Tweet
Diplomacy for a new age
Franklin W Knight
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
In Morte d'Arthur, the majestic elegiac poem of Lord Tennyson, the dying King Arthur counselled his grieving, wayward and last remaining knight, Sir Bedivere, that living required adjusting to constant change. The world, he said, advanced and in time outgrew even the best laws. Bedivere, therefore, should calm down, pull himself together and get on with life after Camelot. This advice is especially pertinent today.
Franklin W Knight
A change in government after nearly two decades provides a perfect opportunity for new thinking about Jamaican diplomatic representation. Currently diplomatic efforts reside heavily in Washington, DC and in London. The reasons for this were logical, pragmatic and understandable. In 1962 when Jamaica assumed control of its independent international diplomacy, Washington and London were eminently suited for effective foreign representations and showed our hand in the then Cold War by squarely siding us with the West. Those two locations allowed for the broadest international contact at the least expense.
Moreover, with the large Jamaican diaspora communities in both the United States and Great Britain, prominent diplomatic representation provided a useful service function to the rapidly growing number of Jamaican expatriates. For several reasons, Washington and London will remain important diplomatic posts.
The world of 1962 was vastly different from the world of 2007. Those old times will never come back. The Cold War ended not with a bang but with a whimper, shattering the expensive presumptions foisted upon the world by a relatively small but influential number of myopic thinkers who shaped international relations. It is time to say goodbye to all that. A foreign policy of the middle 20th century can no longer serve in the 21st century. New times demand new thinking, new measures and new men.
Jamaica urgently needs to rethink the purposes of its diplomacy and the pertinent locations of its diplomatic representations. Of course, with limited resources, it also needs to be prudent about how and where it creates embassies and consulates as well as institutions to service those positions.
The two most important reasons for establishing diplomatic representation are political and economic. These two functions, although interrelated, should for practical purposes, be separated. When the small Italian city state of Venice heard of the wealth of China in the 12th century, it dispatched the family of Marco Polo to impress the Great Khan that reciprocal relations could be mutually beneficial to their respective states. Three centuries later, as the voyages of Christopher Columbus illustrated, diplomatic representation in China was still a passionate concern among the newly emerging European states.
In the early 21st century China has become the most important single economy in the world. Europe and the United States are fading, and countries looking to hitch their wagons to rising economic stars are looking closely at the up-and-coming BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China. Not only are their economies among the fastest growing in the world, but they have just begun to stretch their elastic productive capacities.
Despite some inherent statistical aberrations, comparisons between Western Europe and the United States on the one hand and the BRIC countries on the other remain instructive. In 2006 the western industrial economies grew at about three per cent. At the same time, Brazil grew at nearly four per cent; Russia at about six per cent; India at nine per cent and China at more than 10 per cent. In 2006 China alone accounted for nearly 40 per cent of world manufactures but employed only about 10 per cent of its population in the industrial labour force. Countries looking for economic assistance in the next few decades would be better served by positioning themselves in Brasilia, Beijing, Moscow and Delhi than in London and Washington.
Modern diplomacy, however, is much more than a chase for economic aid. It is a reflection of considered priorities in a changing world. It is designed to facilitate contact and conversation for mutually beneficial ends. A new Jamaican diplomatic assessment requires a priori thinking about the complex reasons for contact and the geographical areas where such contact may be best established.
The six geographical areas of diplomatic operation are the Caribbean, southern South America, Asia, Africa, the North Atlantic, and Australasia. Jamaica already has diplomatic representation in all of those areas but the priorities may have changed since the 1960s. Some areas deserve bold new thinking.
Just as charity begins at home, focusing on the Caribbean requires a sustained operational effort. It needs to be emphasised that the Caribbean is much more than the English-speaking islands and territories. The Caribbean needs to be defined in broader geographical terms to include the conventional islands and complementary enclaves as well as Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela. This new configuration presents certain problems, but also has greater possibilities than the narrow old Caricom view.
The countries of the Caribbean, with Jamaica taking the lead, should redefine the area for their own purposes. A broader definition permits exploiting the creative synergies of Cuba and Venezuela as well as Mexico and the Central American states. Besides, Havana is a great strategic location with more international embassies than any other hemispheric city outside Washington, DC.
Brazil is the key country from which to develop a policy for southern South America. It borders every South American state except Ecuador and Chile. Although its birth rate is declining it counted almost 200 million people at its last census. Its economic dominance is self-evident. Brazil ranks among the top 10 economies of the world and is the world's largest producer of sugar cane, sugar and cane sugar distillates such as rum and ethanol. It is one of only seven countries in the world self-sufficient in food production at present.
Rethinking diplomacy requires more than just repositioning diplomats. It requires intelligent thinking about representation and requisite preparation in regional languages along with institutes to provide reliable information about regional priorities, cultures, politics and economies. Adjusting to globalisation is neither easy nor cheap.
Franklin W Knight
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
In Morte d'Arthur, the majestic elegiac poem of Lord Tennyson, the dying King Arthur counselled his grieving, wayward and last remaining knight, Sir Bedivere, that living required adjusting to constant change. The world, he said, advanced and in time outgrew even the best laws. Bedivere, therefore, should calm down, pull himself together and get on with life after Camelot. This advice is especially pertinent today.
Franklin W Knight
A change in government after nearly two decades provides a perfect opportunity for new thinking about Jamaican diplomatic representation. Currently diplomatic efforts reside heavily in Washington, DC and in London. The reasons for this were logical, pragmatic and understandable. In 1962 when Jamaica assumed control of its independent international diplomacy, Washington and London were eminently suited for effective foreign representations and showed our hand in the then Cold War by squarely siding us with the West. Those two locations allowed for the broadest international contact at the least expense.
Moreover, with the large Jamaican diaspora communities in both the United States and Great Britain, prominent diplomatic representation provided a useful service function to the rapidly growing number of Jamaican expatriates. For several reasons, Washington and London will remain important diplomatic posts.
The world of 1962 was vastly different from the world of 2007. Those old times will never come back. The Cold War ended not with a bang but with a whimper, shattering the expensive presumptions foisted upon the world by a relatively small but influential number of myopic thinkers who shaped international relations. It is time to say goodbye to all that. A foreign policy of the middle 20th century can no longer serve in the 21st century. New times demand new thinking, new measures and new men.
Jamaica urgently needs to rethink the purposes of its diplomacy and the pertinent locations of its diplomatic representations. Of course, with limited resources, it also needs to be prudent about how and where it creates embassies and consulates as well as institutions to service those positions.
The two most important reasons for establishing diplomatic representation are political and economic. These two functions, although interrelated, should for practical purposes, be separated. When the small Italian city state of Venice heard of the wealth of China in the 12th century, it dispatched the family of Marco Polo to impress the Great Khan that reciprocal relations could be mutually beneficial to their respective states. Three centuries later, as the voyages of Christopher Columbus illustrated, diplomatic representation in China was still a passionate concern among the newly emerging European states.
In the early 21st century China has become the most important single economy in the world. Europe and the United States are fading, and countries looking to hitch their wagons to rising economic stars are looking closely at the up-and-coming BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China. Not only are their economies among the fastest growing in the world, but they have just begun to stretch their elastic productive capacities.
Despite some inherent statistical aberrations, comparisons between Western Europe and the United States on the one hand and the BRIC countries on the other remain instructive. In 2006 the western industrial economies grew at about three per cent. At the same time, Brazil grew at nearly four per cent; Russia at about six per cent; India at nine per cent and China at more than 10 per cent. In 2006 China alone accounted for nearly 40 per cent of world manufactures but employed only about 10 per cent of its population in the industrial labour force. Countries looking for economic assistance in the next few decades would be better served by positioning themselves in Brasilia, Beijing, Moscow and Delhi than in London and Washington.
Modern diplomacy, however, is much more than a chase for economic aid. It is a reflection of considered priorities in a changing world. It is designed to facilitate contact and conversation for mutually beneficial ends. A new Jamaican diplomatic assessment requires a priori thinking about the complex reasons for contact and the geographical areas where such contact may be best established.
The six geographical areas of diplomatic operation are the Caribbean, southern South America, Asia, Africa, the North Atlantic, and Australasia. Jamaica already has diplomatic representation in all of those areas but the priorities may have changed since the 1960s. Some areas deserve bold new thinking.
Just as charity begins at home, focusing on the Caribbean requires a sustained operational effort. It needs to be emphasised that the Caribbean is much more than the English-speaking islands and territories. The Caribbean needs to be defined in broader geographical terms to include the conventional islands and complementary enclaves as well as Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela. This new configuration presents certain problems, but also has greater possibilities than the narrow old Caricom view.
The countries of the Caribbean, with Jamaica taking the lead, should redefine the area for their own purposes. A broader definition permits exploiting the creative synergies of Cuba and Venezuela as well as Mexico and the Central American states. Besides, Havana is a great strategic location with more international embassies than any other hemispheric city outside Washington, DC.
Brazil is the key country from which to develop a policy for southern South America. It borders every South American state except Ecuador and Chile. Although its birth rate is declining it counted almost 200 million people at its last census. Its economic dominance is self-evident. Brazil ranks among the top 10 economies of the world and is the world's largest producer of sugar cane, sugar and cane sugar distillates such as rum and ethanol. It is one of only seven countries in the world self-sufficient in food production at present.
Rethinking diplomacy requires more than just repositioning diplomats. It requires intelligent thinking about representation and requisite preparation in regional languages along with institutes to provide reliable information about regional priorities, cultures, politics and economies. Adjusting to globalisation is neither easy nor cheap.
Comment