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Internationalism: Promoting free and open societies

There was a period when, with the Cold War over, politicians looked forward to the “peace dividend” that would come from a period of international peace and prosperity. That hope now looks woefully naïve. Worse than that, it ignored the many signs of trouble to come that – even as the Berlin Wall was coming down – pointed to a future of insecurity and conflict.

If that view was naïve (or worse) back in the 1990s, it is positively destructive now. There is no case for assuming the best intentions of states like Syria, Iran or North Korea. We in the West have certainly made mistakes in the past but one of our biggest mistakes has been to look the other way as certain regimes have oppressed their own people, spread terror to their neighbours and engaged in the illicit production of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. It has been our unwillingness to intervene that has enabled problems to proliferate. However tempted we may be to withdraw and leave them all to their own devices, isolationism is not and never has been the right answer.

So today we are faced with a series of threats that are interconnected but with no single focus: rogue and failed states coming together with terrorist networks and, in some cases, hybrid 'states within states' emerging, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. The “War on Terror” may not be a perfect description but it does highlight a threat that is lethal though not easy to define. Failure to speak up and act against terrorism in the hope that we may not be targeted amounts to nothing more than appeasement which will simply lead to greater conflict later. It is in our best interests to act firmly against terrorism and state sponsors of terrorism now.

We must also act wherever possible against rogue states that threaten international stability (by, for example, illicit proliferation of nuclear technology) and states that lose all legitimacy by serial abuse of human rights (or in extreme cases genocide). Arguments about respecting sovereignty are spurious when, in the case of many of these regimes, the people have little or no say in the governance of their country. Some states are nothing more than the private fiefdoms of a corrupt leader; their governments are illegitimate and sovereignty has been usurped.

The United Nations is a weak organisation and many of its member countries are little more than local tyrannies. The UN often resembles little more than a talking shop, a protective façade of meaningless rhetoric which allows politicians to avoid taking difficult decisions. We should be wary of placing too much faith in the ability of the UN to provide the answer to controversial problems which require rapid, realistic and effective solutions. The UN Human Rights Council highlights the problem of illegitimate regimes being able to manipulate the UN agenda, in this instance using the Council to launch a series of attacks on Israel while ignoring the serial rights abuse of the countries making up its membership.

We must recognise that some of our allies and trading partners have corrupt and vile regimes. In the short-term we should offer encouragement and incentives towards progress, but with a clear focus on the direction in which we wish to see change.

Our long-term interests will be best served by encouraging the spread of democracy and human rights around the world. As a first step, we propose that all non-democratic members of the UN should be asked to produce an acceptable timetable to hold free elections. Those not signing up would lose their right to representation on the Security Council and other international bodies. We should take a tougher stand on non-democratic countries but offer these countries aid and technology in return for genuine progress towards democracy.

Ultimately our approach should be to co-operate with countries to promote good governance, human rights, democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.  Propping up failed states and human rights abusers should be a thing of the past.

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