Brende: World Order may crack

Foreign Minister Børge Brende.Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB scanpix

Developments in the world threaten to fracture the liberal order that has been built up over the last 70 years, warns Foreign Minister Børge Brende.

In his foreign policy address in Parliament on Tuesday, he pointed to developments that have caused major changes in a number of countries over the past year.

– Brexit and the political developments in the United States illustrate how political power centers lose contact with large groups of voters.

Waves of populism, mobilisation against migration and discontent with economic policy threaten to weaken political institutions and stability, Brende stated.

The Foreign Minister believes that this development threatens to fracture the liberal world order that has been built up over the last 70 years.

– Whilst we have almost taken for granted an ever strengthening of this world order for a  long time, we ask ourselves now how it can be maintained.

While Russia is acting more aggressively, the EU has become more introspective, according Brende. He pointed out that the Union is struggling with the support of many of the member states.

The terrorist threat plus migrants and refugees arriving in Europe, show how the security situation in our part of the world is intertwined with the situation in countries South and East of the Mediterranean.

Brende states that Western attempts to promote democracy and stability in the Middle East since 2001 has not produced the desired results.

– The invasion of Iraq was a failure and has had severe negative repercussions, said the Foreign Minister.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today

 

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