The
ageing EU Lady's
hormonal problems:
Human Security for Chameleons*
By
Biljana
Vankovska, TFF Associate
* This article has been shortened and edited by the
editor of this hompage
June 26, 2006
SKOPJE, MACEDONIA - You may well
have heard the old children's shaggy dog story about
Tomboy, a nickname given to a girl because she behaves
like a boy. It came to my mind when I returned from what
was supposed to be an important conference organized by
the Finish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration
with the prestigious London School of Economics,
LSE.
Mars,
Venus and chameleons
I also came to think of that
inspirational analysis of Robert Kagan about Mars (USA)
and Venus (EU) published in 2002. It seems, however, that
the equation between Venus and EU becomes more and more
problematic due to the rapidly ageing EU Lady. One might
expect her to be armed with the charm and wisdom of her
age, but if you want my opinion about what can we expect
from the forthcoming Finish Presidency of the EU in the
period June-December 2006 it is "more of the same" and
the general conclusion is that EU is definitively turning
into a Tomboy.
Masculinization of EU has already
been noticed by a few perceptive and critical minds,
especially since the time of the "lessons learned" in
1999 - the US bombing of Serbia in the EU backyard and
the Nice Summit - and, of course, during the writing of
the EU Treaty text.
And what can one expect from a
Union whose foreign and security policy is headed by the
former NATO Secretary-General? The genius of chameleonic
personality of Mr. Javier Solana has already been proven
so many times in his career; this time it is only
completed with a doze of Orwellian politics disguised as
peace-making. The new 'invention' of Mr. Solana and his
team of European experts is the Human Security Doctrine
of Europe. Its basic thrust is that security is no longer
anchored primarily in the state; rather, in accordance
with the human security concept, the focus should now be
on the security and wellbeing of individuals, of
citizens.
EU
militarization disguised as 'human security'
If genuine, this idea would be
marvellous. But its main consequence will be to promote
Venus' further militarization. One wonders whether this
is a result of EU's deliberate intention to manipulate
its citizens or simply the outcome of its utter lack of
creativity and its inability to resolve the Union's
security problems with non-coercive means.
Participants at the mentioned
conference talked at length about the need to develop a
new specific "human security culture," but very few
seemed to be aware that such a culture - if implemented
seriously by the Union - would conflict with the existing
militarily-dominated, state-based security paradigm and
should build, instead, on a culture of peace and on the
UN Charter idea of "peace by peaceful means."
The human security concept has a
relatively long history but on the world scene was
promoted in the well-known 1994
UNDP Report. The
revolutionary character of this document - and
consequently of the Millennium Goals - remain remains
latent rather than manifest due to the unwillingness of
states and alliances to shift their thinking and finances
from the military realm to the spheres of human
development, education, health, social care and the
development of conflict-resolution skills.
The disappointment in - and with -
the EU is of a different kind: in this case one faces a
clear manipulation with the human security concept, its
securitization in terms of making it an alibi for a "hard
security policy" as it is called in "A Human Security
Doctrine of Europe. The Barcelona Report of the Study
Group on Europe's Security Capabilities" of 2004. The
convenor of that study group was Mary Kaldor who
co-directs the LSE Centre for the Study of Global
Governance. (The report can be downloaded
here)
Having hitherto avoided soft
policies, the EU aims to obtain a stronger civil-military
capability. According to the plan they will consist of
15,000 troops under a direct command of the future EU
Foreign Minister. Does the name of "Human Security
Response Forces" not ring Orwellian? Isn't it a new
invention of various European politicos engaged in
"newspeak" that ordinary people and even some scholars do
not understand any more?
Here are some more details about
the plan: out of 15 000 "civil-military core" just
one-third will be civilians. One-third will be kept at a
high state of readiness, constantly training and
exercising together and a further 10,000 at a lower state
of readiness. The idea is to realize the so-called EU
Petersburg tasks through a strategy which will enable the
deployment of rapid task forces in a very short period of
time wherever and whenever it may be deemed necessary.
With this brilliant 'invention'
cooked up with assistance of respectable experts, Finland
has resolved the problem with its presidency: her main
contribution to the coming 6 months will be to train
those 15,000 fighters - pardon me: promoters - of human
security across the globe!
Who
would be concerned about our human security
problems?
Here is the problem that I did not
hesitate to point out at the conference, admittedly as
member of a small minority: even if the European Tomboy
focused thoroughly and honestly on promoting human
security goals, it would be mission impossible as long as
Mars creates military chaos and Venus is expected to do
the dishes and clean the mess behind him (just remember
Kosovo or Iraq). Even worse, Mars does not show any
signal of fatigue and without a time-out he has chosen
his next target (Iran).
If the EU is going to afford itself
the luxury of training people for such hermaphrodite
actions, human security in its true essence - such as
those expressed in the Millennium Goals - will not come
about through government policies but will remain a
terribly urgent homework task for each of us.
Writing as I do from a crisis area
- Macedonia, the Balkans - I very seriously doubt that
the EU is going to be concerned with the growing level of
unemployment, poverty and corruption and the simultaneous
deterioration of the quality of life, education and
health care in our countries! The EU Venus is busy
spreading human security with her highly trained and
outrageously expensive military-dominated "civil-military
capabilities."
'The
'free' Macedonian media believe in the propaganda, no
questions asked
Upon my return from Helsinki to
Skopje, I read some 'analyses and editorials' of our
pro-government media about our bright European future and
imminent membership in NATO and EU. They do not seem to
need any first-hand information or impression from a
competent dialogues by the Europeans themselves. They
trust their gift to 'read between lines' of the speeches
of the European bureaucrats and diplomats, and - of
course - of their Prime Minister and President.
The EU is indeed widening her
horizons and ambitions; she does want to be a global
player! I wonder what good it will do the Balkans,
Macedonia? And how can Venus pretend to not see the
existence and actions of Mars? I got an incredible answer
in Helsinki. Quit a few gathered there seem to have seen
the signs of a transformation going on with Mars!
According to these opinions, even Mr. Bush has been
enlightened with the idea of human security so the
trans-Atlantic partnership is strengthened rather than
weakened. Thus Mars is going to come toward and cooperate
with Venus! Or could it be that I have misunderstood
something? Perhaps Mars will continue taking advantage of
Venus in his manly manner?
The
submissiveness of intellectuals when meeting
power
The human security discussions made
me sad at another level. I could hear and see how even in
what is usually called the democratic world, high-level
intellectuals and scholarly authorities become submissive
to power and bureaucracy. I thought it was a phenomenon
typical only for my region only, but now I know it is not
so.
Distinguished professors and
scholars turned into politicos, using the newspeak of
bureaucrats who provided them with generous grants in
order for them to re-define the doctrine of human
security in a way which would be at the same time sexy
and seductive (as it fits Venus) but also to be
suggestive and firm (in order to deserve Mars' respect
and attention). That saddened me deeply.
The 'brainstorming' sessions
mirrored the combination of political correctness with a
conspicuous lack of creative new ideas. One proposal was
to establish an EU Commission on Human Security. It is
important to come up with an 'innovation' during your
presidency. Another 'brilliant' proposal was to revive
the European Constitution in a way that would not
frighten EU citizens. Again, wording proved to be very
important - so what about Declaration or Charter instead
of Constitution?
Macedonia
to send young boys around the world to fight somebody
else's war without democratic control
Games are for sure being played.
But for us, in Macedonia and the Balkan region, it is of
utmost importance to make human security an internal
priority now. It should not be a policy that aims to
resolve all the world's gravest problems. The
peacefulness of a national policy is most of all tested
through its humane treatment and respect for its own
citizens and not in regard to those unhappy people in
Iraq and Afghanistan. The main responsibility for their
miserable state of affairs and grave human insecurity
lies with those who hypocritically bombard them with
bombs and bread at the same time.
Alas, while I was discussing human
security at that Helsinki conference, my country's
government launched a procedure for amending the law with
the deliberate purpose to simplify the procedure for
sending Macedonian troops on 'peace missions' across the
globe. It would simply by-pass the Parliament's approval.
In the amended law, the such dispatches will be decided
by the Government alone. The de facto change is not so
radical because up to now the Macedonian Parliament has
far from exercised its control function in the manner
typical of, say, the Dutch Parliament. The Government was
elegantly pursued its own will even at expense of the
respect for both the national and international law.
Nevertheless, the new change of the
rules of the game will allow Macedonia de jure to send
troops abroad whenever Mars or Venus calls for some. At
the same time, another 'army' of unemployed people have
to try to be ready to put their lives in harms way by
taking jobs in the worst crises zones around the world.
Who could then ever say that Macedonia is not a
"responsible global player and good Western
partner'?
Victims
of war soils our President's image
The disillusionment with the world
politics and the state of human rights across the globe
is something that often makes me feel helpless but also a
part of a wider critical world public opinion. For
instance, I recently saw the Macedonian Prime Minister on
TV speak in his vulgar fashion to those poor women
dressed in black: the relatives of the kidnapped men from
the 2001 conflict whose destiny is still not officially
disclosed. It's the kind of scene that kills me and makes
me feel so ashamed of this 'democratically elected
government' that is supposed to lead us into the EU. You
see him, a tall young and pretty arrogant man, his hands
in the pockets, telling these too early-aged women that
they misuse - I quote - "my personal goodness" due to
which they could be received in his cabinet as late as 5
years after the conflict ended…
He accuses them of spoiling his
image before his colleague from Croatia and sends them
home. The poor women only hear this: that "time is not
ripe" to tell them the truth about the fate of their
loved ones. A few days later, they leave his cabinet
empty-handed but with eyes full of sorrow. I feel ashamed
and helpless too...Both Mars and Venus made the war in
Macedonia possible, and take the honour of having created
the "peace" here too. Oh, beautiful dream of human
security…
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