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Foreign ministry and the image of the country

HARUN UR RASHID
***The government needs to be firm in its goal in removing violence and intolerant behaviour by extremist organizations. If it fails, no restructuring of the foreign ministry will be of any help. In a world of the existing information technology, nothing can be hidden from those who are interested in doing business with Bangladesh.***
IT is reported that the government policymakers are considering in taking steps to recast the structure of the foreign ministry for its diplomatic "failure" in handling the poor Bangladesh image abroad. The news of recasting or restructuring the foreign ministry is nothing new.
In April 2004, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs told the media that it decided to recommend shaking up the ministry's hierarchy as well as organizing the country's missions abroad to make them "dynamic." The Chairman of the Committee reportedly told to the newsmen that: "The present structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not suit the needs of time. It should be reorganized in accordance with economic diplomacy."
Before I make a few suggestions on the restructure of the ministry, let me make some preliminary observations on the reported "failure" of the ministry to uphold Bangladesh's image abroad when an antiBangladesh campaign is being carried out globally.
What do foreign relations cover?
Foreign relations consist not only of political relations directed towards other states, but also economic, including foreign investment, commercial, and cultural relations with governments and people of other countries. Often people-to-people relations are outside the purview of governmental relations, except for issuing visas or entry permits. It is the totality of relations of the country that ultimately counts and relations in respect of political or economic cannot be compartmentalized.
Who are the main actors in foreign relations ?
Under the parliamentary system of government, usually the Prime Minister sets the directions of foreign policy in political and economic relations. The main thrust of foreign relations is ordinarily decided by the Prime Minister in consultation with a number key ministers. Once the policy is decided, several ministries are involved to implement policy and the foreign ministry is only one of them.
There is another fact that needs to be noted. Intelligence agencies have inputs in the decision of policy and this classified information is only communicated to the Prime Minister and, if permitted by the Prime Minister, to other ministers or senior bureaucrats on a "need to know" basis.
As earlier noted, apart from political relations, which are the domain of the foreign ministry, other relations are being conducted by various ministries and departments of the government. For example, with regard to the availability of external economic relations, including foreign investment, it is the Economic Relations Division that deals with foreign agencies and signs the agreements. Commer-cial/Trade agreements are dealt with by the Ministry of Commerce.
Foreign ministry is hardly involved in the above two categories of instances.
The opening of commercial Taiwanese office in Dhaka was reportedly permitted without any consultation with the foreign ministry, although later it was largely the foreign ministry that had to be involved in removing misunderstanding with China. That means a number of ministries of the government are involved in foreign relations and the Prime Minister's Secretariat appears to be the coordinating or supervising agency.
In the Bangladesh Embassies in the key countries abroad, it is not only foreign ministry officials but other officials of various minis-tries/department are posted. Economic, commercial, defence liaison and cultural/Educational functions of the embassies are performed by officers posted from other minis-tries/departments.
It is noted that many of the Ambassadors posted in the key countries abroad are not often drawn from foreign service cadre officers and are not ordinarily accountable to the foreign ministry because they are appointed on "political considerations" (this practice is not confined to Bangladesh only). They have the ears of the highest echelon of political leaders.
Furthermore, foreign ministry had always been in the forefront in the eyes of the past civil and military governments when they came into power. They have tinkered with it as they wished, irrespective of its ramifications in future. Often the ministry has to take in officers from various sources because it is only the ministry that suits and fits people of all statures and rank. The foreign ministry is usually the victim of political expediency under all regimes.
In the light of the above facts, in my view, it is not fair to single out the foreign ministry for its alleged "failure" in countering the bad image of the country overseas. Rather I would argue it is the whole government that has to bear the responsibility.
How does the rest of the world look at Bangladesh?
The view from outside is multifaceted. It is social, political, eco-
nomic and cultural areas, all combined that gives the image of a country. Perception is a mental construction and is not quantifiable. In many ways, it is an elusive concept. To many psychologists, perception is easier to experience than to define.
Perception, like reputation, is a slow process and is gradually built on facts and on interactions with people who live in the country including foreigners. The interactions can be both at home and abroad and consist of at different levels, official and private. Media reports are powerful medium to keep abreast what occurs in a country. Perception derived from one sphere spill over to another and they are all interrelated. Once perception is formed, it takes time to remove it, like reputation.
Improved social and economic indicators of a country do not necessarily translate into good image. It is a misreading of the situation. Improved social and economic conditions are one of the important factors of good governance but are not sufficient enough to remove the negative image of a country. There is a saying: "Man does not live on bread alone." This adage implies that besides socio-economic conditions, there are other aspects of conditions of human life that need to be taken into account how a country is governed.
For example during the 70s, although Chile, under the military dictator General Augusto Pinochet, progressed in economic terms because of opening up its markets to foreign investors, its record of egregious human rights violations was well known all over the world. Even today, attempts are being made to put General Pinochet on trial for his involvement in breach of human rights.
Reforms of the foreign ministry
The above observations do not, however, mean that the restructuring of the foreign ministry is not necessary. In my view it is long overdue.
The present structure of the foreign ministry was established soon after independence. Some of the senior officers of the foreign ministry have put together the structure of the ministry with great dedication and devotion to meet the
urgency of the time. The essence of the period was the urgency and they quickly replicated it almost from the structure of the Pakistan Foreign Office.
But that initial period has been over after, say four or five years. One important criterion is that Bangladesh entered fully into international community after its admission to the UN in September 1974. That was the time when the ministry should have been advisedly restructured.
Although in the past there have been considerations of shaking the structure of the ministry, no substantial restructuring has been done except a few cosmetic changes with regard to the strength of officers of the ministry.
Since economic diplomacy is the aim of all governments, it is necessary to recast the foreign ministry to be effective in economic diplomacy. Economic diplomacy is the policy of advancing policies of economic interest. It includes policies relating to production, movement or exchange of goods, services, labour in other countries and also includes policy of foreign investment in the country.
Therefore the task under economic diplomacy is quite comprehensive and does not at all fit in with the existing "Rules of Business" of the foreign ministry of the government or any other single ministry or department of the government.
Another feature of economic diplomacy is the involvement of private sectors in the decisionmaking process in economic diplo-macy. This is because private sectors know where the shoe pinches and therefore are in a position to place their inputs to the government agencies.
This being the case, an overall coordinating cell may be considered where all the ingredients of economic diplomacy are thrashed out and thereafter entrust the ministries or departments to implement it.
With regard to the foreign ministry, in my view, the external trade wing and external resources wing are required to be merged with the foreign ministry together with the officers experienced in the areas. In many countries, Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been re-designated as Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade.
The present structure of the foreign ministry does not consist of
two important divisions: research and archives. Furthermore the legal division is very weak and it needs to be much strengthened.
Research Division is a think-tank of the foreign ministry and should provide periodical analytical reports on strategic, security issues. They also will issue periodic or monthly assessment report on likely events in a country, in the region and globally so that the government is prepared to address the issues before they occur.
The government should not be surprised with an event outside its borders and must have the policy at hand when and if they occur. The existing divisions based on geographical regions and activities of international organization within the foreign ministry handle day-to-day matters. They have little time to conduct research on strategic issues or the likely events beyond borders. Some say a foreign ministry without research division is a ship without a rudder.
For legal division, the government may recruit successful bright students from law faculties and send them to overseas universities to conduct higher studies on subjects important to Bangladesh, such as international river law, sea law, maritime boundary, international trade law, intellectual property law and information technology.
Archives division is to keep all past records, of statements of policies made publicly in the country or in the forum of international organizations by leaders of government, past and present and should publish them in a book form year after year. A year book of the foreign ministry is required to be published so that every one knows what was the target and what was achieved.
Another fact is to be mentioned is that it is often reported that enough resources have not been provided to the foreign ministry and embassies abroad to effectively perform the job. If resources are not adequate, mere accusation does not help, rather affects adversely morale of officers who are by and large are good and dedicated to the interests of the country.
Conclusion
Governments should reflect the views of the people of Bangladesh, the people the governments represent and their values. However on the rise of Islamic extremism in the country, views of many government leaders do not conform with those of the people.
Intolerant and violent conduct has been going on for the last two years and many foreign journalists and domestic media have been urging the government to stamp out the rise of intolerant Islamic extremism. Only on February 23 did the government ban two of the Islamic extremist organizations operating in the country.
The negative image of Bangladesh is not a matter of concern for ordinary people in other countries. One can argue that in some countries the majority of people do not know much about Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a responsible member of international community and has been integrating with the world economy. Therefore negative image may have an adverse impact on its trade, investment, and aid commitment.
The negative image slowly built over the past two years cannot be removed right away by banning the two organizations nor can it be counteracted by revealing the positive socio-economic indicators. The country is seen as a whole including its political environment and human rights record. There is always a long time-gap before perception is changed
Having banned the two extremist organizations, everyone at home and abroad is now watching what further steps the government takes. The government needs to be firm in its goal in removing violence and intolerant behaviour by extremist organizations. If it fails, no restructuring of the foreign ministry will be of any help. In a world of the existing information technology, nothing can be hidden from those who are interested in doing business with Bangladesh.
Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.