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Sorry to have to contradict you there, Mr President. It doesn’t boil down to a simple binary choice like that. Yes, these may be hectic times, but diplomacy is all about embracing complexity rather than simplistic one-liners.
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We collectively missed the train of history in 2011, when the EU did not stand up for human rights and democracy in our neighbourhood but preferred to swallow the old lie that authoritarianism means stability. Here’s a topical article by @Mikepeeljourno: ft.com/content/db796d…
“Realpolitik means that you have to talk in a world of craziness with the crazy people and the totalitarian people,” says an EU member-state diplomat. “You cannot just live on your tiny island and say you are not concerned.” 👈 I swear there’s a chap like this in every EU meeting
They’re (almost) always male, think rather highly of themselves and advocate for a “pragmatic” or a “balanced” approach to engaging with dictators, never stopping to explain what any of these mean. At least the #EUGS’ “principled pragmatism” has an element of principles in it.
They appeal for patience with autocratic regimes and love the (crypto-racist) idea that some societies are “not ready for democracy”, conveniently ignoring the tens or hundreds of thousands of people who demonstrate for the fundamental right to self-govern in the streets.
That’s not principled pragmatism, that’s short-sighted opportunism.
The inability and unwillingness to learn from history or understand the nature of the regimes you’re dealing with.
The EU will need to become a hell of a lot more strategic when reviewing the #EUglobalstrategy.
The inability and unwillingness to learn from history or understand the nature of the regimes you’re dealing with.
The EU will need to become a hell of a lot more strategic when reviewing the #EUglobalstrategy.
Here’s a more hard-hitting opinion – think what you will about its author’s politics, the core argument is hard to disagree with – middleeasteye.net/opinion/sisis-…
But we have a chance to turn this around, collectively. Not by ignoring those we disagree with, but by engaging critically and constructively, reminding ourselves and our partners what the EU stands for and what is not negotiable: #HumanRights, #Democracy, and the #RuleOfLaw.
