By Barend ter Haar. Clingendael Institute of International Relations, former ambassador. The truth about the loss of our sovereignty cannot be told, because it would incite people to vote for anti-European parties, that is what one of our former ministers of Foreign Affairs said at a recent forum discussion[1].  In other words: voters cannot be trusted with the truth. The other three former ministers of Foreign Affairs that were present did not contradict him. If that is the mood in European governmental circles, is it surprising that according to a poll conducted across France, Britain, Germany, Poland and Spain in 2011, only 9 percent of Europeans thought their politicians acted with honesty and integrity? According to an other poll, the proportion of the British public who said they trust governments “just about always” or “most of the time” fell from 40 percent in 1986 to just 16 percent in 2009. These poll results are only a few of the uncomfortable truths mentioned in the highly readable report Now for the Long Term. This report was published last October[2] by the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations, a commission with many famous members, such as Michelle Bachelet, Pascal Lamy, Kishore Mahbubani, Chris Patten and Amartya Sen. The Report starts on a positive note: “Now is the best time in history to be alive. Our world has experienced a sustained period of positive change. The average person is about eight times richer than a century ago, nearly one billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty over the past two decades, living standards have soared, life expectancy has risen, the threat of war between great powers has declined .. ” But then it rings the alarm bell: “we could arguably be amongst the last generations able to do anything to stop the long-term devastation of our planet. Soon it may be too late ..” World population growth, biodiversity loss, climate change and scarcity of raw materials pose us for problems that will not disappear because voters and politicians do not want to hear about them. On the contrary, the longer we postpone taking measures, the more difficult and costly these measures will become. If history, and in particular the history of the twentieth century, proves anything, it is that short sighted policies of governments that lacked the courage or the wisdom to do better have brought about horrible disasters. The big question for democracies in 2014 is what governments and voters will do. Will governments hide the truth to please the voters they distrust? And will people reward that by voting for parties that disregard the great challenges of the present time and allow them to bury their heads in the sand?

By Richard T. Griffiths (Associate Editor Diplomat Magazine and Professor International Studies, Leiden University). A new ‘fact’ is being created – Dutch universities don’t teach. Last November an opinion piece appeared in NRC Handelsblad observing that the good performance of Dutch universities in the recently released university rankings was due entirely to their research record. This good research disguised a poor performance in their teaching. Was this not, the article asked, the result of the perverse incentives ruling in universities whereby the rewarding of research was leading to a neglect of teaching? That weekend, the Minister for Education, Culture and Science, Jet Bussemaker, appeared in an interview in television programme, Buitenhof. Yes, she agreed, there was something wrong with the system, but the government had already introduced incentives for the excellent well-motivated student in the form of Honours Classes and University Colleges. And even if the rest was a mess, at least the system produced good graduates. She had obviously had media training – always end on a positive note! So what was at issue? Every year the Times Educational Supplement (THES) produces a ranking of world universities. Few news articles go beyond the main numbers – the Dutch never seem to get into the top-50, but all of them figure in the top-200. But for the top-200, the THES also publishes the more detailed breakdown of the figures into different components, including one for education, which makes up 30 per cent of the final index. Each component is measured on a scale of 0-100, where 100 is the score awarded to the best performing university. If we look at that, and at the twelve Dutch universities that figure in the top-200, we see that on average they score 50,5 overall, but only 37,9 for teaching. We can examine this at two levels. First, we should take account of the fact that most of the teaching ‘score’ derives from qualitative judgments – which universities do the respondents think are the best at teaching. Now, I have a fairly large international experience, but I would baulk at ranking even the universities with which I am familiar for their teaching abilities and commitments. Leave that aside, and we can address a far more serious criticism. One would be excused for thinking that teaching is part of the ‘structural’ components of a university – one that was not amenable or susceptible to sudden change.  Well, if the THES is to be believed, all Dutch universities took time-off from teaching last year, but none so much as Utrecht (whose score in that one year fell by 24,3%) Leiden (which dropped by 22,4%) and Wageningen (which lost 21,4%). If this is the nature of the underlying statistics, one should be cautious about basing conclusions upon them. At a second level, we could look at the relation of teaching to top research and top performance. In the June 2013, I wrote an article suggesting that although Dutch universities had not penetrated the top-50, Dutch faculties certainly had*. Let us return to the list I published then and, using the latest data, take the best performing Dutch university in each ‘faculty’  

Faculty	University	Overall Rank	Score
			Total	Research	Teaching
Life Sciences	Wageningen	22	74,1	77,1	72,0
Engineering and technology	Delft	23	68,9	80,5	79,0
Arts and Humanities	Leiden	28	61,6	65,5	67,3
Social Sciences	Amsterdam (UvA)	34	61,5	68,0	50,6
Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health	Rotterdam	37	65,8	54,2	55,8

  If we do this a different picture emerges. There is indeed top quality teaching at Dutch universities, alongside top quality research (and the results would have been even more favourable on last year’s data). This teaching is available to all students who opt for these faculties, and not to an elite being targeted by  ‘honours’ classes and ‘university colleges’, which seem to be the flag-ships of reformist discourse. It is good to be critical of higher education, but it is wrong to be blind. There is much that is  good in the Dutch system, but there is also room for improvement. However, the bottom-line is that Dutch universities can teach, and do teach… and often do so very well. Perhaps the next non-debate should be ‘do Dutch students study?’. *International Standing of Dutch Universities: Always a Bridesmaid? The Diplomat Magazine, June 2013.

By Dr. Huub Ruël, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences – Zwolle Commercial diplomacy is an important part of diplomacy in today’s world and is likely to become even more important the coming years. Many countries around the world are working on restructuring and refocusing their diplomatic missions to be better able to serve business and home country economic interests. The role of ambassadors in effective commercial diplomacy is crucial as he or she is the head of the diplomatic mission and responsible for the performance of an embassy’s commercial diplomats in the host country. Besides that, ambassadors themselves need to act as commercial diplomats as well. There are estimation that ambassadors spent 50-60% of their time on commercial promotional work. But to what extent are ambassadors really committed to commercial diplomacy? We conducted a study on the role of ambassadors in commercial diplomacy. All foreign ambassadors in the Netherlands were invited to participate and fill out a questionnaire. About one third was willing to participate. The results showed that foreign ambassadors in the Netherlands on average have 26.6 years of work experience in governmental organizations, and about 2.6 years of work experience in the private sector. On average foreign ambassadors have 6.8 years of experience as ambassador, and have lived in the Netherlands for 3 years. About one third of the ambassadors have a Law degree, 20% holds a degree in International Relations, and 12.5% in Economics. Foreign ambassadors find commercial diplomacy important (4.5 on a 5-point scale with 1=low, 5=high) and find that their commercial diplomats perform well (4.3 on a 5-point scale with 1=low, 5=high). In our study, ambassadors express that they spent on average 42% of their time on commercial diplomacy. Their involvement is the highest in business promotion (3.9 on a 5-point scale with 1=low, 5=high), and is far less in the promotion of cooperation in science and technology and intellectual property rights protection. Interestingly, it appeared that the more years of work experience in the private sector, the more time an ambassador spends on commercial diplomacy. Ambassadors who find commercial diplomacy important tend to be more involved in business promotion our study suggests. Finally, our study suggests that there is no relationship between the involvement of ambassadors in commercial diplomacy and trade volumes between the ambassadors’ home country and the Netherlands in the period 2008-2012.  

Identity Politics in a Globalised Village: Is There a Way Out? By Paramjit Sahai. “Trayvon Martin could have been me”-President Obama. The above statement of President Barrack Obama on the killing of a Black American set me on a thinking roller coaster, when he also added that blacks were confronted with discrimination at every level and on every occasion in their daily life. Is he the same person, who not only became the first Black-American to be elected, as the President of the United States in 2008, but was also reelected to a second four-year term in 2012?  These words call for introspection, as Obama’s election victory was seen, as rising above the racial divide. He assumed his office, with a mighty and catchy slogan, ‘Yes. We Can’, impregnated with deeper meaning. His remarks bring us back to the colour issue, making us ponder whether it is still relevant in USA. Or should we take it that it is a matter of political necessity, as group identity is equally unavoidable for votes, even in the world’s largest democracy? (An interesting aside on identity politics, as automatic spelling check, substitutes ‘Obama’ for ‘Osama’, which could be the greatest travesty for the US President). Let us take another step, as we walk in to the American civil society. The current debate on the Immigration Reform Bill, if anything, it confirms that Identity politics matters. Chase for Hispanic votes is at the root of this pending legislation. Even die hard conservative Republican legislators have started rethinking their approach on regularization of undocumented persons or illegal migrants. This also raises its head, when a well-known Chicagoan Jazz Singer Alexandra Dee could not omit raising the race factor in the killing of Trayvon Martin, during the course of her concert at the MillenniumPark on July 24, forgetting the fact that the accused also belonged to the minority Hispanic community. The Identity issue hits us at another stage, when it comes to locating the Obama Library, whether it should be in Chicago or Hawaii, where Obama was born. All the above developments have resulted in scholars and political commentators, raising a fundamental question. Is it the end of the ‘Individual’ dream in America, a country that prides itself in an individual’s worth rather than the label of the group, to which he or she belongs? Lifeway Kefir CEO Julie Smolyanski would, however, like us to believe that individual entrepreneurship matters, as she recalls the success story of her Jew Russian immigrant parents, who introduced ‘Kefir’ into the American market. On the other hand traditional Jews find themselves challenged from nationalist Jews, as they get integrated in their host states. It is, therefore, not surprising to see Rabbi Michael Sternfield leaving the Synagogue in Chicago, for his commitment to America Reform Judaism movement. Let us now move away from the United States and see how this issue confronts us in this global village. Look at the Catholic Church and the images that emerge from Pope’s recent visit to Brazil in July 2013. A nation, with a 200 million strong Catholic population, finds itself at the crossroads, as it negotiates between ‘cultural Catholicism’ and ‘doctrinaire Catholicism.’ The Pope gave the message of ‘inclusiveness’, as he refrianed from opining on the place of gays in the Church and said, ‘Who am I to judge?’ The same divide is visible in ‘political Islam’ and ‘cultural Islam’ in many Muslim countries in South and Southeast Asia. It follows us, when Oprah Winfrey raises the issue of racial bias in Switzerland or the Sikhs complain of religious bias in Italy and France or Bollywood Superstar Shah Rukh Khan is held at an airport in USA, as he has a Muslim name. Identity politics engulfs us in this melting pot America, when Nina Davaluri, person of India origin, is crowned ‘Miss America 2013’, but is subjected to racial slur, being perceived as an Arab and not an American. It also confronts any person, who attempts to understand difference between ‘Hindutva’, a way of life and ‘Hinduism’, representing Hindu religion. It is the same story in India, which confronts identity politics in elections, based on religion or caste, even though the highest offices of the President, Vice President and Prime Minister have been held by persons belonging to the minority communities, with the Indian Constitution committed to equality. Furthermore, it is the regional or language identity, which results in carving out new states (provinces). The small may not be always beautiful, if it still lacks governance. Identity label is invoked, when a young bureaucrat, named, ‘Durga Shakti Nagpal’, takes on powerful Mafiosi, getting inspiration from her name, which symbolically represents empowerment, like the Hindu deity of ‘Power’.  Identity issue became a bone of contention among Political Parties, as these stooped to gain political advantage. I now return to the United States, where I am currently on a holiday with my family at Chicago. The US Senate has decreed crimes against the Sikhs under the ambit of ‘Hate Crimes’, as for six other religions. The Sikhs in the United States have become victims of hate crimes, as they are perceived to be Muslims, for the turbans they wear, as a part of their religious symbols. On August 5, 2012, the community faced wanton killing of worshippers in their Gurudwara (ReligiousTemple) in Oak Creek in the State of Wisconsin. Identity does matter, even if it is a mistaken one, in this particular case. Inter-Faith prayers held on August 5, 2013 brought out the best in humanity,as representatives from different Faiths spoke in unison. It was an attempt to rise above identity labels, to discover light out of darkness, as we were reminded of the words of Martin Luther King Jr. How does ‘Identity’ play out at the global level? Are we deeply died in colours that distinctly divide us, as we wear different identity labels? Or are we closer to the dream of a ‘Universal Man’, as per the vision of Tagore, who believed in himself holding multiple identities, above all these labels? We are still far away from his dreams. What we have is global terrorism, global capitalism, global trade and even global communications, albeit at the technical level, but dialogue among peoples is missing. The governments would rather keep track of conversations, rather than allowing these to become bridges of friendship. Here again, politics at the international level, prevents free flow of people across the globe. We talk of dialogue and negotiations, but resort to sanctions, economic or otherwise; joined by a willing coalition or even individually. The ‘Snowdown’ effect pushes the ‘Reset” button between USA and Russia, in the opposite direction of ‘Reassessment’. We create World Trade Organization (WTO) for international trade, but opt for regional or bilateral route, as we negotiate Free Trade Agreements. We talk of multiculturalism, but insist on migrants acquiring American, Australian or British values. Democracy has become the cherished goal, but the democrats are happy to break bread with the autocrats. The so called democratic values, lead to the changing of regimes; while leaders play politics with the institution of ‘Democracy’, without inculcating values enshrined in this institution.. The same democratic principle, however, is missing in international governance, be it UN, IMF, World Bank. We call for Civilization Dialogue, but promote ‘Divide’ through our daily actions.  The allegiance to identity labels creates further divides, as we look for a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ ‘Taliban or when legislators in the United Kingdom attempt to bring ‘caste’ under its Anti-Racial Laws. Where would this lead to? Do we see a diminution or accentuation of the identity labels in domestic or international politics? Does this need to be tackled at the individual, societal or state levels? Is it associated with the policies of the State? We have to ponder over these and other related issues. There are no simple answers or quick solutions. It involves a change in our mindset; to accept others and not merely tolerate them, as believed by Swami Vivekanand. We harken back to President Obama and raise the question, ‘Can We’. Yes, we can, if we follow the path of all religions, which is beautifully inscribed at the ‘Bahai’ Temple, in the vicinity of Chicago, which reads, ‘So powerful is unity’s light that it can illumine the whole earth’. Celebrating on August 28, 2013 the 50^th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s March to Washington DC, President Obama gave a message to Americans  to rise above ‘Identity Politics’, urging them  to ‘live up to the true meaning of our creed as one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all’. We have to globally search for this ‘Unity in Diversity’, as we grapple with other identities, while maintaining our own. Leaders, as human beings, have to rise above man-created divisions, for the sake of humanity, at large. If not, then the vision of a ‘Universal Man’ would remain a pipe dream, as we stick to our identities at the individual and national levels. So would be our efforts towards building World Peace, if these lack sincerity in this politicized world. Let us all join hands in reaching out to one another, as equals , going beyond identity labels, thereby fulfilling Martin Luther King’s inimitable words, ‘I have a Dream’.  

By Alexander W. Beelaerts van Blokland, Justice in the Court of Appeal and honorary Special Advisor International Affairs of the Municipality of The Hague.

The year 2013 was a special one: the succession to the throne. This was of course also important to the new ambassadors in The Haghe who had to present their credentials. On April 17^th the new ambassador of China, H.E. Chen Xu (51), was the last ambassador who did that to Her Majesty Queen Beatrix (75), on May 8^th the new ambassador of Marocco H.E. Abdelouahab Bellouki (58) was the first one to present his credentials to her eldest son, His Majesty King Willem-Alexander (46). With something new: photos have been made of every presenting of credentials since the new King took over. In 2013 all together five ambassadors in The Hague presented their credentials to the Queen and twentythree to the King. The ones that I did not yet introduce to you are H.E. Musaru Tsjui (62) from Japan on November 27^th, H.E. Vestine Nahimana (50) from Burundi and H.E. Jaime Victor B. Ledda (also 50) from the Philippines on December 4^th and H.E. Piragibe Dos Santos Tarrago (61) from Brasil. A warm welcome in The Hague to all of you ! All together there are now exactly one hundred ambassadors in The Hague. Above that number there are 51 countries –most of them are small ones- with an ambassador in Brussels who also are ambassador to The Netherlands, plus one in London and one in Bern. It is a pity we almost never see them in The Hague. Nine countries do have a Chargé d’Affairs in The Hague who is Chef de Poste; among them remarkably the USA that already since some years has no ambassador here. In Brussels (10) and London (2) also the Chargé d’Affairs is Chef de Poste also in The Netherlands. I wish all the ambassadors and their staff and families a healthy, happy and prosperous 2014 ! a.beelaerts@planet.nl