All the world’s a stage for Ireland to regain credibility
Based in Vienna, the OSCE is a regional security organisation under the UN charter. It was established in the wake of the Cold War with the aim of promoting regional stability and provide a political framework in deeply troubled places. All European states, including Monaco and the Holy See, and all the states that emerged from the former Soviet Union, as well as the US and Canada, participate. These states number 56 and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore will succeed the Lithuanian foreign minister, Audronius Aubalis, as its chair. It is a role that will demand a substantial commitment from him.
Ireland’s reputation is only slowly recovering from a debacle of lacerating global financial and economic coverage. Lost reputation was counted in increased borrowing costs on the bond markets, a harder job to sell Ireland as a destination for inward investment, and an appreciable loss of political pull in critical international fora such as the European Union.
The chair of the OSCE offers a valuable opportunity to renew credibility abroad. It gives Ireland a profile in places such as the Caucasus, where, traditionally, our footprint is small or even non-existent. Nearly 40 years of EU membership have afforded Ireland a hugely-enlarged capacity to pursue our interests. Many of the OSCE participants have no comparative platform.
The OSCE has an importance in the emerging states of the former USSR that is little understood here. The involvement of both the US and the Russian Federation gives it a traction that makes it, and its chair, a real player in their affairs.
As chairman, Gilmore will set the priorities of the OSCE for 2012. He will represent the OSCE in other international organisations, including the Security Council of the UN. He will be involved in the efforts to solve the protracted conflicts in places such as Georgia, Moldova and the Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, which is currently occupied by Armenia.
In this work, Gilmore will have the assistance of OSCE structures and his personal representatives, as well as his team in Dublin and Vienna. Importantly, he will host the Ministerial Council in Dublin in December, 2012. This will be the largest gathering of foreign ministers ever held in Ireland.
Gilmore will also support special events, including a major one drawing lessons from the Northern Ireland peace process for application in other conflict situations.
Ireland, clearly, has continuing strengths to draw on. Part of that strength is a longstanding commitment to the OSCE. Today, there are 22 Irish personnel serving in six field missions from Montenegro to Tajikistan.
Whether Gilmore can translate his work abroad into appreciation at home is an open question. The Tánaiste is a Minister for Foreign Affairs who is also deputy head of Government and a party leader in a coalition.
His choice of foreign affairs, and it was his choice, has frequently left him looking politically peripheral. The OSCE chair and EU presidency will be the major set pieces of his term, and success will be critical in vindicating his judgement in opting for the foreign affairs brief. A successful OSCE chair will be a good introduction to our EU presidency, which follows immediately after, in the first half of 2013.
Ireland’s role as chair of the OSCE is clearly a strategic opportunity. An analysis of the wider opportunities for Ireland in the world, it surely underlines rather than answers questions about the closure of the Irish embassy to the Holy See. In a world where religion is a continuing force, withdrawal of boots on the ground from a traditionally valuable international crossroads is highly questionable. Many roads still lead to Rome.
Chairing the OSCE is correctly seen by Gilmore and the Government as an important step in restoring Ireland’s reputation. It will enhance our status in the eyes of non-EU states, such as the US and Russia, with whom we will be working closely on issues of importance to them. It will also allow us to reach out to states that are increasing in wealth and importance, such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, where we have no resident representative. Irish businesses active or interested in those countries can expect far greater name recognition of Ireland during 2012.
The issues that are central to the OSCE are important not only in faraway places. Human trafficking, the illegal drugs trade, and cyber crime are priority issues for the OSCE and have real consequences at home. An important collaboration that Ireland will likely lead involves the UCD Centre for Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Investigation. Its highly-regarded programmes are already used by law enforcement agencies internationally.
Under Ireland’s aegis, it is hoped that these training resources will be made widely available throughout the OSCE participating countries. What is happening on the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan really matters in the control of the supply of heroin. The misery of human trafficking impacts on our shores. Cyber crime has no borders, often originates outside the EU, and is a real threat to anyone putting their plastic into an Irish ATM.
The OSCE has its limitations. During last December’s presidential elections in Belarus, that country’s government unilaterally terminated the work of the OSCE office in Minsk. In vast parts of the world, many of them beyond Ireland’s traditional reach, it is also a vital anchor, if not always for peace then at least for dialogue.
Next year will be an enormously important opportunity. If it is to be understood at home, then the Government must work hard to communicate and explain. As a small country in an ever-more globalised world, sustained engagement, not disengagement, is required.
* Gerard Howlin is a public affairs professional and a former senior political adviser.
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