Whatever You Say, Say Something!

 

Ireland is again to send troops to Southern Lebanon…as peacekeepers mind. The Dáil agreed this deployment under the defence acts on April 21^st. It is of course familiar territory for our defence forces having been deployed there for many years. Clearly peace keeping is seen as one of those things which is central to Irish Foreign Policy. However this appears to be something that is assumed or “traditional”. The last comprehensive document from the Government on what our foreign policy actually is was the White Paper on Foreign Policy in…1996! I actually attended some of the consultation sessions and it was a very good exercise with a lot of promise. However it has largely been tumbleweed since.

On the other hand we have had two or three reviews of Irish Aid since then and the Programme for Government promises another one. There are a number of people who believe our foreign policy is increasingly falling under the ambit of neo cons and European defence conglomerates. Chance would be a fine thing. Our deployment of troops to Lebanon and our “commitment to peacekeeping” are very admirable and have widespread support amongst the public but is it fair to ask so what, to what end and for what purpose?

If Ireland’s role in the world is to provide peacekeeping and relatively uncontroversial initiatives on landmines and suchlike we should at least set this out clearly. However it seems others expect more. Several NGOs, international groups, diplomats and representatives of opposition groups constantly seek out our attention. Presumably because having a seat at the EU table means something to them. Membership of the EU has almost been taken by national governments as an easy way out with any common position being replicated in domestic policy.

Yet many other EU countries see the CFSP as an addition to, rather than a replacement for, their own foreign policy priorities. It is true to say that many of these priorities are based on history and national self interest. Just look at France in parts of Africa. However this can be turned to good like the Portuguese commitment to East Timor. The key issue is these countries have something to say. Are there historical or current connections we have as a country that might encourage us to say something meaningful?

For a start we have gone out of our way to develop meaningful aid relationships with some of the poorest countries in the world. This is one of the strengths of our aid programme that it is not tied or linked to history or political considerations. Surely we have some insight in to the major questions affecting these countries. Indeed it was an argument in one of the many previous reviews of our aid programme that it needed to be kept under the auspices of the Department of Foreign Affairs so as to maximise these linkages. Yet is there any evidence that we have taken any international initiatives relating to these countries or spoken up about issues specific to them? Similarly we have had peacekeeping missions all around the world and have contributed to EU missions in many areas. Again wouldn’t it be good if there was some learning from these that could be reflected in the international stance that we take?

More of This Please

  

Over and over we hear a lot of nice language about Irish foreign policy. We often excel at this. Things like the land of saints and scholars, our non aligned status, punching above our weight, non colonial past. These are really well worn clichés on all sides of a variety of debates. Yet you have to wonder about them. How many people involved in conflict in let’s say Aceh think “If only the peace loving Irish would help us” What would a survey of international Governments tell us about the worlds knowledge of our foreign policy stances…worth thinking about.

Maybe respect and recognition of particular values in a countries foreign policy is actually something that is earned by real actions in the real world. Similarly maybe countries need to align such values and priorities to the real experience of their people and their administrations. If there is a level of rhetoric in public debate we need to see if it measured in action. Normally Ireland scores poorly in this area, all talk people might say. However recent developments in the Departments of Foreign Affairs suggest that Ireland may be on the right track to reconciling these different strands.

Unfortunately Ireland knows too much about conflict in our recent past. This actually means we know a lot about it as we have unfortunately been reminded recently. Not only do our people know a lot about it, so too do our politicians, political parties, NGOs, civil servants and many more. It would seem sensible to integrate the sharing of these experiences in tour foreign policy and indeed we have been doing just this. A little known Conflict Resolution Unit  in the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2007. Apparently it is limited in terms of personnel and resources. However the work seems to suggest some level of thought.

The Unit has supported work in the areas of Peacemaking, Peace building and Peace Process Lesson Sharing. It seems as if small grants and the bringing together of people in conflict zones is the central methodology but unfortunately this is not made clear. Moreover it would be worth considering linking this work to a greater extent with Irelands overseas aid programme which would provide very real local insights and knowledge in to facts on the ground.  

Work on mediation has been done in Uganda and Timor Leste (suggesting the previous point may be addressed). Similarly crisis prevention work has been supported through the International Security Sector Advisory Team. Similarly the lessons of the Northern Ireland Peace Process are being shared.

This is an area of work that makes you take notice of Irish foreign policy, makes you want to point your finger and say look at what we are doing! It is worth a year of declarations, EU meetings and diplomatic receptions. While related to the noble work of Irish Aid it is more closely aligned with traditional foreign policy and projecting values in to very active political spheres. It is unclear how high a priority it is given, how much or indeed what type of funding is involved.

Anyway….more of this please!