On 14 July 2020, the trial in the case The Prosecutor v. Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud opened before Trial Chamber X of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Timbuktu (Mali). Trial Chamber X is composed of Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua, Presiding Judge, Judge Tomoko Akane and Judge Kimberly Prost.
The trial’s opening started with the reading of the charges against Mr Al Hassan. The Chamber was satisfied that the accused understood the nature of the charges. The accused decided not to plead guilty or non-guilty to the charges at this stage of the trial.
The Court’s Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Senior Trial Lawyer Gilles Dutertre took the floor for opening statements. The hearings will continue tomorrow 15 July 2020, with the end of the Prosecution’s opening statement.
The trial is scheduled to resume on 25 August 2020, when the Prosecution will begin to present its evidence and call its witnesses before the judges. At their requests, the Legal Representatives of Victims and the Defence will make their opening statements at the beginning of the presentation of their evidence, once the Prosecution has concluded the presentation of its case.
Due to the current situation linked to Covid-19, the public gallery was open to a limited number of representatives of the media, the diplomatic community, and the public.
In the picture, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence of Belgium, H.E. Mr Philippe Goffin and the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), H.E. Mr Fernando Arias.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — 9 July 2020 — The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence of Belgium, H.E. Mr Philippe Goffin, met today at OPCW Headquarters in The Hague.
The Foreign Affairs and Defence Minister congratulated the Director-General and the Technical Secretariat for their efforts to ensure a world free of chemical weapons. He remarked: “The return of Belgium to the Executive Council for the next two years comes at an important time, during which the OPCW is facing increasingly difficult circumstances. As the use of chemical weapons cannot go unpunished, the publication of the first report of the Investigation and Identification Team is an important first step towards accountability. The OPCW can continue to count on the support of Belgium.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence of Belgium, H.E. Mr Philippe Goffin and The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), H.E. Mr Fernando Arias during a meeting at the OPCW headquarters.
The Director-General briefed the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence on the OPCW’s progress in implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention as well as on the work of the Investigation and Identification Team. Following Belgium’s €2M contribution to the new OPCW Centre for Chemistry and Technology in 2018, the Director-General also provided a status update on the project. Both the Director-General and the Minister acknowledged the need to intensify international cooperation and assistance to promote the peaceful application of science and technology in chemistry.
The Director-General underlined the deep ties between Belgium and the OPCW and remarked: “Belgium has my sincere gratitude for its unwavering commitment to the goals of the Convention and for its support to the OPCW. We look forward to continued cooperation with Belgium to ensure that chemical weapons become a thing of the past.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence of Belgium, H.E. Mr Philippe Goffin and The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), H.E. Mr Fernando Arias.
Starting in 2020, Argentina’s Embassy in the Netherlands has a new Ambassador: H.E. Mr. Mario Oyarzábal. A Law graduate and professor, just prior to his current position he has been working as Legal Adviser for Argentina’s Foreign Ministry.
H.E. Mr. Mario Oyarzábal is the new Ambassador of the Argentine Republic to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as well as Buenos Aires’ Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in The Hague. The new Ambassador brings with him working experience not only in his country’s foreign service, but also in the domain of international law.
A Law graduate from University of La Plata (1991) and Harvard Law School (2006), since 1995 Mr. Oyarzábal has been Adjunct Professor at University of La Plata – a job that he maintains, although being currently on leave. Over the decades, he has written/edited four books and more than forty scholarly articles on international law, and in 2020 he has been delivered a special course at The Hague Academy of International Law.
Mr. Oyarzábal’s experience with Argentina’s foreign service started in 1997 and involved a number of different positions. For two times, he was posted in New York, USA – first as Deputy Consul (1998-2005), and then as Deputy Permanent Representative before the UN Security Council (2013-2014). Moreover, he has been Agent and Legal Counsel of Argentina before the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, as well as a Delegate to the International Maritime Organization, the International Seabed Authority, UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, and The Hague Conference on Private International Law. Most recently, he worked as Legal Adviser to the Argentine Foreign Ministry.
Ambassador Oyarzábal is also Member of several renowned institutions, such as the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission established by AP I of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and the Panel of Arbitrators of ICSID. He is Arbitrator and Conciliator under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, as well as Argentine Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission.
Besides being fluent in Spanish and English, Ambassador Oyarzábal also speaks some French and Portuguese, and he can read both Italian and German. He is married to Daniel Hallman, a photographer originally from the United States.
On July 8th, 2020, H.E. Mr. Pham Viet Anh presented his credentials to H.M. King Willem Alexander, thus officially becoming Viet Nam’s Ambassador to the Netherlands. Ambassador Pham arrives in The Hague after over 20 years of experience in his country’s diplomatic services.
A double Bachelor graduate from University of Hanoi, both in French Language and Civilization (1985) and in History (1994), between 1987 and 1997 Mr. Pham spent a decade researching on Ho Chi Minh ideology at Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, while at the same time earning a diploma from the Institute of International Public Administration of Paris in 1996.
With such a diverse academic background, in 1997 Mr. Pham decided to join his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He started as a Desk Officer at the Directorate of State Protocol, where he worked for four years (1997-2001) before being posted in Algeria, where he worked at the Vietnamese Embassy with the rank of Second and First Secretary (2001-2005).
Following the experience in North Africa, Mr. Pham returned to Hanoi, where joined the Ministry’s Organization and Personnel Department. There he worked first as Assistant Director-General (2006-2008), and then as Deputy Director-General (2008-2010, 2015-2016). In the same period, Mr. Pham also piled up further academic experience, this time by earning a Master degree in International Relations at Viet Nam’s Diplomatic Academy (2011), as well as further experience abroad, by serving as Minister Counselor at the Vietnamese Embassy in France (2011-2014).
In 2017, Mr. Pham was then appointed Director-General at the Ministry’s Chief Inspection body – a role that he maintained until 2020, when he moved to The Hague to become his country’s Ambassador. As a new experience is beginning for Ambassador Pham, Diplomat Magazine and the whole diplomatic community of the Netherlands extend to him a warm welcome!
In a message to the leaders of the G20, organisations representing forty million health professionals note that the recent levels of death, disease and mental distress “could have been partially mitigated, or possibly even prevented by adequate investments in pandemic preparedness, public health and environmental stewardship”.[1] They advocate learning from these mistakes. We should no longer allow pollution to kill seven million people every year and climate change to continue unabated.
The message of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its Manifesto for a healthy recovery from COVID-19 is essentially the same, but the following six prescriptions are more detailed.[2] As they concern the health of each of us, they deserve serious consideration.
1) Protect and preserve the source of human health: Nature.
This might be the most difficult point, because it requires a fundamental change in our view of nature. Humanity, especially its so-called developed part, has far too long believed that nature can be exhausted and ignored with impunity. The current pandemic might be a relatively small “reminder of the intimate and delicate relationship between people and planet” in comparison to the potential consequences of climate change, pollution and the loss of biodiversity.[3]
2) Invest in essential services, from water and sanitation to clean energy in healthcare facilities.
A rapid transition to clean energy would not only help to meet the Paris climate goals, but also improve air quality. The resulting health gains would easily repay the cost of the investment.
4) Promote healthy, sustainable food systems.
One of the biggest causes of ill health are unhealthy diets that increase the risks of obesity and diabetes. Following WHO dietary guidelines would save millions of lives and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
5) Build healthy, liveable cities.
Walking, cycling and using public transport instead of cars could reduce air pollution and road accidents – and reduce the number of deaths (three million a year!) caused by physical inactivity.
6) Stop using taxpayers money to fund pollution.
The price of fossil fuels is kept low by subsidies and by ignoring the damage caused by these fuels. If governments ended these subsidies and when the damage caused by fossil fuels would be taken into account, the price of these fuels would become high enough to halve the number of deaths from outdoor air pollution and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter.
On a personal level, most people will probably choose better health over economic growth, but politicians tend to be more interested in economic growth than in public health. Will Covid-19 change that?
There is a tendency amongst opinion leaders in this country to publicly distance themselves from the International Criminal Court. The ICC would be too slow in its proceedings, and the lack of involvement by the superpowers like China, Russia and the USA makes the whole operation rather meaningless. High time to admit it. I listened to a radio broadcast the other day on Dutch station BNR , with 3 serious names from the Dutch public scene, including a well known lawyer in criminal matters, on the fortunes and misfortunes of the ICC. They all concluded that the case for the ICC had failed. In their view the road of international criminal justice had not led anywhere, and it was time to find alternative solutions to re-establish peace and justice after conflict.
I was more than baffled by that finding. Surely, one can critisize certain features of the ICC, and notably that it is pretty slow to come to its verdicts. But to conclude that international criminal justice can no longer be part of the answer to conflict – whether international, or within the borders of a state – is absolutely beyond me.
This court, the International Criminal Court, is the expression of the will of the world’s nations (minus a few) that there should be no safe havensand no impunity for the worst crimes one can imagine: war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. That common thinking is clearly laid down in the preamble to the Rome Statute of 17 July 1998, as can be highlighted by the following sentences. First comes the recognition “that such grave crimes threaten the peace , security and well being of the world” , and thenthe preamble states
Affirming that the most serious crimes of concern to the international community must not go unpunished and that their effective prosecution must be ensured by taking measures at the national level and by enhancing international cooperation,
Determined to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes …
The International Criminal Court now has the backing of 123 state-parties, including all the european nations, many african nations, South America, , and a good part of Asia- Pacific. It is highly regrettable that the major powers in the world (China, USA, Russia) have not signed up to the ICC, and it is even more regrettable that our western allies in the USA have decided to actively campaign against the Court, based on the fear that the ICC will one day come to judge the behaviour of the american military and its leadership. But to conclude from that situation that the whole idea of international criminal law is flawed, is unfounded and too easy. A lot has been achieved in this field – look at the ICTY – and a lot has still to come. The ICC has 28 cases sofar, and there are 9 preliminary examinations (including Palestine, Colombia and Ukraine). I note that Omar Bashir is more or less on his way from the Sudan to the Hague, the Sudanese government at last following up the request of the Security Council.
Hashim Thaci, instituut Clingendael.(Den Haag 23-04-18) Foto:Frank Jansen
Kosovo Chambers
It is of particular interest to note that – surprisingly – the USA recently applauded the prosecution of the current president of Kosovo Hashim Thaci for crimes committed in the years 1998-1999 before the Kosovo specialist chambers in the Hague. According to the british newspaper The Guardian of 24 June 2020 the US secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote in March to Thaci that he supported the work of the Kosovo Court. The obstruction of the work of the court, Pompeo said “would leave a permanent spot on Kosovo, its commitment to the rule of law would be under question, justice for victims would be denied, and Kosovo’s furture would be blurred.”
This is the text of someone who gives the impression to believe in the role of criminal justice. Very interesting to note that this comment – positive about the function of an international, if hybrid criminal court – comes from the same country that actively seeks to undermine the work of the International Criminal Court. I find that not easy to reconcile. My view is that the objections are purely politically inspired , and could be withdrawn at a later moment and under a different administration. Would the preamble I cited from the Rome Statute not appeal to everyone ?
City of Peace and Justice
The Hague is proud to be the international city of peace and justice, and was even given the title of “the legal capital of the world, the epicentre of justice and accountability” (words spoken by UN SG Ban Ki Moon in the Peace Palace in 2013). If that is the case, and I think it is, we should be ready to make our voices heard in matters like these, and reflect on them in public.
I was happy to read the president of the Assembly of State Parties, the South Korean O Gon Kwon , brought out a stiffly worded statement in relation to the new measures by the USA against the ICC “These measures are unprecedented. They undermine our common endeavor to fight impunity and to ensure accountability for mass atrocities. I deeply regret mesures targeting Court officials, staff and their families “( Press release ASP, 11 June 2020) .
About the author: Steven van Hoogstraten, is a Former Director of the Carnegie Foundation.
On July 1st, the Modern Diplomacy, International Institute IFIMES along with the world’s renowned Diplomatic Academy Wien and two other partner organisations –Culture for Peace and Academic Journal European Perspectives– organised a one-day conference on the topic of the European past and present in the context of its values, system, as well as challenges.
The conference entailed discussions with over 20 panelists from around the world, including international guests such as Dr. Heinz Fischer, Austrian President (a.D) and current co-chair of the Ban Ki-moon center, the European Commission Vice-President Mr. Margaritis Schinas, Mr. Donald J. Johnston, the former Secretary-General of the OECD and Canadian Economy minister (under PM Trudeau), as well as current OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorites, Mr. Lamberto Zannier.
This conference held at the FestSaal of the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna was a sui genesis event that linked the world’s leading experts and policy-makers from a number of areas related to European security, history, and politics, many of whom were situated around the world, spanning from Australia, Canada, the UK, Italy and the USA, to the conference’s venue. Not only was this day-long conference one of the few happenings that were held after the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic, but the event was likewise streamed online, which enabled many more interested audiences to benefit from the extraordinary opportunity that this conference represented.
In three panel discussions that were held over the course of the day, some of the most important aspects of the current European order were deliberated by the speakers. The topic of the first panel was “The WWII legacy –Nurnberg and Tokyo trials as a direct inspiration for the Universal and European Human Rights Charter, Antifascism as the European confidence building block, mutual trust and good neighbourly relation.”
In this discussion, moderated by the Academy Professor Anis Bajrektareric, the panellists voiced their views on the main values of the 75 years old EU system, namely collective security and human rights. The contributions to the panel included established guests such as
Mr. Werner Fasslabend, former Defence Minister, who located the aforementioned aspects into the context of the Balkan region. The second speaker, Mr. Steve Clemons who is Editor-at-Large of the Washington-based Hill, reflected on the Euro-Atlantic relations. Furthemore, the worlds leading expert on human rights and Political science professor Emeritus Mr. Anton Pelinka, stressed that the future of Europe depends on how it learns from the WWII legacy. Next, Mr. Manfred Nowak from the Campus of Human Rights of the University of Vienna compared the European and United Nations’ perspectives on human rights. Mr. Zeno Leoni, Professor at theKing’s College London and Defence Academy of the UK, spoke on the need of a long-term strategy that Europe needs to devise in light of the pandemic-caused disruption. Lastly, Mr. Thomas Stelzer, theDean of the International Anti-CorruptionAcademy reflected on the threats to the established European principles from a practical perspective.
Thesecond panelfocused on the topic “Europe: From Culture for Peace to Culture of Peace – culture, science, arts, sports.” The panellists were experts from the fields of arts and sports, namely Mr. Ian Banerjee, Urban Futurist from Vienna University of Technology, who provided an interesting outlook on the interplay of digitalisation and culture leading to peace. Next, joining via zoom from Australia spoke Ms. Lizzie O’Shea, Human Rights lawyer who likewise spoke on the topic of Europe as a culture of and for peace an idea operating in digital environment as well.
From the conference’s venue conveyed her contribution Ms. Miriam Schreinzer, from the Regional Music Advisory Board in Vienna, in which she spoke about the unifying potential of music for the European future. The last panellist, Ms. Hande Saglam, from the Music University Vienna elucidated the topic of her research, namely the importance of music for the diversity and minority cultures in Austria.
Following this panel was a short intervention by Mr. Lawrence Gimeno, the founder of the largest Sports platform of Central Europe, as well as Ms. Anastasia Lemberg-Lvova, an Artist from Estonia, both of which shared their paths to the respective fields –sports and art–with which they engage on a professional level.
The last panel of the conference revolved around the European future, with the title “Future to Europe: Is there any alternative to universal and pan-European Multilateralism? Revisiting and recalibrating the Euro-MED and cross-continental affairs.”
The panel was moderated by Ms. Katrin Harvey from theBan Ki-moon Centre, and saw the contributions of panellists conveyed via online contributions, as well as directly from the conference’s location. The first guest discussing at this panel was Mr. Lamberto Zannier, former OSCE Secretary General, and incumbent High Commissioner on National Minorites, who shared his views on the importance of integration and cooperation within multilateral frameworks.
The second input to the discussion about Europe’s future was granted by the speech of Mr. Donald James Johnston, former Canada’s Minister and OECD Secretary General, who voiced that “a strong, and unified Europe is the only one that can strengthen the world multilateral order.” Mr. Franz Fischler, the President of the European Alpbach Forumexpressed the belief that “it is crucial to find other approaches to deepen the European integration process for a stable and strong Europe.” Joining the conference online, Mr. Nasser Kamel, Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean spoke on the necessity of the European Union to revise its relations with the countries of its southern neighbourhood, a major determinant of the EU’s future direction and developments. The third panel of the conference was concluded with the contribution by Mr. Mario Holzner, Director-General of WIIW Austria. According to Mr. Holzer, the successful future of Europe lies in pan-European projects that would enhance the integration and cooperation among the countries of this continent.
The programme of the conference was concluded with an official communiqué of the conference, which called upon the active initiative of all the engaged, so as to turn this conference into a meaningful process that would strengthen the potential of Europe’s successful future:
The first follow up of the Vienna Process is scheduled for the end of September 2020 – as to honour the Process and to mark the 75th anniversary of San Francisco conference and the creation of Universal organisation of the UN, too.”
This one-day conference at Vienna’s Diplomatic Academy was arranged with the culinary breaks provided by a Viennese gasthaus that served traditional dishes and drinks of the Austrian cuisine. The programme of this event was closed with a mini by the world’s best hurdy-gurdy performer, Mr. Matthias Loibner and accompanying vocalist, professor of the Music University Vienna, Ms. Natasa Mirkovic, who created a convivial atmosphere greatly enjoyed by the guests as well as attendees of the conference.
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In the picture members of Panel I – while listening the Guest from Washington via Zoom.
In the picture, FIMES Director Dr. Becirovic and the IACA Dean Ambassador Stelzer.
On the 01 July 2020, the Modern Diplomacy, International Institute IFIMES along with the world’s eldest diplomatic school (that of the Diplomatic Academy Wien) and two other partners (Culture for Peace and Academic Journal European Perspectives) organised a conference with over 20 speakers from all around the globe. The event under the name FROM VICTORY DAY TO CORONA DISARRAY: 75 YEARS OF EUROPE’S COLLECTIVE SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM, highly anticipated and successful gathering, was probably one of the very few real events in Europe, past the lockdown.
Organisers and Participants together – IFIMES Director Dr. Becirovic and Culture for Peace Director Dr. Sophia Bajrektarevic with Speakers,
Among 20-some speakers were: Austrian President (a.D) and current co-chair of the Ban Ki-moon center, Dr. Heinz Fischer; the European Commission Vice-President, Margaritis Schinas; former Secretary-General of the OECD and Canadian Economy minister (under PM Trudeau), Donald J. Johnston; former EU Commissioner and Alpbach Forum President, Dr. Franz Fischler; former OSCE Secretary General and current OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorites, Lamberto Zannier; Austria’s most know Human Rights expert, prof. Manfred Nowak; Editor-at-Large of the Washington-based the Hill, Steve Clemons; Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean, Nasser Kamel; Dean of the International Anti-corruption Academy Amb. Thomas Stelzer; the longest serving Defence Minister of Austria and current Presidetn of the AIES Institute, Dr. Werner Fasslabend; founder and CEO of the largest university sports platform in Europe, Lawrence Gimeno; Urban futurist, Ian Banerjee; Director of the WIIW Economic Institute, Dr. Mario Holzner, and many more thinkers and practitioners from the UK, Germany, Italy and Australia as well as the leading international organisations from Vienna and beyond.
Media partners were diplomatic magazines of several countries including Diplomat Magazine, and the academic partners included over 25 universities from all five continents, numerous institutes and 2 international organisations. A day-long event was also Live-streamed, that enabled (digital) audiences from Chile to Far East and from Canada to Australia to be engaged with panellists and attendees in the plenary and via zoom.
The Conference was arranged with the culinary journey through dishes and drinks of central Europe and closed with the mini concert by the world’s best hurdy-gurdy performer, Matthias Loibner and accompanying vocalist, professor of the Music University Vienna, Natasa Mirkovic.
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Wishing to make the gathering more meaningful, the four implementing partners along with many participants have decided to turn this event into a lasting process. It is tentatively named – Vienna Process: Common Future – One Europe. This initiative was largely welcomed as the right foundational step towards a longer-term projection that seeks to establish a permanent forum of periodic gatherings as a space for reflection on the common future by guarding the fundamentals of our European past.
As stated in the closing statement: “past the Brexit the EU Europe becomes smaller and more fragile, while the non-EU Europe grows more detached and disenfranchised”. A clear intent of the organisers and participants is to reverse that trend.
Ambassador Emil Brix – Opening the Conference
To this end, the partners have already announced the follow up conference in Geneva for early October, to honour the 75th anniversary of the San Francisco Summit. Similar call for a conference comes from Barcelona, Spain which was a birthplace of the EU’s Barcelona Process on the strategic Euro-MED dialogue.
When you say ‘diplomatic’ life, you automatically think about a life ‘on the move’ from country to country, a life in episodes, in which every couple of years, you put your whole life in a few boxes and leave everything but your family behind, to start fresh and go into the unknown. It sounds idyllic to some, maybe scary and complicated to many. But trust me, it gets even more complicated once you have kids.
And it is not just extra baggage, voluminous toys, school books or countless gadgets… all who went through it know for sure what I am talking about…
As I am the wife of a career diplomat, I was expecting a life of travelling from the very beginning. We moved for the first time when I had a toddler in one hand and another baby on the way, so you could say I started ‘big’ from the very beginning. Look for a proper kindergarten, look for a pediatrician, look for fun activities to do every weekend… But the most intriguing part was when I realized I was raising trilingual children (Romanian, German and English language). So, you can imagine the chaos of the first few years, all the languages mixed together in a way that it took us sometimes minutes to realize what exactly our own children were trying to tell us.
I remember the kindergarten teachers told us not to worry, as language fluency will come maybe a bit later. Our patience was certainly rewarded, as they became native speakers of basically three languages and were able to switch between them almost unconsciously. The human mind never ceases to amaze me! But please, try to imagine a kids party, a room full of toddlers that come to ask you something, looking at you with their big, innocent eyes and talking in languages you just cannot understand… and toddlers are not very famous for their patience, you know?…
For children of diplomats, speaking as many languages as possible is certainly an advantage. An international kindergarten or school offers the perfect setup to meet different people and cultures and to get the best education for the future.
Luckily nowadays there are numerous possibilities and options, meant to give a sense of continuity to our children and to ease the burden of finding the perfect school for us, the parents: British Schools, American Schools (mostly leading to International Baccalaureate), ‘Lycée français’ network (with the advantage of a unitary curriculum all over the world, coordinated by the French Foreign Ministry), ‘Deutsche Schule’ (a network of 140 German schools abroad, supported by the German Foreign Ministry) and, in Europe, the ‘Europe Schools’ (a network of 25 schools, which emphasize on a multilingual and multicultural approach, leading to the European Baccalaureate) .
David and Sofia
Diversity is truly beautiful! All these schools bring children from all corners of the Earth together and build bridges of culture, education and cooperation between nations. And it is impressive to see how children can so easily relate, overcome language and cultural barriers and always find common ground… A lesson many of us, adults, still need to learn…
I’ve read somewhere recently that speaking in different languages changes your tone of voice and even attitude… that is certainly interesting and I confess, I saw it in my kids, too: different accents, different tone in their voice, for each of the languages they have mastered.
The fact that they are exposed, from an early age, to an amalgam of cultures, traditions and rules that are foreign to them, the fact that they change countries, houses, schools and friends every few years, all these, although deeply emotionally consuming and sometimes even heartbreaking, offer the perfect setting for a special development in all these diplomatic children, giving them a set of unique social skills, important and useful later, in adult life.
I think though, that it is sometimes totally unrealistic to expect that they will always embrace this type of life with pleasure, that they will not be bothered to be ‘the new kids in class’ once every few years, that they will always live this nomadic life with joy, get over its inconveniences easily and fully understand its benefits. It is perhaps sometimes cruel to ask them to leave all their friends behind, especially when they reach adolescence and friendships become more relevant, to expect them to start fresh with the same exuberance all the time.
I often tried to put myself in their place, tried to see things from their perspective and fully understand what they are going through. After all, it’s us, their parents, who chose this kind of life for them… The anxiety that we feel with each new beginning, they feel it too. But I was always amazed at the ease with which children adapt to new realities. I bow in front of them!
Alexandra Paucescu with David and Sofia.
I can only hope that the future years will prove that all these life experiences helped shape their character into becoming the fine adults that we dream them to be. I hope they will be happy that they shared this kind of life with us and, looking back, will think that it helped widen their horizon and refine their prospective. Usually children of diplomats have no really deep roots.
Mine were raised to be free, fully conscious of their origins but not too tied up, not too religious, not too attached to places and customs, that they might need to change or leave one day behind, without prejudices, accustomed to the diversity of the world in which we live, as international, global citizens. For people raised in such an environment, immersion in different cultures is easier for sure and, in a globalized world, linked by technology, where distances seem to fade, adapting and feeling ‘local’ wherever you go, can be nothing but a great advantage.
A very wise woman told me once that ‘children are like arrows that parents form, need to point in the right direction and then, let go’… So, I just pray that we all choose the right direction …
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About the author:
Alexandra Paucescu
Alexandra Paucescu- Romanian, Management graduate with a Master in Business, studied Cultural Diplomacy and International Relations.
She speaks Romanian, English, French, German and Italian. Turned diplomatic spouse by the age of 30, she published a book about diplomatic life, writes articles and also gives lectures on intercultural communication.
The worldwide protests against today’s injustices, especially racial ones, have spilled over into protests against the injustices of the past. The protests show immediate anger at today’s selective police brutality and the all too vivid images of black people being wantonly killed.
It also kindled anger at less immediate discrimination and racial profiling. Much of the anger against these injustices is justified. No one should be disadvantaged on grounds of race, color, religion, or sexual orientation. Yet in many rich, developed and democratic countries this happens, day in and day out. This must change and governments have to foster that change. I don’t think this can be done by mandating percentages of people of various backgrounds in particular positions. If a large company in a country with say 15% people of color only has only a few of them on their payroll, it may be evidence of bias. But is it also an indication of bias if there are none in the top one hundred managers? I think education, not just of the minorities, but especially of the majority, i.e. the white males, is crucial.
Education is important about many issues. Take statues for example. Many historic figures who were revered until recently have done bad things as well as good ones. It is important that statues come with full explanations of these men’s deeds. It is telling in itself that most historical statues are of men. But it is equally important to realize the times in which these men lived. In defense of the statues some people say “You cannot judge them by today’s standards”. While true, that is not enough. Others can answer that robbing people, killing or enslaving them is inherently bad, whatever the times. The keyword in that reply is ‘people’.
A friend of mine, Professor Siep Stuurman, wrote an important book ‘The Invention of Humanity’ in which he describes the long way homo sapiens had to go before humankind realized that other humans were also humans. Until just a few centuries ago, people who were of different colors just weren’t considered people. Not only was it ok to occupy their lands and enslave them, it was a Christian duty. ‘We’ brought ‘them’ civilization and religion, it was ‘The White Man’s burden’. After all, slavery was not just condoned in the bible, it was described as normal. There are biblical rules on how to treat slaves. The Vikings, the Arabs, the Chines, and black Africans all traded slaves.
After the first voyages from Spain to the New World, there was serious discussion about whether the ‘Indians’ were human in the sense of the bible, whether they actually had souls. The Dutch Jan Pieterszoon Coen, who founded Batavia (now Djakarta) that started the Dutch East Indies and Cecil Rhodes had no inkling that they were engaging in was theft and murder on a large scale. In the worldview of their days, they were heroes.
Edward Colston was a major benefactor to Bristol and his wealth came from deeds that are seen as utterly vile today, but not in his time. After all, he wasn’t doing it to ‘people like us’. Had he taken white people from Bristol’s prisons to sell as slaves, there would have been an outcry. Sir Winston Churchill, who was brought up during the glory days of the British Empire, believed that Africans and Indians were much better off under British rule. Just look at the railways, the bridges, and the sanitation ‘we’ built.
Now that we, or at least most of us, have accepted that we are all part of the human race and as human beings are of equal value, we must strive to achieve equal opportunity for all. That is not done by toppling statues of people some of whose deeds we don’t like, but by education. Don’t change history, enlarge it. Look at it from different perspectives, ask questions. Save your anger for things that you can help change today, and learn from history why things happened so you can avoid repeating them.
