’s drift
Less sexy, please - we’re British
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