KARACHI, Nov 1: Claiming that there was a change in attitude within the halls of the ministry of foreign affairs, a diplomat associated with the ministry told participants of a workshop held here on Saturday that under the orders from the top, interaction between the ministry and think-tanks, universities and other intellectual forums was being encouraged in order to formulate more effective external policies.

“We have to remove the disconnect that exists between think-tanks, universities and other forums and the foreign ministry. We are being encouraged to interact with such forums. Ignorance has been our worst problem. We have an abundance of emotionalism. We need to convert this into intellectual capital. Diplomacy is supposed to increase the options,” said Syed Hasan Javed, additional secretary (policy planning) at the ministry of foreign affairs in Islamabad.

He made the presentation at a workshop organized by the University of Karachi’s Area Study Centre for Europe (ASCE) titled ‘Recent Developments in US-Europe relations,’ held at the university. Several analysts presented papers during the workshop, which was attended by students and faculty members.

Mr Hasan focussed on Pakistan-European Union relations during his presentation and pointed that just as with Rome, the EU had not been built in a day, as he went on to describe the process of how the regional bloc has evolved into a global economic powerhouse.

He said relations between the EU and Pakistan have been generally friendly, while the bloc is also the nation’s largest trading partner, doing $10 worth of trade, while it is also the largest investor in Pakistan. Looking towards the future, he said Pakistan is interested in signing a free-trade agreement with the EU, which would further cement ties.

Earlier, during the opening remarks, the director of the ASCE, Professor Dr Naveed Ahmad Tahir, gave a brief overview of the current state of Euro-American relations. She said that change was imminent in the United States due to the forthcoming elections, adding that even though there was continuity in US foreign policy, the party and personality of the winning candidate would bring some change.

She said that the attacks of September 11, 2001 had brought Euro-American relations to a new low; some analysts had gone as far as to say that the ‘clash of civilizations’ would not be between Islam and the West, but between Europe and the US. “This appears a bit ridiculous now. They have similar security concerns. However, all is not hunky-dory. There are differences on trade and the environment,” she said.

The ASCE director added that Russia and China were pivotal in the Europe-US relationship; the US was cultivating warmer ties with India as it saw it as an emerging market and a counterweight to China, while the Europeans tended to tilt towards the Russians and the Chinese.

The new colonialists

Analyst Brigadier (retired) A.R. Siddiqui gave a comprehensive history and a sharp critique of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) in his paper titled ‘Possibility of further expansion of Nato: long-term impact on the international scenario.’

He said the western military alliance was fast becoming a neo-colonial force as the former European colonial powers such as Britain, France, Holland, Portugal, Spain etc, were the central players in the alliance’s military and political structure, with eyes firmly set on their erstwhile colonies’ natural wealth. The United States, he added, had joined this grouping and contributed “its unparalleled military power” to it.

“America, despite its global outreach and power, is not an imperial power yet. It’s unstoppably expansionist without the noblesse oblige of an imperialist power,” he observed.

Prof Dr Tanweer Khalid, former head of KU’s International Relations department, discussed the dynamics of the US-French relationship, from the heady days of Charles de Gaulle to the present, with Nicolas Sarkozy in France’s driving seat, in her paper entitled ‘Political chance in France and its impact on relations with the US.’

She said that Gen de Gaulle’s was the most expressive period for French foreign policy, adding that France uses the European Union to try and enhance its own foreign policy leadership of a Europe that is autonomous from the US.

Dr Khalid observed that though Franco-American relations had remained cordial since the United States declared independence in 1776, especially over the past 60 years, differences had cropped up as France is not willing to accept US unilateralism passively.

Gen (retired) Tanvir Naqvi, ex-chairman of the National Reconstruction Bureau, presided over the event.