Scotland’s Foreign Policy
Our Changing World
The ordering of the affairs of the human animal that lives on the surface of the “spaceship Earth” has been undergoing change at a rapid and accelerating rate since the late 1980s. Political constellations have waxed and waned at a rate never seen in history. The collapse of communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union ended the bipolar world order and with it the risk of major international war. The result has not been universal peace, however, but a series of localised and domestic conflicts (Middle East, Africa, Caucasus, Balkans, South-East Asia, etc.) that have had to be contained by concerted international action, and the rise of international terrorism and organised crime as a major threat to security. Within recent years two complementary major developments above all have affected Scotland’s position within the global community. The first is ongoing globalisation over a wide range of activities, as advances in telecommunications and other technological sectors change the structures of public and private institutions. World government has already arrived in the shape of the United Nations Organisation, the World Trade Organisation and many others. The second development is regionalisation, as the international community coagulates into large organisations of continental or sub-continental scale based on the pioneering European models. So advanced has this worldwide process of regionalisation become that it is no longer practicable for an advanced modern country like Scotland to remain outside a regional organisation, while globalisation dictates national membership of around 50 of the more important of the hundreds of international organisations of worldwide scope.
What is Foreign Policy?
Until fairly recently foreign policy could have been easily defined as the conduct or management of relations between sovereign states. The classic British foreign policy was the balance of power in Europe – i.e. support for the weaker side(s) in order to prevent the emergence of a single power that could exercise hegemony over the continent. For example, opposition to rampant Napoleonic France became transformed into the Entente Cordiale with France against a rampant rising Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II.
This situation changed totally with the emergence of supranational levels of government at regional and global level after the Second World War, a movement that has accelerated since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the bipolar world system from 1989 onwards. There are now in effect four principal levels of government: global, regional, national and local. The emergence of institutions exercising executive functions at global and regional level, and the resulting explosive expansion of international law, means that there is now very little scope for autonomous national decision making on the major foreign policy issues. Bilateral diplomacy has largely given way to multilateral diplomacy around the negotiating table.
Representation at the two “upper” levels, global and regional, is still the prerogative of national governments, however, with the single exception of the EU Parliament – and that is not a genuine seat of power. It follows, then, that foreign policy is still a major function of governments and parliaments at national level and must be taken into account in any expansion of Scotland’s political autonomy.
The Constitutional Basis of a Scottish Foreign Policy
It is not so many years since this would not have been an issue at all. Even in states organised on a decentralised federal basis it was axiomatic that defence and foreign policy were matters reserved exclusively to the central government. That position has changed radically within recent years, largely due to more advanced developments in constitutional theory. It is now a fundamental principle of federal systems that authorities at “lower” levels are not subordinate to the central government, but are its equal partners. In other words, they are autonomous within the range of functions they exercise under the constitution – subject always to the law and the will of the electorate.
It is therefore clear that even a devolved Scottish administration is empowered to enter into treaties and other formal agreements with states and other external political authorities and institutions at any level on matters that fall within its exclusive jurisdiction, providing that these do not collide with the relevant foreign policy at United Kingdom level.
In Europe alone there are now hundreds of examples of bilateral diplomatic agreements between local and provincial administrations and their counterparts in other states, or even with central state governments. There is long list of well-established multilateral associations of local and provincial authorities (see below under European Sub-Regional Organisations).
This principle is now so firmly established at international level that there can be no doubt of the Scottish government’s right to conduct its own foreign policy within the limits of its constitutional functions. This clearly delineated capacity for taking action does not inhibit it from expressing itself and exercising political pressure on other foreign policy issues that may be beyond its constitutional powers, but which happen to affect Scotland.
Classic bilateral diplomacy with individual foreign states is still a factor in foreign policy, albeit reduced in scope and changed in nature from what it used to be. The major fields of operation nowadays are, however, the international institutions at regional and global level, and it is these with which we must principally concern ourselves.
Regional Organisations
There are now dozens of continental and sub-continental organisations for economic and political cooperation in all parts of the world, and their number and scope is increasing every year. They include such powerful entities as the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA, comprising Canada, the US and Mexico), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia Pacific Economic Community (APEC), which includes the giants Russia, China and the United States, or the new African Union organised on EU lines. It is characteristic of many of these organisations that they start as free trade areas, then become economic communities with unified trading policies, and finally assume political and security functions. Scotland is concerned primarily with the new and still emerging European “political architecture”, but has to take account of others in so far as they affect Scotland economically or in other ways. In contrast to other regions of the world, which are generally each served by a single organisation, there exist a number of distinct all-European organisations. The EU is only one of these, despite the somewhat arrogant integrationist ideology of its protagonists, who tend to equate it with “Europe”. Agreement has been reached in principle on the formation of a Common European Economic Space, with the inclusion of the Russian Federation, as well as three other European "spaces" that together will eventually form a genuinely European community extending from the Atlantic to the Urals and beyond. Negotiations are still proceeding on concrete plans. These European organisations have different albeit overlapping functions, but cooperate closely with each other. The principal ones are as follows:
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Established in 1947 as the first of five – still existing – regional economic commissions set up by the UN for the purpose of reconstruction after the Second World War, the 56-member Geneva-based UNECE was for many years the only European organisation to include all of the eastern, western and neutral European countries at the height of the Cold War. Its functions have now to some extent been taken over by the European Union, and the remaining ones have been rationalised into a concentration on the environment, transport, trade facilitation, and assisting the less economically developed East European states to reach overall European standards. Much European Union legislation is merely the implementation of UNECE legislation that member states would be obliged to implement in any event. Two thirds of world trade takes place within the UNECE area, and three quarters of global patents are registered there, so that its norms and procedures are of worldwide significance. Many of its activities are directed towards easing the transition of the former communist countries to free market economies.
Council of Europe (CoE)
The CoE, based in Strasbourg, was the first of the European organisations to be set up after the Second World War. Its membership is currently 47 states, including Russia and some of the other former Soviet Union countries. Unlike the EU Parliament, the 316 representatives and 316 substitutes who comprise the CoE Parliamentary Assembly are delegated by the national parliaments, and are not directly elected. The decision-making body is the Committee of Ministers. The CoE continues to perform a vital function within the overall European scene, since it sets the standards of pluralist democracy, the rule of law and human rights that are applied by all the other institutions comprising the new European “political architecture”. No country has ever been allowed to join the European Union and its predecessor organisations without first having become a member of the Council of Europe. The European Convention on Human Rights was adopted under CoE auspices, and it also operates the European Court of Human Rights. These rights have been expanded to include the rights of minorities, the protection of minority languages, human rights and biomedicine, and many others.
The Council of Europe also monitors the democratic institutions of its member states to ensure that they comply with its standards. It was as a result of this scrutiny of the UK political system that the Scottish Parliament was re-established. A number of countries are on the “waiting list” for CoE membership while their democratic and human rights systems are brought up to CoE standards.
European Union (EU)
The European Union in its current form dates from the treaties of Maastricht and Amsterdam, as amended in Nice in December 2000. There has been no adoption of the Lisbon treaty, the implementation of which would have radically altered the structure described below. Its rejection in the Irish referendum has been followed by constitutional challenges in several member states, and it will therefore not enter into force on the target date in 2009. Pending adoption of other measures the EU consists of three so-called “pillars”:
The First Pillar (supranational), comprises the previously existing European Economic Community (EEC), the European Coal & Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). These three original economic communities, all of which are administered by the EU Commission, in time became informally known collectively as the European Community (EC), although there never existed a single such organisation. In 2001 the ECSC was amalgamated with the EEC, but Euratom still exists separately, and together with the EEC constitutes the EC and the First Pillar of the EU. The European Community is still the EU institution that most immediately affects people’s lives.
The European Community has exclusive competence on behalf of its members on most foreign trade matters. This includes representation of its members in the World Trade Organisation. Under Article 133 of the EC Treaty the European positions in WTO questions are negotiated internally in Brussels and Geneva (WTO HQ) by a committee of representatives of EC member countries, supported by the Commission.
The Second Pillar (intergovernmental) of the EU consists of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
The Third Pillar (also intergovernmental) comprises agreements on police and judicial cooperation, the Schengen open frontier system, drug control, immigration and so on.
A Common Security and Defence Policy is in the course of development. The EU will eventually have a membership approaching three dozen countries covering the whole of the continent. There are presently 27 active members, with several other East European countries on the waiting list. Switzerland’s application for membership of the EU is presently lying on the table for domestic political reasons (the Swiss electorate, as distinct from their politicians and the gnomes of Zürich, are not prepared to exchange their system of direct democracy for EU diktats from Brussels), but it has never been withdrawn. Norway and Iceland refuse to join because of the EU fisheries policy. The 785 members of the EU Parliament are directly elected. The “government” is the 27-member Commission of the European Union, the members of which are appointed by the national governments. The decision-making Council of the European Union has various “formations” (foreign policy, trade, finance, fishing, agriculture, etc.) consisting of the respective ministers of the member governments. The supreme policy-making institution is the so-called European Council consisting of the heads of state and government of the member states.
European Economic Area (EEA) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
The EEA was founded to act as a bridge between the European Community, on the one hand, and the remaining EFTA members (presently Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein) on the other. The EEA agreement extends a significant part of the EC legal structure (acquis communautaire) to the EFTA states, but does not cover the customs union, the Common Agricultural Policy or Common Fisheries Policy. In other respects, however, it creates conditions similar to the EU Internal Market for the EEA member countries, thereby providing them with a kind of “quasi-membership” of the EU in a number of important respects, including access to the European research and development facilities. Switzerland rejected EEA membership in a referendum, but was subsequently forced to accept much the same conditions through individual treaties with the EU. Membership of the EEA was approved by a referendum in Liechtenstein. All 27 EU member states are automatically also members of the EEA, but their EEA functions are exercised by the EU Commission.
The EEA covers all the functions of EFTA, which regulates economic relations with non-EEA member Switzerland as well as administering its 20 trading treaties with other parts of the world. Agreement has been reached in principle on the formation of a Common European Economic Space to include all the EU members, the Russian Federation and – presumably – other countries like Ukraine and Turkey, etc. It is unclear at present how this would relate to the present EEA, but it would probably unite with it. The Russians have no intention of joining the European Union, but they insist on a level economic playing field in Europe. The results of the ongoing negotiations will be significant and will in effect create another level of integration parallel to full EU membership which will doubtless be of interest to Scotland, Norway and others.
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
The Vienna-based OSCE is another major organisation with a central role among the European institutions. It dates from the 1975 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe that was held in Helsinki on the initiative of the Soviet Union. Now established as a permanent institution, the 56-member OSCE is still regarded by Russia as the primary European security system, and in fact it did more than any other institution to end the Cold War. Its most significant activity is its ongoing conventional arms reduction talks, which with very little publicity have already drastically reduced the sizes of forces and the amount of military hardware existing throughout Europe. Its conflict prevention and crisis management functions in the Balkans, Caucasus, Chechnya and Central Asia cover all forms of democratisation, police training, supervision of elections, humanitarian assistance and much more. The so-called “human dimension” is administered by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw, the High Commissioner for National Minorities, and the Representative on Freedom of the Media. The Organisation also has an economic function. The OSCE plays a central role (e.g. providing an international civilian police force) in conflict situations where NATO provides the military component. It is in fact the world's largest security institution, with 21 ongoing missions and regular cooperation with NATO. It is drafting a Charter on European Security and has updated its Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) to take account of recent developments.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
NATO has altered dramatically since the days of the Cold War and is still in a state of development. It now has several new members from Eastern Europe, and other former members of the Warsaw Pact intend to join. The Russian Federation and Western non-members participate in NATO institutions like the Partnership for Peace (PfP) and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), and take part in peacekeeping operations under NATO command. Now that there is no longer any threat of an East-West military conflict, NATO’s functions have been broadened to include peacemaking and peacekeeping operations, for which it has provided the command and logistical structures.
The ideological plans to provide the European Union with a military capability are heavily dependent on the use of NATO facilities. It has in fact become evident that a “European pillar” of NATO is necessary for internal European security operations – although this is overlaid by ideological motives directed towards the creation of a European superstate. The US insists, however, that international anti-terrorism functions remain with NATO.
Western European Union (WEU)
The WEU was the first European security organisation to be set up after the Second World War, after the emergence of the alleged communist threat. It was soon superseded by NATO, and its remaining facilities and functions were transferred to the EU in 2001, with a couple of exceptions with a change of names. The WEU Treaty on mutual assistance is kept in being, since some of its scope and conditions cover aspects of security that are not covered by the NATO Treaty and other instruments.
European Sub-Regional Organisations
The range of institutions in this category illustrates how the functions of the all-embracing traditional state like the United Kingdom are now rapidly becoming diffused into a more complex and interwoven structure. These organisations fall into two main categories. Some, like the Nordic Council (Scandinavia) or the Central European Initiative (an interesting revival of some aspects of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy) are forums of existing states. Others, like the Working Community of Alpine Lands (Arge-Alp) are cross-border associations of provincial governments in adjoining states (Bavaria, Tyrol, Trentino, Graubünden, Györ-Sopron, etc.). A third hybrid group, for example the cross-border organisations covering the Adriatic and Danube regions, include both national and provincial governments on a basis of equality. What is common to all of them is that they coordinate policies and undertake joint activities on issues of common interest within their geographical areas. These range from joint tourist promotion to coordination of environmental and transport policies, education for cross-border language minorities, and much more besides.