This is a week for global politics. Obama is coming to visit, and we all know how excited everybody gets when the king of hope and change is on the same continent as us.

With the Arab Spring, the increased focus on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the death of Osama bin Laden, insightful commentary on foreign affairs from a UK perspective has never been more in demand.

And David Miliband, former foreign secretary and one-time Labour leadership hopeful, seems finally to have woken up to this fact.

While his brother will be making a speech this morning at the Royal Festival Hall (I’ll be reporting from it a bit later) that has been billed as his “most personal as leader” setting out his vision for the family and the “promise of Britain”, David has been setting his sights overseas, bringing his considerable experience to bear on the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for the UK’s foreign policy.

In an interview with Andrew Marr yesterday, David made an important admission on the Iraq war. He said: “While there have been gains the list of negatives is longer than the list of gains.” During the Labour leadership campaign last year he lost ground over his refusal to condemn Labour’s decision to go into Iraq. Now that British troops are no longer engaged in the country, he seems prepared to be more open, more reflective. He also said: “Easier to win the war than win the peace and I think that is the sort of lesson we’ve got to learn.”

He’s also written a piece in today’s Times in which he advises Obama not just to play it safe and run out the clock on his presidency, but rather to take the lead and require other countries to step up. Having been publicity-shy since narrowly losing the Labour leadership to his brother last September, David Miliband now seems to have found his voice again. Admittedly, he’s not exactly putting his shoulder to the party wheel (and who can blame him?) but at least he’s no longer lurking in the shadows.

Tags: Arab spring, Barack Obama, David Miliband, Ed Miliband, Labour