LONDON - Not so many years ago, those who entered the Foreign Ministries of countries such as Britain and France were expected to be cultured individuals destined to be the public face of their nations in various corners of the globe. Historically, the embassies in the Middle East and North Africa were staffed by an elite that didn't only master Arabic as easily as Latin and Ancient Greek but just as likely taught themselves Farsi, Hebrew or Arabic calligraphy in their spare time. For all their patrician virtues, these remarkable individuals still managed to generalise about the Arabs and Persians and looked on the regions they served in as a chess game of which they were the sole arbiters. This gilded world lasted until the 1950s, when Arab nationalism wreaked havoc to the policies formulated by the Foreign Office in London and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris. It was to see the gluttonous King Farouk toppled in Egypt and the Suez Canal nationalised. London and Paris, along with the newly created state of Israel, endeavoured to engineer an emergency to act as a cover for military intervention, only to find that their machinations earned the disapproval and censure of the United States of America and resulted in a humiliating climb-down. The fallout from the Suez Crisis was far- reaching, bolstering Gamal Abdel Nasser, emboldening the Soviet Union to send tanks into Hungary and sowing the seeds of discontent and treachery that resulted in the murder of the benign King Feisal II of Iraq and his family in 1958. One of Nasser's disciples, Brigadier Sallah, orchestrated and executed an Egyptian-backed coup in Yemen in September 1962, thus ousting Mohamed al-Badr, Yemeni King and Imam. In the following year, Abdul Salam Aref, another friend and admirer of the Egyptian leader, carried out the violent overthrow of Prime Minister Qasim of Iraq, an event that ushered in the era of the Ba'ath Party, which ultimately led to the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. All that has happened in the 50 years since then should be a clarion call for foreign policy-makers, urging them to return to their history books or at the very least spend a few hours in the company of taxi drivers in cities such as Amman, Cairo and Nablus. In this age of austerity and uncertainty, foreign policy makers in London and Paris could maybe put ‘leverage' and ‘synergy' to one side and drink some of the knowledge, opinion and wisdom to be found away from official vehicles and the Euro-mediocrity that fills their diplomatic social scene. A battered yellow Mercedes-Benz could prove an unlikely place of learning and the driver a refreshing commentator, guide, historian and observer of local and international politics. These ‘seats' of learning and transportation would of course include certain standard features; small cups of cardamom coffee, pungent cheroots and the sublime if rather doleful voice of the unofficial Patron Saint of Arab taxi drivers ��" umm Kalthoum. So what might the not-so-bright young things from Europe's foreign ministries gain from such an experience? Well, one thing is for certain, they should better be familiar with the following: The Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration Arab taxi drivers delight in exploring what has shaped their region and have an excellent working knowledge of the West's games and game players. Such is their knowledge that the world's top business schools and multi-nationals should hire some of them to draw up PESTLE analyses to help companies seeking to interact with the region. The knowledge, both general and specific, of some British diplomats and Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff sent to the region is invariably woeful. Many have never even heard about John Bagot Glubb, let alone read any of the writings of the famed Glubb Pasha; his books - most notably Great Arab Conquests - should be compulsory reading. Mention the likes of Aden, the Trucial States and Nuri-as Said and you are greeted with quizzical expressions and blank stares. The Arab peoples, whilst disparate in nature, possess a strong sense of history, which ensures that they are only too well aware of former triumphs and past slights. Diplomacy in the West has largely ignored history, even recent history, and is, therefore, at a real disadvantage when it comes to engagement, establishing a rapport and understanding the mindset of those it deals with. The Hashemites of Jordan have a historical connection with the Holy City of Mecca and the House of Saud, which played a role in ousting them. They understand that they owe their current status to the British, who installed them, and not to a popular mandate. Whilst the Arabs treasure their sense of the past and delight in conspiracy theories (the latter being a favourite past time), those seeking to represent the West seem to have overlooked so much, and what is worse, appear utterly ignorant of what has happened before. Is it any wonder then that some elementary blunders are still being made? If policy-makers in London and Paris seem ill prepared, the situation in Washington is even more parlous. The US has been used to running much of the region by proxy and made little or no effort to appreciate the dynamics and antipathies that shape inter-Arab rivalry or make the Arab League so utterly ineffective. America's foreign policy myopia has resulted in a siege mentality made worse by its total pre-occupation with Israel. Policy-makers have bought into their own rhetoric and have routinely formulated solutions that bear little or no connection to the reality on the ground. This has been exacerbated by security concerns which have resulted in American diplomats being ever more detached and thus hamstrung. Recent events from the Maghreb to the Gulf have left Western diplomats dazed and confused. The time is right for Western diplomats to venture forth from their hermetically sealed offices and cars and discover the real world. They may well find that the purveyors of shawerma or chai nana (mint tea) know a lot more than they think. Arab hospitality and humour can come as a very pleasant surprise if you have been used to an unremitting diet of Fox News. Yes, there are uncertainties; the very art of living contains risk, but in sallying forth and being prepared to travel in aged taxis to unfamiliar settings and insights can lead to finding the kind of wisdom that will never be garnered in protocol-stifled ministerial meetings or dull diplomatic gatherings.
Mark T Jones is a Landon-based freelance writer and specialist in internalional affairs. He contributed this article to the Egypian Mail.
