The story of the week was Rex Tillerson’s casual Trump-style dismissal as US Secretary of State, the nation’s top diplomat. But this has since been eclipsed by Theresa May’s effective diplomacy in reaction to the Salisbury poisoning incident. Britain’s resentment and rage at Russia’s violation of British integrity has been met by a strong declaration of support from the governments of France and Germany, and even the United States, where President Trump has been famously reluctant to blame anything on Russia.
Now Russia is seen in a harsh perspective, linking the poison murder to previous atrocities such as their meddling in the US 2016 elections, annexing parts of Ukraine, and supporting the Syrian regime in a genocide against their own people. Now Trump has to demand Russian accountability. Theresa May’s diplomacy proves to be more effective than Trump’s militaristic belligerence. The world holds its breath as the North Korean game plays out, in which diplomats were not involved.
There was a time when diplomacy was the leading tool in US Foreign Policy. Even under a troubled President Nixon, China was invited to join the world by Henry Kissinger, the most recognized diplomat of modern times. We have an example closer to home when governments operated through diplomatic channels to make history. ASEAN was established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of what became known as the ASEAN Declaration or the Bangkok Declaration, signed by the five founding fathers of the regional organization: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. It was the product of diplomats. ASEAN survived and evolved from five members to 10, a showpiece of the adage that diplomacy matters.
Able diplomats stewarded ASEAN in its early growth. From Thailand, there was Thanat Khoman, foreign minister from 1959 to 1971, a distinguished diplomat and politician. From Indonesia, foreign affairs minister Adam Malik was part of the triumvirate that controlled the transition process from the Sukarno to the Suharto regimes. He had differences with Suharto’s generals on Indonesian conduct in Southeast Asia. The generals wanted Indonesia and its regional neighbors in ASEAN to have a closer security co-operation. They were also in favor of sending Indonesian troops to help the South Vietnamese in the Vietnam War. But Adam Malik insisted that ASEAN should only be about economic, not military cooperation. Malik also adopted a softer stance towards the People’s Republic of China.
Contemporaries form Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines made up the ASEAN Five. With recent setbacks in international relations in North America and Europe versus Russia, it is urgent for strong heads of government to remember that diplomacy matters.
