Gordon Brown (Continuación)

ReflexionesNaturaleza,

Throughout history human progress has arisen from the dream of achieving far-reaching change even when people have said it was beyond our grasp, and from the struggle to overcome obstacles even when they seem insurmountable.

Today we face a global challenge whose solution, for decades until now, has appeared beyond our reach – impossible, unaffordable and unworkable.

But catastrophic climate change is no more a matter of untameable fate than slavery, women's oppression, mass unemployment or nuclear war. And over the next two weeks we have the chance to come together, as a truly global community, to take the first decisive action needed to change its course.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalOrden Mundial

The next six months will test international cooperation more severely than at any time since 1945. That may seem strange to say after a year of global crisis that has demanded unity on an immense scale, yet five urgent challenges confront us and we cannot delay our responses.

Crucial meetings this week in New York and Pittsburgh will determine by next spring whether a new era of collaboration is possible.

We cannot solve these problems immediately, of course, but momentous decisions are demanded now toward halting climate change, renewing economic prosperity, fighting terrorism, ending nuclear proliferation and overcoming poverty.

This week starts with efforts to reinvigorate talks to secure a new international agreement on climate change in Copenhagen this December.…  Seguir leyendo »

, MundoAsia

El resultado atroz aunque inevitable de la parodia de juicio al que ha sido sometida Aung San Suu Kyi constituye la prueba definitiva de que el régimen militar de Birmania está dispuesto a seguir desafiando al mundo.

La desoladora noticia de que ha sido condenada a cumplir otro año y medio de arresto domiciliario no sólo es una tragedia para ella y su familia sino también para el pueblo birmano, que sufre diariamente a manos de los tiranos. Era el momento de que los generales atendieran el creciente clamor por un cambio y optaran por la vía de la reforma que exige la región y la comunidad internacional.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea,

The digital revolution is changing all our lives beyond recognition and today we shall set out how Britain must change with it. Whether it is to work online, study, learn new skills, pay bills or simply stay in touch with friends and family, a fast internet connection is now seen by most of the public as an essential service, as indispensable as electricity, gas and water.

Just as the bridges, roads and railways built in the 19th century were the foundations of the Industrial Revolution that helped Britain to become the workshop of the world, so investment now in the information and communications industries can underpin our emergence from recession to recovery and cement the UK's position as a global economic powerhouse.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalEconomía

This is a defining moment for the world economy.

We are living through the first financial crisis of this new global age. And the decisions we make will affect us over not just the next few weeks but for years to come.

The global problems we face require global solutions. At the end of World War II, American and European visionaries built a new international economic order and formed the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and a world trade body. They acted because they knew that peace and prosperity were indivisible. They knew that for prosperity to be sustained, it had to be shared.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea

This week's financial turbulence provides the starkest demonstration yet that we are living in an era of dramatic global change. Financial markets across the world are in uncharted waters. The British economy prospers as a global hub for investment, trade and services. That openness is a source of strength. But it also means that we cannot insulate ourselves from the contagious effects of the financial crisis in the United States, and the sharp increase in world commodity prices.

Nobody should underestimate the severity of this crisis. The US government now owns much of the US mortgage market and a large part of the world's biggest insurer.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalTerrorismo InternacionalEuropaUnión Europea

Next week, when Parliament votes on the proposal to detain terrorist suspects without charge for up to 42 days, hard choices have to be made.

Britain has lived with terrorist threats for decades. But I am under no illusion that today's threats are different in their scale and nature from anything we have faced before. Today in Britain there are at least 2,000 terrorist suspects, 200 networks or cells and 30 active plots. The aim of terrorists is to kill and maim the maximum number of victims, indiscriminately and without warning, including through suicide attacks.

Look at the scale and complexity of today's terrorist plots and you will understand why the amount of time required before charges can be brought has increased.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalEconomía

The global economy is facing the third great oil shock of recent decades. The oil price, just $10 a barrel a decade ago, has reached $135, pushing up the price of petrol and domestic heating as well as contributing to higher food prices. And I know that families up and down the country are feeling the impact in the cost of filling up at the petrol station and in the rise in gas and electricity bills.

As every country faces increased costs, it is now understood that a global shock on this scale requires global solutions. This is why the UK is arguing that at the top of the economic agenda for the forthcoming G8 summit in Japan should be a global strategy for addressing the impact of higher oil prices.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica,

There has been important progress on Darfur in the past two months. In July we agreed on the deployment of a robust UN/African Union (AU) force and the start of peace talks. But the situation remains completely unacceptable. In the coming weeks and months, we commit as leaders to redouble our efforts to make further progress.

At the end of July the UN agreed to our plan. UN Resolution 1769, passed –– for the first time –– unanimously, was the culmination of intense diplomatic activity over the crisis in Darfur. In the next few weeks, one of the largest UN troop deployments –– this time in partnership with the African Union –– will begin arriving in Darfur.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaEuropaUnión Europea, ,

Within a few weeks of becoming prime minister of Great Britain, I have come to the United States to affirm the historic partnership of shared purpose that unites our two countries.

Outside observers may think of even great alliances only in narrow, 19th-century terms: treaties of convenience driven forward by nothing more than mutual needs and current interests.

Yet I believe our Atlantic partnership is rooted in something far more fundamental and lasting than common interests or even common history: It is anchored in shared ideals that have for two centuries linked the destinies of our two countries. Winston Churchill spoke of what he called "the joint inheritance" of Britain and America.…  Seguir leyendo »