William Hague has been visiting Australia in the last couple of days, alongside half of
the National Security Council. But you would not know it. Except for a few comments in the blogosphere, there has been little write-up of the visit in the newspapers. In many ways this encapsulates
one of the government’s key foreign policy dilemmas.
Many of the world¹s problems require cooperation with the US, Europe and the BRICs but especially the BRICs, who, for all their flaws and faults, are the fast-growing countries on the planet. If you want to force an end to Iran¹s illegal nuclear enrichment programme, then you need China. If you have any hope of stabilising Haiti, then you cannot do it without Brazil. Worried about conflict in Central Asia and its impact on energy supplies to Europe? You will have to speak to Russia.
Yet while they have become powerful, the BRICs are reluctant to take on the role of a ‘responsible stakeholder,’ to quote World Bank chief Bob Zoellick,
and help solve common challenges.
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