THE WORLD AFTER BUSH

As the Washington clocks strike twelve on 20th January 2009, listen carefully and you might just hear a swooshing sigh of relief travel around the world.
But a critique of what should have been done differently since 2001 is not enough.
This blog is about the new ideas that can change our world and how a 'new multilateralism' can tackle the global challenges of our age.
Change the World, Reports from the Fabian new year conference



Monday, January 14, 2008

Over here

The British weekend papers found little new to say about the race in the US, awaiting the next twists and turns. So the focus was on the impact on British politics. Saturday's Times reported that David Cameron tried but failed to meet Obama on his Washington trip last year, because he sees him as the US politician who embodies 'change'.

John Rentoul in the Independent on Saturday notes some rhetorical borrowings from JFK in George Osborne's latest speech, and notes that the New Tories will be flexible enough to learn from any winner:


The Clinton campaign was the big moment in the export to Britain of US political language, ideas and tactics. The formative event in New Labour history was the visit by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to the victorious Democrat campaign team after the election.

Cameron and Osborne are trying to emulate them, but they don't yet know which candidate will win. When they do, we can be sure that they will try to copy the winning campaign.


Andrew Rawnsley continues the Gordon Brown/Hillary Clinton comparison - even giving my piece on Friday a plug - and wondering if our Prime Minister has now back-tracked on the change message.
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The World After Bush

As the Washington clocks strike twelve on 20th January 2009, listen carefully and you might just hear a swooshing sigh of relief travel around the world. The Bush Presidency will not leave the legacy its architects intended. But a critique of what should have been done differently since 2001 is not enough. This blog is about the new ideas which can create a 'new multilateralism' to tackle the global challenges we face.