Like another profession that claims to be the oldest in the world, diplomacy has not always had the best press. Ambassadors were mocked as early as the comedies of Aristophanes in the fifth century BC. But there is a crying need, today more than ever, for diplomatic work far away from megaphones – in the quiet space between competing positions, in the no man’s land of courageous encounter, in the decompression chamber where solutions can be identified and compromises worked through.
Unfortunately, diplomacy is particularly challenged in these turbulent times. Ironically, it has been receiving a particular battering from two countries that have been exceptionally influential in diplomacy, the United States and United Kingdom.
US president Donald Trump gives every appearance of wanting to undermine diplomacy and the interdependence between nations. He has sidelined the state department and publically attacked its patriotic public servants. He has walked away from international agreements, including the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal. He seems comfortable weakening the United Nations and other international institutions. In recognising the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, he undermines international law.
The psychology behind Brexit reflects an unwillingness to accept the nature of diplomacy, namely the management of complexity and the need for compromise
Brexit has also had a deep impact on diplomacy.
First, the very fact of the UK’s impending withdrawal from the EU, the most significant regional multilateral organisation in the world, represents a rejection of diplomacy in favour of going it alone.
Second, the psychology behind Brexit reflects an unwillingness to accept the nature of diplomacy, namely the management of complexity and the need for compromise. The UK always benefitted immensely from its EU membership, but clearly this was not enough.
Third, the UK’s diplomatic clout will now be diminished and, sadly, the EU will also be weakened as an international actor by the departure of the United Kingdom.
A fourth negative impact of Brexit on diplomacy has been the sidelining of the foreign office in London. The repository of the best EU advice available in the UK, arguably even in Europe, has tended to be a peripheral voice in the Brexit negotiations. Heads of mission of the UK’s two most important diplomatic posts, Washington and Brussels, were forced out by a failure by some at political level in London to grasp the nature of diplomacy.
A fifth poor reflection on diplomacy was the series of strategic British Brexit negotiating blunders that were so glaring they left the rest of Europe gasping. Boris Johnson’s recent decision to tie his own hands on the timing of the negotiations is in the same vein.
Finally, there has been the coarsening of diplomatic language. If diplomacy is about the pursuit of British interests, it was nothing short of madness for ministers to compare the EU to the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany merely for the sake of a populist soundbite. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, or even adult, to see the folly of it.
Like all human constructs, the EU is far from perfect. But it is a remarkable diplomatic achievement and an outstanding exponent of diplomacy
We can, however, take some hope from the European Union itself. In facing the global challenges ahead the EU will be resolutely on the side of multilateralism and interdependence. Like all human constructs, the EU is far from perfect. But it is a remarkable diplomatic achievement and an outstanding exponent of diplomacy. It will continue to help the UK through its Brexit psychodrama by designing a coherent negotiating framework and grappling intelligently with the complex issues involved.
The painstaking conclusion of the withdrawal agreement, notwithstanding the tougher negotiations ahead, demonstrated that diplomacy can still work. Even as the UK is set to leave the EU, its decades of membership mean that the magic of diplomacy still runs in its DNA.
The new British government and the American electorate have opportunities to restore their countries’ diplomatic roles and reputations. Everywhere we look there is a dangerous irony about the sacrifice of patriotism on the altar of narrow nationalism. Those who would unravel the carefully embroidered tapestry of international co-operation and understanding appear, in the short run, to be working towards the same end.
History tells us, however, that, in the longer run, the unbridled nationalism they advocate, if unchecked, will lead inevitably to conflict. The demagogues scattered around the world may appear to be singing from the same hymn sheet, but they are in effect leading the world back towards a darker place in which nations sing different anthems and beat different drums.
Bobby McDonagh is a former ambassador to London, Rome and the European Union