INTRODUCTION
It is a great pleasure to be back at the Shangri-La Dialogue and an honour to be able to speak to you this year as the new British Defence Secretary.
In my new role, I have a daunting array of issues competing for attention.
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My top priority is the vital international campaign in Afghanistan where 9,500 British troops are working alongside their military and civilian colleagues from 60 other countries, including an invaluable contribution from nations represented here today. It is in Afghanistan that the resolve and capability of the international community to confront transnational terrorism is being tested.
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The UK will also have our first full scale Strategic Defence and Security Review in over a decade; shaping Britain’s defences for the challenges of the future, not the legacies of the past.
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And of course there are pressing issues surrounding the economic legacy inherited by the new British Government.
But, I was particularly keen to attend this conference with its focus on Asian security.
There are compelling reasons for doing so.
IMPORTANCE OF ASIA TO BRITAIN
The new British Government places a high priority on our relationships in Asia.
Britain's national interests are directly affected by the security and defence challenges in this region and intimately linked to those of our friends and partners here.
Asia is one of the driving forces of the globalising world – the largest populations, vibrant and fast-growing economies, with vital trading routes and natural resources.
But, the global financial crisis is a reminder of how interlinked our economies and our wider interests are.
Britain’s security and economic prosperity require an ambitious and coherent approach to world affairs, in which Asia plays an important part.
Many in this region have long historical relationships with the UK.
We intend to enhance these links and build better and stronger relationships with new partners.
I am here to tell you that Britain is getting back to business.
Optimistic but realistic.
Ambitious yet pragmatic.
NEW HORIZONS
The new Government in Britain represents a generational step-change in our approach to international affairs.
Neither the new Prime Minister, the new Foreign Secretary, nor I were in Parliament at the start of 1989, the year that saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
In many ways this is the UK’s first post-Cold War Government.
We realize that the world has changed.
We recognise that the world is now multi-polar and multi-powered.
We think globally and will pursue a distinctively British Foreign and Security Policy rooted in our enlightened national interest, but no longer confined to the Euro-Atlantic area.
Francis Fukuyama once talked about the end of history. Perhaps he should have been talking about the end of geography – or at least the end of the isolation and insulation that geography once brought.
Not only have the information revolution and the internet rendered distance immaterial for many purposes.
But, in this globalised world - instability in the world economy, the scourge of terrorism, the threat of nuclear proliferation, the need for development and poverty reduction, and, of course, the consequences of climate change - these are challenges that face not one country, nor even one region, but face all countries in all parts of the world.
Today’s world is one of necessary partnership not optional isolation.
SHARED THREATS
For all the benefits that globalisation has brought, we know that it also has a darker side.
The changes that have brought the promise of common prosperity have also brought threats to common security.
For instance, terrorist groups like Al Qaeda use the features of our new world – global communications, cyberspace, devolved networks, diverse finances – for their own vicious and destructive ends.
And we also know that the problems that affect one region are likely to be felt elsewhere.
Take piracy. Whether it be in the Malacca Strait or the Gulf of Aden, the threat cannot be contained by national boundaries on land or sea.
The effects are not felt by just one country or region, nor does any single state have a monopoly over the solutions.
The Malacca Straits Patrol has led to a dramatic reduction of piracy here, and your experience is helping to inform operations in the Gulf of Aden where the 27 nation contact group sees NATO and EU countries working alongside many partners from Asia in the interests of a common cause.
It is no coincidence that Asian countries are commanding Combined Task Force 151 for the first half of this year.
In Afghanistan, Asian nations are contributing thousands of troops to the international effort – with more to come this year – and billions of dollars in aid and crucial civilian support.
And whether the danger arises here in Asia or in the Middle East – we all face the risk of a cascade of nuclear proliferation and instability due to the ambitions of Iran and North Korea to build nuclear arsenals.
That is why it is a top priority for Britain – as it must be for us all - to stem the spread of nuclear know-how and equipment. It is essential that we deter any country that seeks to acquire nuclear weapons and keep nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists.
On North Korea, and in representing a permanent member of the UN Security Council here, let me say this:
Firstly, on behalf of the UK, I would like to express my condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in the sinking of the Cheonan.
We strongly support President Lee’s approach of proportionate action in response to this wholly unprovoked act of aggression.
As President Lee said last night, it is important that tensions are not escalated further and steps are taken to promote stability in the Korean Peninsula.
And this will be reflected in our approach at the UN Security Council where the UK is working closely with the Republic of Korea and other international partners.
SHARED INSTITUTIONS
The Asia-Pacific security architecture for dealing with challenges like these is still maturing.
But globally, we must all face similar challenges and we must do it looking to the future not the past.
The review of NATO’s Strategic Concept is one of the ways we are doing that in the Euro-Atlantic region.
Of course, for the UK, our relationship with the United States, in the context of NATO, will remain critical for our security.
It is our most prized and important strategic relationship.
But Britain also has longstanding and strong Commonwealth ties here.
These relationships are highly valued and have stood the test of time.
We remain committed to the Five Power Defence Arrangements.
It is the cornerstone of our Defence engagement in South East Asia.
We want to see the Arrangements continue to develop, especially as we approach the fortieth anniversary in 2011.
All successful defence organisations need to keep pace with the changing security environment, identify ways of deepening co-operation and ensure that resources continue to be invested in the right areas.
We must use every lever at our disposal to protect our security in an uncertain, unstable, and unpredictable world.
So, we seek enduring long term structures coupled with a mixture of formal and informal arrangements that have the flexibility to deal with unexpected threats and events at short notice.
We are clear that sovereign states make their own decisions on military contributions to missions and on the size and shape of their national Armed Forces.
But we are equally clear that cooperative and collaborative solutions are far more desirable and more effective than individual action.
CONCLUSION
In the context of our common interests, we must tackle together the inequities that exist in those international institutions and multi-lateral relationships which were forged in the aftermath of the 2nd World War and which are still structured around an out-of-date view of the world.
Each of us, to some degree, is a product of our national culture, our national history and our national traditions.
The world maps in Europe place the Greenwich Meridian at the centre – technically correct, but often betraying a very Eurocentric view of the world.
Increasingly, in other parts of the world, the international dateline through the Pacific takes centre stage.
We must all overcome parochial views which tie us to our past
We must all overcome the psychology of the old world.
This new British Government will think globally and engage globally.
New thinking for a new century.
New risks but new opportunities.
We can shape the world – not just be shaped by it.
That is our challenge.
That is our prize.