World Crisis: The Way Forward After Iraq - Couverture souple

Robert Harvey and Geoffrey Howe have brought together a collection of nineteen wise men of global politics, including Jimmy Carter, Geoffrey Howe, Michael Heseltine, Zbigniew Brezezinski, Simon Jenkins and Henry Kissinger who are united in their dismay at the direction that international relations has taken since 2001. They offer recommendations of how to unravel the mess that Western governments find themselves them in after their disasterous interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. They suggest that the War on Terror has been misguided, poorly executed and that the threat has been over-emphasised, which has been used to introduce legistlation that has to a severe erosion of our civil liberties. For the future they suggest we should focus on the really important issues that face the world today: Nuclear proliferation and how to manage it as well as preventing the fall of nuclear weapons in to the hands of terrorists. As well as encouraging both Russia and the USA to reduce drastically their stockpiles of weapons. Averting humanitarian catastrophes with the promotion of freedom and democracy without the use of force. The USA and EC should reconcile itself to the emergence of major new powers around the world such as Russia, China, India, Japan, Brazil, Mexico and at some point South Africa and Nigeria. Israel and Palestine: both the US and the EC need to work harder to find a lasting solution to this conflict. Russia needs to be drawn into the western economic and political community. The security of energy supplies and a fair pricing policy. Global warming should be treated as a global priority, with solutions undertaken on an effective worldwide basis. The huge inequalities in wealth that exist both within and between states. The reform and improvement of the UN and NATO that reflects the new economic growth area of Asia and allows for a more consensual and effective international security structure.

Robert Harvey is a former member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, was assistant editor of The Economist, and foreign affairs leader writer for the Daily Telegraph. His books include, War of Wars, Global Disorder and Cochrane. He lives in Powys, Wales.