David Miliband verfügt nur über ein Budget von 1 Milliarde US-Dollar für Krisen

*Editor-at-Large Mishal Husain for Bloomberg News*

Leading an international aid organization these days must sometimes feel like coming up against a brick wall. There’s the constant, painstaking work of documenting humanitarian need for current and potential donors, only to face the reality that powerful governments are cutting back on giving.

With an annual budget of more than $1 billion, the New York-based International Rescue Committee (IRC) is among the world’s largest humanitarian agencies. Its 2026 “Emergency Watchlist” cites 20 urgent crises — from Haiti to Sudan to Myanmar — and it has been led for more than a decade by David Miliband, a former UK foreign secretary whom some regard as the prime minister the country never had.

The IRC role gave Miliband new purpose after politics became deeply personal: His bid to lead the UK’s Labour Party ended in dramatic fashion in 2010 when he lost out to his own brother. Now Miliband sees his old friends and contemporaries back in power, but making decisions on foreign aid that he finds painful.

Our discussion took place in London, before the release of the Epstein files put Prime Minister Keir Starmer under extreme political pressure. But it ranged far beyond Britain, from geopolitical realities to leaders he has known — his former boss was Tony Blair — and Miliband’s own heritage.

[Read the full interview here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2026-david-miliband-weekend-interview/?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3MDM4MjMzMCwiZXhwIjoxNzcwOTg3MTMwLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUQTBXT1FLR1pBSk0wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.JpDyG_N9rk8RO0bq-gLJZxrwoL-F5uTcRysRQpp784o) You can also [listen to this interview](https://omny.fm/shows/the-mishal-husain-show/david-miliband-on-global-disorder-labour-s-mistakes-and-deploying-1-billion-on-crises) and follow The Mishal Husain Show on [iHeart Podcasts](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-mishal-husain-show-300204707/), [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mishal-husain-show/id1845840408), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/4cJNIDbIEyNyaS7EWVh5Hh) or wherever you get your podcasts.