By Bonnie Klap. The trend has been persistent and unmistakable for some time and cannot be entirely  disregarded. Right or wrong, it is an indisputable fact that there is a certain degree of euroscepticism in The Netherlands. The number of Eurosceptics may not be overwhelming, but  they are becoming increasingly vocal. A perfect moment to ask Mr. Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst, former diplomat, seasoned former Dutch politician and firm supporter of the European Union , to share his views on this subject. Mr. Brinkhorst may no longer be active as a politician or a diplomat,  but he still maintains a busy work schedule and maintains  an office in The Hague, where he welcomes us.

1. Please tell us how you see the future of the European Union?

“I just returned from a trip to Taiwan and I was fascinated by the dynamic atmosphere in that country. The  world is getting smaller and we have to reset our thinking and start acting together, otherwise we will become irrelevant. Personally I do not believe we  have come to the end of 300 years of European dominance, but  I do  regret that the idea persists that we are going to lose our identity and that we will all be unified  in one  European Superstate. This is because lack of knowledge and yes, because of lack of information, then it becomes easier to fall prey to populism. Left and right of the political center. We have a restricted view of the European Society and tend to view it solely in an  economic perspective, but European political values are also important. We tend to be  much too  inward looking. Just the other day Minister Asscher, referring to the potential influx of Romanian immigrants, stated  that ‘The Netherlands is the best country in the world,’, but what about Spain? What about Ireland? These countries have made tremendous progress.”

1. Are you worried about the state of the Dutch economy?

“Fundamentally nothing is really wrong with the Dutch economy. What is worrying is the Status Quo-attitude, represented by the Trade Unions and the politicians, which prevents  us to innovate. For instance the objective of increasing the pension-age to 67 years, was achieved with such heavy opposition, but there should be a sense of adjusting to the future. Today four working people support one  pensioner. 30 years from now that ratio will be down to two  working people supporting one  pensioner. That is anti-social. This burden cannot be borne by the younger people. In politics today everybody gets something, but nobody gets enough, so nothing really happens. Change has to come from outside. Long before we had the Euro we used to revalue  our currency in line with the Deutsche Mark every year and we did not give up our sovereignty. The one time we did not follow the Deutsche Mark, we had 10 years of inflation.” 2. What would happen if the UK decided to leave the European Union? “That would have very  negative consequences , for Europe, but in the first place  for  the UK.  There is a lack of politicians with courage.  The most bizarre statements are being made and I worry about the fact that nobody stands up. To quote the late US President Roosevelt: ‘We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.’ We have been in this crisis for 5 years now.  Look at the US today, 5 years after the start of the crisis,  they are gung-ho, whereas   we, in Europe,  have enormous  self-doubt. The fact remains that we need each other. I was  in London on  the day, when Prime Minister Cameron made the statement, that  there would be a referendum on the  EU. I will not disclose his name, but a leading Tory said to me:’This statement of Cameron is the statement of a man, who will lose the next election.’”  

By Peter Knoope. 2014 has just begun. We have looked back at 2013 over the last couple of weeks and one of the most memorable events of last year happened, without a doubt, in early December. Nelson Mandela left the world of the living. He was  the most popular and well respected former terrorist of all times. I admire him as much as everybody else. No misunderstanding, but everything that possibly can be said about him has already been said. I will not try and add to all the voices that have spoken in admiration. But I like to think that one related issue deserves particular attention. It may have gone unnoticed to many of the readers of the Diplomat Magazine, but one of the biggest newspapers in the Netherlands apologised, on Saturday 6 December, for an article published on their website the day before. The article directly connected the passing away of Nelson Mandela to the end of Black Piet and so to the discussion about the black assistants to Saint Nicolas. Many are certainly aware that this Dutch national tradition brings joy to many children and grown-ups alike. As it is widely known, the tradition was challenged by those who feel that Black Piet has racial connotations that are unpleasant to people of African origin. I think however that apologies made by the newspaper are out of place in this case. The Telegraaf (to be quite explicit) may have done the only right thing to do. Although the two have different backgrounds and the two issues have different scopes and social implications; there are some real historical connections. Connections exist first of all and most certainly between some Dutch traditions and Nelson Mandela. There is no need to elaborate on the details. We all are aware of the humbling fact that “Apartheid” is a Dutch word. Mandela was a terrorist that started “Umkhonte we siswe”, the “Spear of the Nation”. He felt that no other language would convince, or at least be listened to by, the Apartheid regime that suppressed the black majority in South Africa. These people had no right to vote. They were pre-determined to be the black assistants to the white ruling class. Mandela’s ANC fought with words and with arms when needed. The ANC under his leadership later developed an all-inclusive strategy that was based on mutual understanding and tolerance. He showed the world “it can be done”. I  am certainly not suggesting that the Black Piet tradition and Apartheid are of similar magnitudes. But there may be some minor similarities in the roots. The black assistant to the white “baas” may remind some of us about the unpleasant power relations between races in our former colonies. Maybe we should pick up some of the lessons of Nelson Mandela. Maybe we should realise that the voices of victims of discrimination must be listened to.  Maybe we should also realise that societal tolerance is very much part and parcel of Dutch tradition as well. And if we do all of that we may find that some aspects of the Black Piet tradition and what Mandela resisted have something in common. And that’s why I think that maybe the newspaper should not apologise, but should seriously rethink and reconsider the argument. The issues are relevant enough. Mandela’s job in South Africa was not finished. Old and tired he left the future to others to follow in his tradition, in speaking up loudly for those who are discriminated against, with tolerance and understanding of all positions. After all, it can be done.  

By Bonnie Klap Given the multitude of problematic issues that plague our modern-day  society, it is perhaps easy to overlook  a problem that stealthily creeps up on ( too) many of us. The Dutch Government ,however, is acutely aware of it and its health, financial and societal consequences. Hence it regularly attempts to increase public awareness  for this problem. So far with limited success. I am referring to the ubiquitous and growing problem of obesity. An issue  that, incidentally, is by no means exclusive to The Netherlands. It is unfortunately going global. Why cover this topic in the January issue of the  Diplomat Magazine? There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the month of January is traditionally the time that people make  New Years’ resolutions. Time and again the resolutions  ‘losing weight and getting fit’ rank  number 1 in the list of New Year’s  resolutions, closely followed by ‘quitting smoking.’ The second reason is that,  due to the very nature of  their  jobs, Diplomats have a  busy social calendar, which comes with the unavoidable and numerous  lunches, dinners and receptions.  At each and every event  they are confronted with   irresistible snacks and  excellent wines. Then there are  the exquisite dinnerparties prepared by the private chefs. Self control goes only so far. Nonetheless,  the numbers are sobering: In 2012  53% of  men and 44% of  women were considered to be overweight   in The Netherlands and during the last 30 years the number of overweight adults has increased by  a worrisome 50%. As already mentioned, the problem of overweight people is by no means confined to The Netherlands. According to the WHO worldwide  there are 1,6 billion overweight people and 400 million people, who qualify as ‘clinically obese.’ Should this trend continue, we will be looking at a staggering 2,3 billion overweight people and700 million obese people as early as 2015. I have decided to mention these numbers, not to scare you or spoil your New Year’s mood, but simply to show you that the problem is real. Should you  be worried? Only you can answer that question, but allow me to make a humble suggestion. For almost everybody, and certainly no less  for the Diplomatic Community,  it might be a good idea to take up some form of exercise on a regular basis. Join a gym or go jogging a few times a week. Will this be your New Year’s resolution for 2014?  

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’.