Brown calls for new world order
Updated on 21 January 2008
The Prime Minister has called for a radical reform of international institutions ranging from the United Nations to the World Bank.
In a speech to business leaders in the Indian capital New Delhi, Mr Brown said the UN Security Council should be expanded to include places for nations such as India, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should have a new "early warning" role to head off crises such as Northern Rock.
He also said the World Bank should focus more on increasing clean energy and the environment.
He said: "To succeed now, the post-war rules of the game and the post-war international institutions must be radically reformed to fit our world of globalisation.
"We can and must do more to make our global institutions more representative and I support India's bid for a permanent place, with others, on an expanded UN Security Council.
"And I support changes to the IMF, World Bank and the G8 that reflect the rise of India and Asia."
Mr Brown went on to suggest all countries strengthen networks of global law enforcement authorities, intelligence agents, police and financial regulators, in a bid to combat terrorism worldwide.
And to tackle the problem of struggling states, Mr Brown propsed a UN envoy be appointed to failing nations to coordiinate peacekeeping and recovery after conflict.
The speech was billed by aides as a "significant" statement of his views on a new world order.
They also said that the UK believes Brazil, Japan, Germany and an African country should be allowed to join the UN Security Council.
After the speech, Mr Brown was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters at the University of Delhi - a sprawling campus with 250,000 students.
The Prime Minister joked: "I was once, before I descended into politics, a university lecturer myself. Universities should always stand for objectivity, for rationality, for the honest pursuit of the truth: all the qualities you have to leave behind when you go into politics."
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