Carne Ross. Photo: Independent Diplomat.
Carne Ross: a voice for the powerless
Rosemary Hartill profiles Carne Ross in the first of a new series
The ‘Visionaries for a just and peaceful world’ project, initiated and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, has for the past five years allowed a group of ‘visionaries’ to realise their ambitions. Carne Ross founded an organisation to provide high level diplomatic advice, expertise and assistance to new or transitional states, poor countries and oppressed groups: his vision was to help them express their needs, in a world of international diplomacy dominated by the powerful, clearly and peacefully and to reduce conflict.
There are some ideas, which appear so simple, and so good, it’s astonishing they haven’t been tried before. At first sight, Carne Ross’s idea must be one of them – to provide an independent diplomatic service for people who, in the world of high-powered international negotiations, are just not getting a fair deal. No one could do this who hadn’t been already finely schooled in the arts of how powerful nation-states and corporations promote their own interests, even when clearly at the unjust expense of poor and oppressed groups.
But once schooled in these subtle, intellectual, complex, and all-too-often manipulative arts, why would anyone want to give up the considerable accompanying personal benefits?
For fifteen years, Carne Ross was a fast-stream British diplomat, rising to the senior level, dealing with many of the world’s toughest issues: Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and environmental protection.
He knew prime ministers, foreign secretaries and many senior figures at the United Nations, the Arab League and beyond. He was immersed in the culture and rituals, loved the protocols on state visits, wore smart formal suits and was rewarded with a substantial salary, status and recognition.
But in the spring of 2003, the UK and the United States, supported by smaller allies, invaded Iraq. In September 2004, Carne resigned from the diplomatic service partly because he knew that the reasons publicly given for the invasion were not true. He was thirty-seven.
When JRCT trustees first met him in 2005, ‘he was still very angry’, one says. His evidence in 2010 to the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war detailed forensically the process leading up to what he described as the government’s ‘highly misleading statements about the UK assessment of the Iraq threat’.
‘In their totality,’ he says, ‘they were lies’.
Here was a man who for five years had been the UK’s voice at the United Nations on the Middle East, and who had had, he says, a ‘Rottweiler-like reputation’ as a defender of British/American Iraq policies, including the sanctions. Not surprisingly, his testimony generated widespread media coverage.
But his resignation was triggered not only by the invasion, nor by what he saw as the ‘deep politicisation of the civil service, the suppression of contrary opinion’, nor by his shame and regret at some things he had previously supported. When working at the UN Security Council, he had recognised that many governments and groups were undermined by their lack of experience and skills. As a result, their interests and needs were often ignored.
Later, working in Kosovo for the UN, he realised that the government there was totally unequipped for the complex diplomatic challenge it was facing as it approached possible statehood. In the widespread Kosovo riots in 2003, he saw in person how some groups can turn to violence, when political aspirations are frustrated.
This was the inspiration to establish a unique non-profit venture, Independent Diplomat, to give the powerless and marginalised the skilled help to make their case peacefully and effectively, and, as a result, to try and change the terms of diplomacy.
When Carne was given the JRCT Visionary award, he had been working from a basement without a salary for several months. A number of his old friends had stopped contacting him. ID was still tiny – more an idea than an organisation. There was one member of staff – him, and one client – Kosovo.
Five years on, ID has offices in five cities: New York (where Carne is based), Brussels, Juba, London and Washington. There are twelve employees, plus consultants and interns.
So what does ID do? As part of the service to Kosovo, it gave the Kosovan government detailed diplomatic intelligence and analysis of what was going on in the UN and EU, the positions of individual countries concerning their possible new statehood, and a detailed brief on aspects of independence such as borders, citizens’ rights and detailed comparative research. This smoothed the troubled path to independence.
Other clients include:
• the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (aim: a united state in Cyprus)
• Somaliland and Western Sahara (both wishing to become independent states)
• Burma’s democratically elected government-in-exile (bringing together Burmese opposition and ethnic groups as a credible partner for dialogue with the
military regime and the international community)
• the Marshall Islands and the broader Alliance of Small Island States (climate change negotiations).
He has also been pressing for a change in the rules of the UN Security Council. Many conflicts these days are internal conflicts, rather than conflicts between nation states. Yet only states have the right to address the Council. Other parties in conflicts can do so only by specific invitation.
Take the example of south Sudan, which is another of ID’s clients. Two rounds of north-south civil war have cost the lives of 1.5 million people in Sudan. In the months leading up to the January 2011 referendum on whether the south should separate and form a new state, the Security Council had a formal meeting on Sudan. It invited the Khartoum (northern) government and thirty-four other states. But, astonishingly, not the autonomous government of the south. Only when the South Sudanese protested was their President invited and able to speak. Carne believes he and others in similar circumstances should have the right to speak.
ID’s policy is only to take on clients who are broadly committed to human rights, international law and democracy, who are not involved in armed conflicts, and who are willing to commit to negotiated solutions to their problems.
Today Carne spends a substantial amount of time raising funds, releasing his colleagues to focus on the clients. All clients, however ill-resourced, pay something, but their contributions still only cover less than half of the overall $2m annual costs. The rest comes from charitable funds and neutral governments – like the Scandinavian countries.
There is always plenty to do – urgent work, organisational issues, the challenge of working across countries, high administrative requirements of charitable status and so on. He has not had a complete day off since he began. The idea/vision he had is certainly good, but not at all simple.
But set against that, he says, is the enjoyable freedom and intellectual liberty of running his own shop:
‘Hard though it is, I would never now trade these back for the safety but intellectual and moral torpor of working for government. I wear what I want to work. I take time off when I need to look after my children. I think and say what I like. These are benefits I cherish.’
‘The key thing I’ve learned is the importance of maintaining a very single focus – to do one thing, and do it well. It’s hard enough merely to start; being effective is a big challenge.’
This slightly shortened article is used courtesy of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. For further information see: www.jrct.org.uk
Comments
I take issue with the title of your article on Carne Ross. He is not a voice for the powerless”. Having read both the article and his website it is clear to me that he is using his skills, experience and powerful contacts in industry and government to the service of those working for a more humane world so they can speak for themselves and be better informed how to bend or gain the ear of those who ignore or bomb or abuse them. He is working WITH them so they can speak for themselves. Sharing ones skills with others because we are motivated by humanitarian ethics is a good thing and as not enough people do this in the world it is certainly something to write home about and I am pleased to have learned about this man. But I would ask readers to view this mans achievements and decision to sacrifice his civil service career and pension in its wider context. His choices pale to insignificance beside the life threatening choices we have witnessed people taking daily and for the same reasons as Carne Ross; in Egypt, Libya, Gaza, Tunisia, Bahrain, to name but a few. People are not powerless. They/we many lack political, social or economic influence in the corridors of power. We/they may not be listened to or heard as equals such as the Palestinians have experienced for decades, but please lets not fall into the trap of thinking anyone “gives” people freedom or a voice. In this interview, Carne Ross clearly expresses how he benefits from his realignment with people working for a just and peaceful society. He is now his own boss, he has a voice and can speak freely now and according to his conscience, he has family friendly hours, he and his family get to spend more time with each other and he has a better quality of life and a clear conscience. By working in equal partnership, everyone has a voice. Its a win/win situation.”
By miriam on 24th March 2011 - 16:05
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