That stability has been created within Europe, but in the modern interconnected world our stability is always vulnerable if there is instability elsewhere. There are many elements in the current situation which are not stable. Peace is still fragile in the Middle East. Russia has not yet enjoyed the economic renewal which has begun to occur in parts of Eastern Europe. GDP per capita in Russia is still 50 per cent below its level ten years ago.
Instability takes other forms as well.
And it isn't stable as we found two years ago in Asia if large capital flows are occurring in areas which lack the transparency, which is absolutely fundamental to investor confidence. One of the great underpinning elements of the world's prosperity in my lifetime has been the opening up of the world trade system. In the first half of this century world per capita income increased by around 50 per cent with international trade doubling between 1900 and 1930 but then virtually stagnating. In the last fifty years trade has increased 15 fold, and as a result per capita income has increased by 150 per cent, despite an increase in population of over 3.5 billion people. Now we need to renew that process of liberalisation and development - building on the new technology which is now available.