Internet has changed foreign policy for ever, says Gordon Brown

By Katharine Viner
The Guardian
June 19, 2009

Photo: Gordon Brown says foreign policy 'can no longer be the province of just a few elites'. Photograph: Virginia Mayo/AP

Foreign policy can never be the same again — and it's all because of the internet, Gordon Brown said in an exclusive interview with the Guardian.

Referring to the so-called Twitter revolution in Iran, the prime minister said technological advances and the democratisation of information mean "foreign policy can no longer be the province of just a few elites".

"You cannot have Rwanda again," he said. "This week's events in Iran are a reminder of the way that people are using new technology to come together in new ways to make their views known."
He described the internet era as "more tumultuous than any previous economic or social revolution". "For centuries, individuals have been learning how to live with their next-door neighbours," he added.

"Now, uniquely, we're having to learn to live with people who we don't know.

"People have now got the ability to speak to each other across continents, to join with each other in communities that are not based simply on territory, streets, but networks; and you've got the possibility of people building alliances right across the world."

This, he said, has huge implications. "That flow of information means that foreign policy can never be the same again.

"You cannot have Rwanda again because information would come out far more quickly about what is actually going on and the public opinion would grow to the point where action would need to be taken.

"Foreign policy can no longer be the province of just a few elites."

During a frank and personal interview in Guardian Weekend magazine, published tomorrow, he also discussed the return to favour of the business secretary, Peter Mandelson.

Brown said that there was now a "common purpose" between the two of them, and that the Labour party – famously resistant to Lord Mandelson's charms, had finally come round to him.
"People are coming to appreciate his talents in a way the Labour party didn't before ... I think there's a great affection for him now," he added.

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