|
| Current Projects | |||
| SCOTLAND INTERNATIONAL: A PEACE AND JUSTICE INSTITUTE Isobel Lindsay |
|||
| Objectives
Can a small country make a contribution to addressing the major problems of our world, the problems of violence and the social and economic injustice that is often its breeding ground? Smallness is not a bar to effectiveness. Switzerland, as home to the International Committee of the Red Cross, has made such a contribution during the last century and is also home to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. Sweden/Norway have the international Nobel prizes and the Swedish International Peace Research Institute. Finland has the Crisis Management Initiative for mediation. Ireland has a strong record of contributions to the United Nations and its agencies. The Netherlands is a centre for international justice. New Zealand has adopted a positive non-nuclear policy. What could Scotland do? Scotland has a wide range of organisations concerned with peace and justice issues. They do valuable work but are constrained by very low and insecure income. Scotland does not have a resource like the Bradford School of Peace Studies or the Oxford Research Group or an equivalent of Chatham House. We are not short of the vision but we are short of the resources and the institutional support to make it effective. Scotland with its academic and civic strength should have developed a project of this kind. We have NGOs and some individual academics but not a substantial international affairs resource. Yet the Scottish Government and Parliament have indicated an interest in developing their role in relation to ‘soft’ international powers e.g. the Malawi initiative, E.U. affairs, economic/cultural delegations, the Fresh Talent programme. International interests are likely to expand rather than contract but they need to be well-informed and developed from a Scottish perspective. We want to give Scotland the building blocks to develop a positive role in international affairs, a role that might lead to mediation work, to development work, to greater political and cultural interaction. A Scotland International Institute would aim to develop expertise in Scotland on international justice and war and peace issues. Activities We are proposing a value-based research and educational organisation. The value base would be very broad - a general commitment to peace and justice without attempting a more precise definition. The proposed centre would engage in policy development, educational and project work. An organisation of this kind has to develop flexibly over time but it will require clarity in relation to its initial activities of which the following are examples: 1) Promote informed understanding of international issues to the general public, the media and specialist groups. This would involve an initial selection of topics on which expertise would be developed. It would be expected that any initial selection would focus on subjects with a specific Scottish dimension. For example,if Scottish public authorities wished to establish sustained bilateral links with another country such as Malawi, then this would be an obvious choice for work.So too would developments around nuclear disarmament given Scotland’s position as a major nuclear base. 2) Provide a centre for visiting contributors from home and abroad on peace and justice issues and establish overseas links. Having a base able to organise and finance visits (for one event or a short residency) of people with valuable experience ( not specifically academic) would give people in Scotland access to a variety of perspectives. 3) Develop work on conflict resolution and on global justice themes. This might be in the form of conventional research or project work and would also involve promotion of wider public debates on alternatives to violence. While the Institute would be expected to produce publications and to offer short courses, it would not be involved in providing academic qualifications. Resourcing For this proposal to be effective, there needs to be continuity of resources and pluralism in management. The option are: 1. The Institute could be situated within an existing university with funding made available from the higher education budget and with universities in Scotland being invited to bid for the Institute. This would mean that the funding would not leave the sector. The advantage of situating it within an existing institution is that there would be an established infrastructure and many of the intellectual and networking resources needed would be accessible. The community engagement, international dimension and applied research aspects of the project fit within the contemporary higher education ethos of civic involvement, knowledge exchange and international ‘deep links’. 2. The Institute could be self-standing and be financed primarily from the Scottish Government’s international unit budget. This would ensure a distinctive identity and possibly more flexibility but the set-up and support costs might be higher. Structure and Staffing To ensure plurality in management and wider civic engagement, there should be a supervisory board with nominees from a range of organisations in Scotland. For example – the Parliament, the universities, human rights, aid and peace organisations, the churches, the trade unions and professional organisations, local authorities. The core staff can be small (director and administrator) since it is envisaged that much of the activity would come from a large pool of contributors from academic, NGO, professional, political and faith backgrounds, home and overseas. The involvement of these broad networks would be central to the success of the project. Next Steps If the Scottish government is interested in this, the next stage would be for them to establish a working group and develop a business plan. (This is an updated version of a paper submitted by Isobel Lindsay to the Trident, Scotland and the new Political Settlement Conference held in Glasgow on 26 May 2007) |
|||
|