Customer Reviews

Cousins and Strangers: America, Britain, and Europe in a New Century

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Chris Patten, a British politician, cabinet Minister, and EU functionary, has written a political autobiography of his life and times with astute commentary on the events of the last 40 years and a look toward the future of The World.

Patten has the usual British taste for understatement, delicately slicing rather than hammering people he does not like, who include George Bush -- although he is judicious in his Bush bashing and avoids making this a book about only America. Instead, he talks much of the EU, an institutuion of enormous importance and stultifying boringness.

It is the support of Americans for the IRA that seems to arouse his ire the most but unconditional American support for Israel and the Iraq war also grab his attention. He also throws small bombs at the pompous Jacques Chirac, former PM Maggie Thatcher, and Tony Blair. But this is not a political expose or a book of revenge on political opponents. Rather, Patten seeks to impart some of the wisdom he has accumulated, to speculate on the role of India and China in the future, and to affirm his faith in the collective rather than the cowboy approach to world affairs. He succeeds in being intelligent and civilized. Political junkies will find this book to be one of the better of its type. His dissection of the British/American relationship will be of the most interest to those on this side of the Atlantic.

Smallchief

Patten writes a strong book on the why, how and who to international relationship and the importance of working together for the greater good. The author shows the importance of the up and coming Asia and south East Asia countries and their influence on relationships and trust. A very good and timely book, a must read for those who want to understand positions of countries in the world today and the future.

Chris Patten has been everywhere and done many things. Such experience fills his memory with many aspects of international dealings. Gaining a focus on all that information and conveying it to readers in an organised fashion proves difficult, as this book shows. In an account of what he's observed over the years - "as close to a memoir as I will come" - he tries to explain the United Kingdom's struggle to balance its own interests with that of others. The "others" are Europe and the United States. How well does he achieve this?

After a rather rambling start, Patten gets to his theme: where does the UK stand in relation to its two most significant allies - the US and the EU? He emphasises that these are collectives, not single entities. This is important to remember as he discusses the formation and dealings within the EU and its relations with the rest of the world. It further raises questions of "sovereignty" and how that is considered by the three groupings under discussion. Sovereignty is something debateable and adjustable as the EU has successfully demonstrated. The US has taken a more rigid stance on the concept, which has inhibited its relations with the EU and coloured its dealings with the UK and the UN, the fourth element to be considered.

Patten strains somewhat to establish and maintain his "conservative" credentials. As a politician, he's a fairly staunch British Conservative. As a diplomat, however, the small "c" conservative has been the foundation of his dealings with nations and agencies. As a conservative, there are factors he wishes to protect and promote. He wants to retain the internationalism that prevailed at the end of WWII and, in the West, throughout the Cold War. The Marshall Plan, designed to restore post-war Europe, proves his most reliable model and he urges readoption of its ideals. While urging this restitution, he cannot avoid taking a swipe at the self-declared "neocons" in Washington and their unilateral approach to world situations. Internationalism, Patten urges, has been successfully demonstrated and should be encouraged further. The UK, in its special position as well as its "special relation", is best suited to take up this cause most effectively.

Patten's distaste for Bush and his cronies is not one that will be flushed away with a dose of Listerine. Although the author feels that US exceptionalism has shallow roots, mostly fertilised by its contributions in two great wars and its self-congratulatory outlook to the collapse of the Soviet Empire, he fails to see how deeply that unilateral attitude actually resides. A product of expansion into the political vacuum of North America, US unilateralism will not be excised by the admonitions of the last governor of Hong Kong. His approach is to hope "we can all sit down and reason together", but while that has certainly worked in Europe - in no small part due to Patten's own efforts - it's unlikely to be viewed with welcome in the US any time soon. Nor is it as pervasive in his own country as he would wish it. Patten's observations, particularly at the end of the book where he considers the rising power of China, are valuable and meaningful. That, his disavowals aside, this is a heavily personalised account enhances, does not diminishes its worth. It's not the only paean to international cooperation, but it's a worthy contribution. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

From 1999 to 2004 Chris Patten was a member of the European Commission with responsibility for its External Relations. After an initial chapter which focusses on what unites and what divides Europe and the United States, the first half of this book deals with Patten's views on Britain's relationship with the European Community. I am not an enthusiast for Brussels myself, but I found this a most eloquent critique of Euroscepticism. Some things come out very strongly: Lord Patten's admiration of post-war Germany and for Helmuth Kohl in particular, and his rightful contempt for the Germanophobia so widespread in Britain and so fanned by the popular press and television. He puts it down to the fact that the `British' victory over Germany is the last episode in British history of which Britons can be proud, so that they compulsively replay that reel over and over again. He is contemptuous of the Tory Party, which, having under Heath taken Britain into Europe, then became the home of what Patten considers illogical arguments about sovereignty (a concept he examines with masterful authority). He is equally scathing about the British illusion that there really is something like a Special Relationship with the United States. The USA actually wants Britain to have a closer relationship with the European Union, and makes no compromises with British interests whenever those diverge from those of the United States. And although Europe and the United States share many values and Europe owes much to the USA in politics and culture, this has, since the end of the First World War, always been counter-pointed with a strand of anti-Americanism in Europe. Patten examines the many ways in which Europe and America are very different, pointing, among other things, to the pervasive influence of religion in the US, to a nationalism which is more overt and assertive across the Atlantic than it is now in Western Europe, to a much more unrestrained capitalism, to national and individual attitudes to budget deficits, to gun-ownership and to capital punishment. On all these matters Patten much prefers the European way; and clearly the ascendancy of the gung-ho, unilateralist neo-cons - Patten has selected some choice quotations from Bush, Rumsfeld, and Bolton to this effect - has done nothing to make America more popular in Europe, - not to mention the USA opting out of Kyoto, insisting on immunity from the International Criminal Court, and flouting the Geneva Conventions at Guantánamo Bay. It is all such a far cry from the internationalist approach of Truman, Marshall and Eisenhower.

When he turns to discuss the European Union, Patten is duly critical of those ideologues who will not recognize that people rightfully value their national identity, and he points out that within the EU of course all the nations - even those, and perhaps particularly those who use the most European rhetoric - try to promote their own agenda. On the other hand, he writes that there is less corruption, waste and inefficiency in Brussels than in the administrations of most member states, and that since enlargement even the ideologues have realized that there must be a halt to the expansion of the powers of the Commission - a realization that, Patten says, was a key element of the recently rejected Constitution. And on the matter of enlargement, Patten makes an eloquent and multi-layered case for the eventual admission of Turkey to the EU.

While the first half of the book addresses issues that are in the forefront of Britain's relationship with the EU, in the second half we have Patten's views on wider issues with which the EU has to concern itself. He gives an account of the EU's involvement in the Balkans during the dreadful war there. He thinks that on the whole, after a humiliating start, EU policy there `worked pretty well' and he pays warm tribute to Lord Ashdown's work there as the UN's High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In the Middle East Patten thinks the EU should be firmer with the Israelis and therefore more independent of US policy. He also believes it is possible to do more to promote democracy and modernization in the Arab world, in part through more economic cooperation (and encouraging Arab countries to cooperate economically with each other, which they hardly do at present), and certainly not through force of arms or the double standards which value the democratic process only if it produces results that suit the West: he tells us (though without showing why) that does not `buy the argument that encouraging democracy in the Arab world only creates trouble'.

He thinks the EU should also be much tougher with Russia over a whole range of issues, and he deplores the way Schröder, Chirac, Berlusconi and Aznar have cosied up to Putin, who, over an episode in Chechnya for instance, has indulged in the most blatant lying Patten had ever come across: `He knew that we knew he was lying. He did not give a damn, and we all let him get away with it - on that occasion, and again and again.'

Critical though he is of China's human rights record, he has much more respect for the Chinese leadership, and sees the economic growth of China, not as a threat to the prosperity of the West, but, on the contrary, as ultimately in its interest, not to speak of the achievement of raising millions of Chinese out of poverty.

Patten is an exceptionally open-minded and broad-minded conservative. Much of what he says in this book is wise; very frequently it is witty, and sometimes waspish. But even those who feel stung by his remarks will be aware that they are engaged with a lively, thoughtful and stimulating mind.

Published under the title of "Not Quite The Diplomat" in the UK, "Cousins and Strangers" is former Governor of Hong Kong, ex-Conservative Party Chairman and European Commissioner Chris Patten's career best confessional, offering exclusive and insightful peeks behind the scenes that have shaped major world events of geopolitical significance from the vantage point of privileged participant or close range observer over the course of his long and illustrious political and diplomatic career.

Patten's book is a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding read. Filled with wit, grace and humour, it is never dry or dull. Always sharply observed and intellectually honest, the many anecdotes that pepper these pages throw light on key world personalities that have played a central role in steering the competing blocs towards a new political equilibrium after the Cold War ceased in 1990. Never one to pull any punches, we are told who he unreservedly admires and who he considers charlatans or crooks. Not surprisingly, the excursion he takes us on covers the usual hot spots. More importantly, they are always scenic and never devoid of interest or insight. Chris Patten has written a marvelous book that should be read by anybody with any interest in understanding the personalities and forces that determine where our rapidly globalizing world is taking us. One of the best non-fiction books I have read in the past year. Highly recommended

Cousins and Strangers provides, a la Patten's previous book" East and West: China, Power, and the Future of Asia", his personal views on a large number of eclectic and far ranging issues pertaining to the U.S., Britain and Europe. These range from the field of international political relations, military affairs, economics and nationalism, among others. If one enjoyed his opinions in "East and West" you will probably enjoy those in this book. His views very much personify those held by the Tory party. Considering the fact that he was head of this party this is not much of a surprise. His opinions are, in many cases, in sharp contrast with those of most conservatives in the U.S. (and definitely the "official" views of the Republican Party). Hence for those seeking to find what the differences are between U.S. and British conservatives a very enlightening book.

Chris Patten confesses that, when he was a speechwriter working for the Conservative Party's research unit, there was a particular sort of speech that he always avoided drafting: the tour d'horizon, or comprehensive survey of the international issues of the day. Nothing is more predictable and lacking in originality than the mandatory review of pending international crises, the reaffirmation of broad priorities and the invocation of lofty ideals that form the compulsory passages of such interventions. Diplomats, for which attention to details is a second nature, might interpret the wording of some expressions, decipher the omission of some topics or ponder why some issues were treated at more length than others, and they might draw policy conclusions from reading such omens. But to the layperson, such scripts only bring boredom and monotony, and that is why politicians should avoid them at all costs.

So what distinguishes Patten's book from a tour d'horizon? What urged him to write it in the first place, and why is it worthy of readers' attention? His book has many points in common with the dreaded genre. It is equally comprehensive: there is not a single international issue that is left unaddressed, not a hot spot on the planet that is not visited. It also includes the same discussion of the broad priorities and the same references to honored principles that you would expect in a routine diplomatic survey.

But routine it is not. First, the book brings to life many political characters or scenes from international diplomacy that are usually frozen by pomp and decorum. There are some quotes that the reader will long remember, some famous (Bush: "I don't know what you're talking about, about international law. I've got to consult my lawyer"), others less reported (Blair: "I never quite understand what people mean by this neocon thing") and some unique to the author (Bolton: "I don't do carrots," when faced with a stick-and-carrot approach toward Iran.) There are humorous details that you will never find elsewhere: the flower arrangement at the centre of the European Council's table that seems straight out of Teletubbieland; the British ambassador who hides under a table to eavesdrop a restricted session; the Japanese civil servant who crawls across the room on all fours to change the script that his minister has wrongly begun reading; the military attendant who accompanies President Chirac everywhere with a mysterious briefcase, possibly containing the keys to the force de frappe--or just an extra tidbit to quench his legendary appetite.

The French president in particular comes out of this essay severely bruised. Like his predecessor Francois Mitterrand, he makes a point of arriving late at European Council meetings, where he gets mad at the suggestion that agriculture subsidies in Europe might contribute to the plight of poor countries. Also not unlike his predecessor, he sees diplomacy "in terms of great men, the leaders of great countries, talking together in marbled halls. Cast details to the wind; history is made by those who understand the grander picture, and who can summarize its most salient features in a portentous platitude." This may seem a little hard, and one may wonder why Patten chooses to concentrate his witticism on a politician that shares many aspects of his worldview and moderate conservatism. But to be true, Patten reserves his most savage criticism to his political rival Tony Blair, who embodies "opportunism with a human face" and adhered to the Bush administration's decision to wage war in Iraq "for reasons that were at best spurious and at most fraudulent."

This is where the book departs most strongly from a foreign policy survey, making its author "not quite the diplomat," as the title of the UK edition proclaims. Chris Patten not only has principles, but he applies them consistently across time and space. He believes that Europe cannot conduct its relationship with China or Russia on the basis of ill-judged commercial aspirations. He debunks the "order book diplomacy" of trade missions, noting that most business deals signed in the wake of Western politicians' foreign visits are the result of double accounting of deals already concluded or letters of intention that never materialize. More often than not, the readiness to sacrifice political ideals to economic interests (which he attributes especially to the French) leads to a false bargain: "there is no evidence that China does business on a basis any different from everyone else; it seeks the best products at the best price. The fact that it goes on hinting that friendship and compliance with Chinese positions can lead to big, fat contracts is a tribute to Western (including American) gullibility." Likewise, "Russia needs our market just as much as we need Russia's oil and gas, and if we were smarter we would strengthen our negotiating hand by doing more to increase the flow of oil and gas to Europe from the rich fields of Central Asia and Azerbaijan."

According to Patten, the Blair government's decision to align with the Bush administration in its war against Iraq was not only morally wrong, but it was also detrimental to British and European interests and, in the end, it did a disservice to the United States. Proponents of the Special Relationship between the UK and the US usually delusion themselves when they think they can exert some influence over their powerful ally. When substance is important to America, the most that Britain can usually do is to affect process. In the case of Iraq, British adherence to a supporting stance even undercut her ability to wield power: "Why is Mr Blair so worked up about the UN since he is going to be with us anyway," what the reaction of a senior White House official.

Finally, Mr Patten's solid training in ancient history and the humanities provides a welcome streak of classic quotes and references. The dialogue between the Athenians and the Melians, before the sack of that innocent city as recorded by Thucydides, reminds the reader that might is not always right, and that excessive power leads to likely abuse. One wishes that modern leaders could be reminded that "they are only mortals" (`Memento, homo'), as was muttered to the ear of Roman consuls at the time of their triumph. China's growth elicits in contemporary investors the same reaction that had Columbus scribble `Mercacciones innumeras' (`an incalculable amount of trade') in the margins of his copy of Marco Polo's Travels. And one is reminded that an individual who is able to discuss Shakespeare with Jiang Zemin or to introduce his discussion on Brussels' foreign policy with a quote from The Analects by Confucius not only bridges East and West but also proves, in the end, to be Quite The Diplomat.

Chris Patten was Chairman of the Conservative Party in the UK, was also the last Governer of Hong Kong and then became the European Commissioner for External relations. This breadth of experience has informed his book which is a mixture of political theory, reminiscences about people and events in the past, discussion of America, Europe and the UK with their similarities and differences as well as some of his thoughts about the future.

Chris Patten can certainly write. His text is never boring, he has a very good turn of phrase, he paints pictures of some of the 'characters' in Europe and America that he has met (and he seems to have met all the important people) and his incisive mind cuts through a lot of the waffle and rhetoric in modern politics to give a clear explanation of events. Writing from a UK perspective although evidently someone who is pro-Europe and pro-America, he discusses the time of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair giving a fresh view on many of the events to this English reader, then broadening the sweep to the European Union, to the "Special Relationship" with the US and to the future of Asia with some discussion about the Israel/Palestine and Iraq situations. Patten isn't an armchair commentator, he has been involved in some of the major events of the past twenty years and his knowledge of the background of some of these events is fascinating.

This analysis covers a broad sweep of 20th century global history and consequently sometimes it's not entirely clear which way his argument is moving but it's always a great ride. Patten identifies himself as a conservative and a catholic and yet he is able to discuss the failings of the conservative party and to give some credit to Tony Blair (although it's very clear he's not a fan of Blair's). George W Bush comes in for some sharp criticism, along with Jacques Chirac of France and several other characters, and Patten can be quite caustic in his comments, backing them up with quotes and examples.

Overall Chris Patten comes across as surprisingly open-minded, a witty writer, a man who is clearly a lover of both America and Europe and whose generally optimistic view of the future, including the new economies of China and India is an interesting read. As an English reader I found myself agreeing with Patten on many of his readings of opinions of fellow Brits about Europe and America but I think this book would be just as helpful for people from other countries to take a fresh look at the situation of the Western countries and how they interact in our modern world.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2007