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Advancing into the World
Scotland’s expanding Field of Vision
By
James Wilkie
The old Britain is already dead. No matter
what the result of the independence referendum may turn out to be, times
have changed and there is no way back to a past that has now ceased to
be the status quo, and not even a No majority will change that.
A positive vote on the referendum question
will immediately throw the issue of Scotland’s future status into the
international arena. It is here that there are obvious dangers arising
from the Nation’s three centuries of being cut off from the world. Not
the least of these dangers arises from the lack of foreign policy
expertise on the part of Scottish political leadership at one of the
great turning points in our history.
Now, I am well aware of the current
importance of the SNP, at least after it had, at the last minute,
wakened up sufficiently from its all-or-nothing dream to support
devolution. Without the active support of the SNP campaign apparatus,
and on a lesser scale those of the LibDems, Greens and SSP, the 1997
referendum campaign for a Yes vote could have floundered. Only at a
very late stage did the SNP awaken to the importance of devolution as a
necessary step towards independence.
It saw the light only after the Council of
Europe, at the instigation of the
Scotland-UN Committee, had already
forced action on devolution of political power to Scotland and Wales
under threat of international sanctions, and up to that stage with no SNP involvement of any kind.
If devolution had been left to the SNP, to
this day we would still be waiting for the party to gain a majority of
the Scottish seats at Westminster. That, however, is now history, and
we must now turn our attention to the future.
I have supported the SNP government at every
turn on its competent handling of domestic issues – an astonishing
achievement for a party that had never in its history held government
office – while pointing out that it is right out of its depth on
diplomacy and foreign affairs. It is exactly those fields of action
that have now moved into a position of central importance for the
achievement of independence, and it is here that the major signs of
weakness are more than evident.
A command of diplomatic negotiation
techniques and a comprehensive analysis of contemporary trends and
developments on the international scene are the primary functions of
government that mark the difference between administering a devolved
system and governing an independent state in a global context -
especially since the latter has changed out of all recognition within
the past 20 years or so.
There is no indication that the Scottish
Government and/or its advisers has come anywhere near grasping the fact
that we now have global governance (and I mean governance, not
government).
Another institution in the same position is
the European Union, which on economic issues and certain others is now
to a large extent just a centre for passing on policy decisions taken by
the global institutions like the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE) or the all-important World Trade Organisation (WTO),
which hardly rates a mention in the recent White Paper, amongst its many
other deficiencies on the broader aspects of independence.
It is obvious that the Scottish Government,
in view of its lack of on-board expertise on the broader aspects of
independence, has been relying extensively on external advice by
academic and other consultants. Now, I am not disparaging academic
advisers (I am one myself), but unless their “ivory tower” knowledge is
backed up by a good deal of “coal face” and practical “hands-on”
experience then their advice is in many cases very limited in
application.
Constitution drafting can be carried out at
academic level, and the SNP has enough financial (and monetary?)
expertise available, but that does not apply to every field of action
covering external issues. In particular, active diplomacy at the
intensive level demanded of independence negotiations needs considerable
experience of practical negotiation techniques and much else besides.
In any national foreign service the number
of people who get to carry out policy formulation and serious
negotiation is very limited. Service in an embassy in itself may involve
no more than routine duties like newsgathering and reporting. In
diplomatic, intelligence and security services, where knowledge is
compartmentalised in progressive stages as well as on a need-to-know
basis, mere membership of one of these services is no guarantee of a
comprehensive know-how or possession of an overview of the field as a
whole.
In my 40-odd years of experience in
international affairs, including innumerable one-man special assignments
on behalf of the Foreign Minister, I have covered the entire range of
policy from A to Z, which is unusual in an age when specialisation is
demanded. For 16 years I brought out my Foreign Policy Yearbook as an
official statement of national policy, based on access to the papers of
every department in the Ministry. I served as Rapporteur and Expert on
Mission for the United Nations around the world as well as at UN HQ.
I think I have seen every diplomatic trick,
and every form of political skullduggery imaginable, as well as some
that are not. I had to clear up the debris personally after an
espionage disaster, and I had to cope with the notorious
Waldheim affair
back in the 1980s, when the objectives of an international power
struggle hinged on defaming the former United Nations Secretary-General.
And a lot more besides. Some of this is on the Internet, and some will
remain secret indefinitely.
In the light of hard practical experience I
can tell right away from the Government’s White Paper that the SNP is
being very inadequately advised, or indeed actively manipulated, in
those sectors of policy that lie outwith its normal domestic range of
expertise, or which demand projections of future global trends and
developments, presumably because its advisers in those fields are
themselves not up with the latest developments on the international
scene.
The SNP’s quite inordinate concentration on
the sub-regional European Union (Scotland in Europe), (which in reality is very far from being
European) is a case in point, especially by comparison with its neglect,
due to obvious ignorance, of far more important international organisations. The SNP has apparently been unduly influenced on EU
membership by the so-called European Movement (see
membership) (aka
Euromove), an
organisation set up by the CIA for other foreign policy objectives when
Frank G. Wisner was head of covert operations. How can the SNP tell if
the advice it is receiving is competent, or not a malignant stratagem by
vested interests? In this field it itself does not know enough to be
able to judge.
As I have repeated
incessantly over a period of years, the SNP did not bring about the
present national movement in Scotland, because it itself is merely the
most prominent symptom of the same, and not its cause. Having pursued a
thankless struggle for three quarters of a century, it is carrying a
huge load of outdated baggage from its past, and it is as green as grass
on those contemporary aspects of global statesmanship that are now the
most vitally necessary for the government of a sovereign independent
state. (See Scotland in the World)
The Scottish decision
makers simply do not know their field of action once they move onto the
international stage – although in their inexperience they may think they
do.
We have to support the
present Scottish Government towards the achievement of the immediate
goal, but not to the extent of allowing it or any other single party to
dictate the form of government in Scotland after independence has been
achieved. A lot can be left until constitutional independence has been
finally established as an essential basis for everything else, but
certain things have to be made clear even at the present stage.
The final result has to
be achieved through non-party consensus by the entire Nation of Scots,
and not through dictation by persons who imagine themselves to be
possessed of some God-given insight into truths that are a closed book
to the common herd. Even at the present stage we need the devil’s
advocate, but a constructive one.
Scotland’s future must be
mapped out by the best brains with the best qualifications and
experience that the Nation can assemble, together with reference to the
best advice available from external sources, while disregarding
political affiliations.
Until that consensus has
been achieved, and confirmed by democratic approval, no steps must be
taken towards committing the new state to international agreements,
memberships or commitments that might prove to be disadvantageous to
future generations in the longer term.
Independence gives us a
glorious and unrepeatable opportunity to make a fresh beginning on first
principles. It should not be thrown away by hasty decisions on a
short-term basis, by acceding to manipulation by vested interests or
simply the emotive needs of individuals. The future is a long time, and
it is not our prerogative to subject Scots of future generations or even
centuries ahead to the consequences of decision making that we have
arrived at without regard to its future effects. |
