Prime Minister’s speech to the

National Assembly, Kuwait

Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a speech on Britain’s relationship with

the Middle East to the National Assemply in Kuwait on Tuesday, 22 February
2011.

+++

Mr Speaker, Members of Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s a privilege to

speak here in the Kuwaiti National Assembly in this very special year when you
celebrate half a century of independence from Britain and, together, we mark the
twentieth anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s forces.

When Saddam invaded your country two decades ago, two world leaders
immediately saw what was at stake. President Bush and Prime Minister
Thatcher. Margaret Thatcher put the issue with characteristic candour. “Iraq’s
invasion”, she said “….defies every principle for which the United Nations stands.
If we let it succeed, no small country can ever feel safe again. The law of the
jungle would take over from the rule of law.”
Britain, America and a great alliance of Arabs and non-Arabs alike came here
to stand with you in your darkest hour and show that proud and independent
nations should not be trampled into the desert sand. I am particularly proud to
be in Kuwait today with Margaret Thatcher’s successor as Prime Minister, and
the man who helped lead that remarkable coalition to victory: Sir John Major.
He joins me today in paying tribute to the British servicemen and women – and
all their colleagues in the Coalition forces – who fought here and to remember
in particular those who gave their lives for Kuwait’s liberty including 47 British
servicemen.

Their sacrifice is honoured every day by the sovereignty of this Parliament and
by all you have achieved as a nation, not only in the 20 years since invasion, but
in the 50 years of independence.

Now once again this region is the epicentre of momentous changes, but pursued
in a very different way. History is sweeping through your neighbourhood. Not
as a result of force and violence, but by people seeking their rights, and in the
vast majority of cases doing so peacefully and bravely. Across the Arab World,
aspirations are stirring which have lain dormant.

They can take inspiration from other peaceful movements for change, such as
the Velvet revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe, the civil rights struggle
in America, or the peaceful transition to democracy in Muslim countries like
Indonesia.

It is too early to say how things will turn out. Too often, in the past, there has
been disappointment. But there are some grounds for cautious optimism.
Optimism, because it is the people – especially the young people – who are
speaking up. It is they who are choosing to write their history – and doing so for
the most part peacefully and with dignity. It is they who are showing that there
is more to politics in this region than the false choice sometimes presented
between repression and extremism.

As I said in Downing Street ten days ago, and as I repeated yesterday in Cairo,
this is a precious moment of opportunity for this region. Just as we stood with
Kuwait in 1990 to defend your right to self-determination, so we stand today with
the people and Governments who are on the side of justice, of the rule of law and
of freedom. It is not for me, or for governments outside the region, to pontificate
about how each country meets the aspirations of its people. It is not for us to tell
you how to do it, or precisely what shape your future should take. There is no
single formula for success, and there are many ways to ensure greater, popular
participation in Government. We respect your right to take your own decisions,
while offering our goodwill and support.

But we cannot remain silent in our belief that freedom and the rule of law are
what best guarantee human progress and economic success, and that each
country should find its own path to achieving peaceful change. Here in Kuwait
you have set out down this path. So, here – here in this country – here in this
Parliament – here is the right place to speak of these things.

Britain and Kuwait share a long history of Al Sadaqa (friendship) from the time
the first British ships called into Kuwait in the 17th Century through the treaty
of Al Sadaqa in 1899 right to the present day. And my argument today is this.
Yes, ours is a partnership based on a shared economic future. As we need our
economies to grow and diversify in this challenging globalised world. And yes,
ours is a partnership to deliver shared security interests. Not least as we confront
the terrorist threat we face from extremism. But crucially, far from running counter
to these vital interests of prosperity and security, I believe that political and
economic reform in the Arab world is essential not just in advancing these vital
shared interests but as a long term guarantor of the stability needed for our
relationship to strengthen and for both our societies to flourish.

Economy

The friendship between our countries was born from trade between two maritime
nations. Indeed it was the captain of an English ship, “The Eagle” who made the
first accurate survey of Kuwait Bay in 1777. And today trade remains a great
engine of growth and opportunity not just for Britain and Kuwait, but right across
the region. But anyone who thinks this trade is just about purchasing oil on the
one hand and selling manufactured goods in return is completely out of date. It’s
much more complex and diverse.

From the new international airport to be built here in Kuwait to Yas and Saadiyat
Islands in Abu Dhabi and Education City in Qatar British companies are playing
a pivotal role in exciting and ambitious development plans across the Gulf. In
turn the Gulf countries are investing heavily in Britain, like the Kuwait Investment
Authority which has its overseas headquarters in London and has invested some
£150 billion over the last fifty years, the majority of it in the UK.

As your economies grow and diversify, Britain is in an excellent position to help

you make the most of these opportunities. Our timezone. The English language.
The easiest access to the European market. Superb universities. And our culture
and sport from next year’s Olympics in London to formula one motor racing and
premiership football teams supported across the Gulf region.

Already today the UK exports more goods and services to the Gulf than to China
and India combined. Right now, the value of trade and investment between
Britain and Kuwait alone is already over £1 billion a year. And the Prime Minister
Sheikh Nasser and I have today set a new challenge to double this over the next
five years.

Security

Advancing our shared economic interests also requires security and stability. We
value our security co-operation with Kuwait and the Gulf highly. Over 160,000
British nationals now live in the Gulf but the security of the Gulf doesn’t just affect
the British nationals living here it affects the British people back at home too.

The continued failure of the Middle East Peace Process to achieve justice for
Palestinians or security for Israelis the threat of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon
and the growing threat from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula are not just
security problems for the region, but security problems shared by the whole
world.

We must be clear about the Middle East Peace Process. In responding to

the most recent developments in the Middle East, there is a serious risk that
governments will draw the wrong conclusion and pull back. I draw completely the
opposite conclusion. Far from pulling back we should push forward.

We need to see an urgent return to talks so that people’s legitimate aspirations

for two states can be fulfilled through negotiations. Just as the Palestinian
Authority needs to shoulder its responsibility to tackle violence from the West
Bank Israel needs to meet its Road Map obligation to halt illegal settlement
activity as the Resolution Britain supported at the UN Security Council last Friday
underlines.

The result should be two states, with Jerusalem as the future capital of both, and
a fair settlement for refugees. This is not just a problem of rights, territories and
people, complicated as they are it is a recruiting sergeant for terror an excuse
for authoritarianism and a cause of deep-rooted instability. A lasting settlement
would be the greatest step along a new path for this region. The same unity of
purpose and message is necessary for the threat coming from Iran.

As the whole international community has made clear in successive Resolutions

of the UN Security Council Iran must comply with its international obligations.
We have offered Iran the hand of friendship. But the response has been
disappointing and gravely concerning. We will not stand by and allow Iran to cast
a nuclear shadow over this region nor accept interference by Iran in the affairs of
its neighbours.

Meeting the threat of extremism

In understanding the nature of the threat to our security we cannot ignore the
threat to all our countries from international terrorism. As we have seen, Al
Qaeda has mounted attacks on places as far apart as Saudi Arabia and the
United States and in recent months we have seen attempted suicide plots in
Sweden, Denmark and in my own country.

The fact a bomb was put on a plane in Yemen last October and carried to the
UAE to Germany to Britain en route to America shows the threat we all face, and
how together, as friends and allies, we can deal with it and save lives. Indeed, I
believe this is the most important global threat to our security. And it comes from
a warped extremist ideology that tries to set our societies against each other by
radicalising young Muslims all across the world.

Let me be clear. I am not talking about Islam. Islam is a great religion, observed
peacefully and devoutly by over a billion people. I am talking about the extremist
ideology of a small minority. An ideology that wants a global conflict between
Muslims and the rest of the world, and in the process sets Muslims against
Muslims. It is this extremism that is the source of the global terrorist threat.

Now, of course, increasing our security co-operation is a vital part of how we

meet this threat. And above all it is vital that we challenge the warped thinking
that fuels the extremist ideology. But as I argued in Munich earlier this month,
we, in the West, must also do much better at integrating young Muslims into our
society.

People should have a positive identity with the country in which they are living.
We in Europe have to recognise that without a society to integrate with or a
proper sense of belonging our Muslim communities risk becoming isolated and
young Muslims in particular become more prone to the poisonous narrative of
separateness and victimhood that can lead to extremism.

Recent developments

And a similar risk of young people turning the wrong way applies in the Arab
world too. Young people yearn for something better, for their rights to be
respected, and for responsible and accountable government. They want systems
and societies they can believe in.

One of the most remarkable things about the historic events we’ve seen in
Egypt and Tunisia in these past weeks is that it is not an ideological or extremist
movement but rather, a movement of the people – an expression of aspiration
predominantly from a new generation hungry for political and economic
freedoms.

A British businessman who had been in the square in Cairo during the
demonstrations told me how when the extremists turned up and tried to claim the
movement as theirs they were shouted down and disowned.

This movement belongs to the frustrated Tunisian fruit seller who can’t take his
product to market. And to the students in Cairo who can’t get a fair start, and the
millions of Egyptians who live on $2 a day. In short, it belongs to the people who
want to make something of their lives, and to have a voice. It belongs to a new
generation for whom technology – the internet and social media – is a powerful
tool in the hands of citizens, not a means of repression. It belongs to the people
who’ve had enough of corruption, of having to make do with what they’re given,
of having to settle for second best.

For decades, some have argued that stability required highly controlling regimes,
and that reform and openness would put that stability at risk. So, the argument
went, countries like Britain faced a choice between our interests and our values.
And to be honest, we should acknowledge that sometimes we have made such
calculations in the past. But I say that is a false choice.

As recent events have confirmed, denying people their basic rights does not
preserve stability, rather the reverse. Our interests lie in upholding our values –
in insisting on the right to peaceful protest, in freedom of speech and the internet,
in freedom of assembly and the rule of law. But these are not just our values,
but the entitlement of people everywhere; of people in Tahrir Square as much as
Trafalgar Square.

So whenever and wherever violence is used against peaceful demonstrators, we

must not hesitate to condemn it. The whole world has been shocked in the last
few days by the appalling violence which the authorities in Libya have unleashed
on their own people.

Violence is not the answer to people’s legitimate aspirations. Using force cannot
resolve grievances, only multiply and deepen them. We condemned the violence
in Bahrain, and welcome the fact that the military has now been withdrawn from
the streets and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has embarked on a broad
national dialogue.

If people’s hunger for a job and a voice are denied there is a real risk that the
frustration and powerlessness people feel and the resulting lack of connection
with the way their country is run: can open the way to them being cut off from
society or worse drawn to more violent and extremist responses. That’s a
problem for the Arab world but it’s a problem for the rest of the world too.

That’s why I think political and economic reform in the Arab world is not just
good in its own right but it’s also a key part of the antidote to the extremism that
threatens the security of us all.

Reform, far from undermining stability is a condition of it.

How do we support economic and political reform?

So how do we support economic and political reform?

I believe two things are important. The first is to understand that democracy
is a process not an event. And important though elections are, participatory
government is about much more than the simple act of voting. Democracy is
the work of patient craftsmanship it has to be built from the grassroots up. The
building blocks have to be laid like the independence of the judiciary, the rights
of individuals, free media and association, and a proper place in society for the
army. It can’t be done overnight. And if you want evidence of that just look at
the history of Britain, a constitutional monarchy which has evolved through time,
and where so many of our rights under our laws predate our right to vote by 700
years.

My second belief is this. Political and economic reform is vital but it has to be
pursued with Al E’htiram with respect for the different cultures, histories and
traditions of each nation. We in the West have no business trying to impose our
particular local model. The evolution of political and economic progress will be
different in each country. But that’s not an excuse, as some would argue, to claim
that Arabs or Muslims can’t do democracy – the so-called Arab exception. For
me that’s a prejudice that borders on racism. It’s offensive and wrong, and it’s
simply not true.

Oman established a Human Rights Commission for the first time last year in
Oman. Qatar is now considered to be among the twenty least corrupt nations in
the world. Above all, just look around this National Assembly elected by universal
suffrage where every community is represented where men and women sit side-
by-side and where Ministers are held to account.

This movement for change is not about Western agendas it’s about the Arab
people themselves standing up and saying what they want to happen. And
it’s about governments engaging in dialogue with their people to forge a way
forward, together. The security and prosperity of this region will come hand-in-
hand with development towards more open, fair and inclusive societies.

The question for us is simply whether we in the West play a role in helping to
ensure that change delivers as peaceful and stable an outcome as possible. And
I believe we should – by looking afresh at our entire engagement with the region,
from our development programmes, to our cultural exchanges and to our trade
arrangements.

Conclusion – A new chapter in our partnership

So I come here today offering a new chapter in Britain’s long partnership with
our friends in this region. Over generations we have built a partnership based
on our shared interests in prosperity and security. But in a changing world ours
must now also be a partnership that recognises the importance of political and
economic reform.

I know that for many these are days of anxiety as well as hope – anxiety about
the risks that come with change; the risk of military power entrenchment; the risk
of a slide into violence extremism; the risk of sectarian or internal conflict. For
sure, the path will be an uneven one. But a sober assessment of the risks need
not mean succumbing to pessimism.

While this story does not yet have an ending there is a more hopeful way, as we
have seen in the television pictures of young people across the region, and as
we have seen in the way the Egyptian army refused to turn on its own people.
And we know one more thing: in the end, twenty-first century economies require
open societies.
As I said in Beijing, so here in Kuwait: “I am convinced that the best guarantor
of prosperity and stability is for economic and political progress to go in step
together.” We all need to adapt to give our young people new ways of making
their voices heard and their opinions felt. A job, and a voice. Active citizens with a
say in effective, accountable government.

As the 18th Century British liberal conservative, Edmund Burke once said,
“A State without the means of some change is without the means of its
conservation.”
And I believe that the most resilient societies rest on the building blocks of
democracy: Transparency and accountability of government and the removal of
corruption. The freedom to communicate. A fair stake for all – an education, a
job, the chance to build a business and the space for participation in politics, and
shaping your society.

In short, reform – not repression – is the only way to maintain stability. There
are some who argue that the Arab world is destined to decline or simply accept
second best. They look backwards to the great age of Arab learning: law,
science, arts and architecture, and say that something went wrong, and cannot
be recovered. But I believe the best is yet to come.

As a new British Government renews it partnership with the Arab world, I look
from the new cities of the Gulf shores to the, diversity of the Near East and North
Africa. And I look forward to a future that is rich in prosperity strong in defence
and open in its handling and pursuit of political and economic reform. It’s a future
we must build together.