7.4
SECURITY FROM WAR, CONFLICT AND CRIME
David Miliband, president and CEO, International Rescue Committee
W e are no longer in a world defined by a singular global order or clear-cut ideological blocs. Instead, we are in a multi-aligned era – where states increasingly reject binary choices between great powers, pursuing pragmatic, issue-specific partnerships across geopolitical lines. India engages the West on trade while maintaining defence ties with Russia; African countries accept Chinese infrastructure investment while collaborating with the European Union on health security; Gulf states host US military bases while deepening economic ties with China. This strategic flexibility reflects a profound shift: national interests now drive diverse alignments, creating a world shaped less by alliances and more by fluid alignment. Alongside this geopolitical revolution, two others are accelerating: the explosion of new technologies and the rise of global risks that transcend borders – pandemics, climate shocks, nuclear threats, mass displacement. These three revolutions – of power, technology and risk – are interwoven and exacerbate each other. Too often, they leave the world’s most vulnerable people worse off. In a more interconnected world with huge technological advances, global health should be a political choice for international alignment. Starting with interventions at the apex of need and cost-effectiveness can deliver shared benefits. Here are three examples on which we can build. UNITING BEHIND HUMANITARIAN GOALS Take acute malnutrition, the peak of the humanitarian crisis pyramid – 45 million children suffer globally, and it contributes to nearly half of all under-five deaths. Yet 80% of children in conflict zones receive no treatment at all. The reason? An outdated system requiring complex diagnostics, parallel supply chains and separate treatment protocols for moderate or severe cases. Delivery is hardest where the need is greatest.
Finding alignment in a multi-aligned world In an era of shifting alliances and
fractured geopolitics, global health offers common ground. To protect the world’s most vulnerable, we must act together
96
Health: A Political Choice – The Future of Health in a Fractured World
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