CHOGM Opening Ceremony

I was privileged to be able to attend the CHOGM Opening Ceremony this morning – and privileged is indeed the right word.  It was amazing, and the team that put it together on behalf of the Australian government should be congratulated.  It was an incredibly moving experience, bringing together many of the traditions that make up contemporary Australia.  What made it work so well was not only the fantastic modern graphics and the use of technology, but also the very human scale of the ceremony.  I know I was not the only one moved to tears when an elder spoke on behalf of the land that we were all sharing; the special space and time that made that moment in the Commonwealth’s history.  The quality of the dancing was superb – I need to take some breakdancing lessons from the true masters who were performing today; the ballet was breathtaking.  My pictures below do not do full justice to the spectacle and the emotion, but I do hope that they give a flavour of what was a memorable experience.  Thank you Australia – and Perth!

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Balancing democracies…

An invitation to give the opening keynote address (video) at the “Commonwealth, Human Rights and Development” conference held at Cumberland Lodge from 11th-13th March 2011, gave me the opportunity to pull together some of my thoughts over the last couple of years concerning democracy and human rights.  In particular, I sought to address:

• the diversity of meanings attributed to democracy;
• the coalescence of interest between the rhetorics of democracy and the free market following the collapse of the Soviet Union;
• the importance of the notion of democracy in the Commonwealth
• the character of democratic institutions; and
• the need to challenge widely taken for granted assumptions about the benefits of democracy and human rights.

In so doing, I drew six main conclusions:

• Notions of democracy and universal human rights should be contested and not accepted automatically as something ‘good’.
• We need to contest many of the claims to legitimacy of democratic states and rulers. In particular, attempts by powerful states to impose democracy on other states, seem to me to be highly hypocritical.
• Instead of seeking to impose democracy on others, those who believe in democratic values would be better advised to help support the development of democratic institutions, especially elected parliaments, the judiciary and political parties
• Discourses on rights should be balanced by ones on responsibilities;  a shift of attention to responsibility might well be able to deliver more for the poor and the marginalised
• The communal traditions of Africa may offer interesting insights to counter the negative aspects of the individualism associated with human rights, democracy and capitalism.
• Finally, it seems to me that a practical focus on how we treat others, especially the poor and the marginalised, is of much more importance than claiming that they have universal human rights.

I remain to be convinced that humans do indeed have universal rights.

Expanding range of countries now offering Commonwealth Scholarships

Thanks to the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) Endowment Fund, Commonwealth scholarships and fellowships are now available in more countries than ever.  New awards are available in Kenya, Mauritius, Tanzania, the South Pacific, Nigeria and South Africa.

A CSFP Press Release notes that: “Postgraduate students in Commonwealth countries can apply to study in a range of new destinations from 2011, thanks to a range of international scholarships launched this week. The first set of scholarships, set to start between September 2011 and February 2012, are for Master’s degree study in Kenya, Mauritius, Tanzania, and the South Pacific. A three-month Commonwealth Fellowship for an established academic at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria is also available. In addition, two Commonwealth Scholarships for PhD and postdoctoral study are also currently available at the University of Pretoria, in South Africa. These scholarships have been made available by the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan endowment fund. The fund, established to mark the 50th anniversary of Commonwealth Scholarships in 2009, has now raised over £2 million, through contributions from alumni and Commonwealth governments. According to Fund Secretary Dr John Kirkland, the stated aim of the fund is to broaden the range of destinations in which Commonwealth Scholarships can be held: ‘In the 1960s, there was a sizeable number of international students undertaking postgraduate research at universities in developing countries – particularly in Africa. Now, after a period of decline in the 1980s and 1990s, many of these universities are actively looking to recruit international students again’.”

The Commonwealth Youth Orchestra and Choir

The creation of an exciting new orchestra – the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra and Choir – has just been announced.  Its mission is “to bring together young musicians of the 54 countries of the Commonwealth, uniting them in the pursuit of musical excellence while transcending all cultural, political, social and economic boundaries, and promoting, by example, these values of excellence for the benefit of all people throughout the Commonwealth”.

The Orchestra has four aims:

• To give students of the Commonwealth (aged 18 – 24) the opportunity to perform concerts throughout all the 54 countries of the Commonwealth.
• To give composers of the Commonwealth international opportunities to have their music performed.
• To give conductors of the Commonwealth international opportunities to conduct a world-class orchestra.

• To give young soloists of the Commonwealth international opportunities to perform with a world-class orchestra.

Can Miliband really be a serious contender for Europe’s foreign affairs chief?

There is no doubt that David Miliband is bright, intelligent – and on occasions charming.  However, becoming Foreign Secretary seems to have gone to his head.  He has made too many accidental gaffes, and too many serious errors of judgement, for him to be considered as being a serious contender for the post of the European foreign affairs chief.

Yet the campaign for him to get this important post is gathering momentum as the front page headline in today’s Sunday Times, “No 10 backs Miliband for Brussels”, seems to suggest. As the article goes on to say, “senior No 10 sources have revealed that Brown believes Miliband is ideally qualified for the job”.  What does this say about Gordon Brown?  What does it say about others in Europe who seem to be supporting his campaign?  Indeed, what does it say about the European Union itself?  While Miliband currently denies that he is a candidate, the Sunday Times has been told that “he has had a series of conversations with senior European politicians about the Brussels job”.

First there was the banana incident – when he was photographed smirking at the Labour Party conference in 2008.  His defence according to the BBC: “Asked about the picture of the banana on the Andrew Marr Show, Mr Miliband said he was holding it because it was his breakfast, adding that worse things could happen and he did not take such things too seriously”.

But then there were also the photographs of him shaking hands with Gordon Brown at the conference – his face looked so pained that, although he avowed that the Prime Minister had his support, many suspected otherwise.

Whatever one thinks of the notion that a single person should represent the European Union’s foreign policy, if such a post is created it is of  critical importance that its incumbent is someone who is widely respected, who has astute political judgement, and is cultured in a deep understanding of foreign diplomacy.  It is here that Miliband seems to have failed so surprisingly in his role as the UK’s Foreign Secretary.  Take, for example, his visit to India at the start of 2009.  Underneath a headline “Miliband’s trip to India ‘a disaster’, after Kashmir gaffe”, the UK’s Indpendent newspaper commented that “David Miliband was beginning to look as accident-prone as Mr Bean last night after yet another adventure backfired. After ruining his chance of the Labour leadership by gurning at the cameras while brandishing a banana, the Foreign Secretary’s visit to India last week was labelled a “disaster” by the country’s leading politicians. He was accused of being “aggressive in tone and manner” in a meeting with the Indian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, and dismissed as a “young man” by senior officials”.  Typical of comments in India was V. Isvarmurti‘s political blog: “When he was appointed as Britain’s Foreign Minister he was supposed to be the youngest to that post for some thirty years. As such he was looked upon as a man of promise and also a bit too young or too premature to that post. He now proves, once in India, he is both premature and a bit over-excited too. Considering he comes to India with the knowledge that India was Britain’s one-time colony, he must have imagined and as most, it seems, may be still people there in Britian seem to imagine they can take India and the Indians granted. Much more shocking was the conduct of this visiting dignitary. He was both arrogant, aggressive as well as a bit hectoring. He seems to have imagined that he can talk and behave as he is used to, may be at home, back in Britain where such conduct and behaviour might be appreciated and considered as a sign of cleverness. But the young man was not only brash he was also a bit crass in not knowing good manners and etiquette”.

In the light of such comments, I find it difficult to understand why so many eminent people think that he should become Europe’s foreign affairs chief.