The Foreign Service Journal, April 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2016 45 people need to be recognized by others in a community or society as equal members with a secure status. Of course, this obligates us to grant the same standing to others in return, and hence to honor the limits that their needs and claims impose on us. In short, the contempt for the “other” that underlies rela- tions between groups involved in sectarian and ethnic conflicts has to be confronted squarely. And to be clear, what I mean here is an end to the denigration of those not in “our” group, whose ideas, culture and traditions are not ours. Thus, words and actions that promote hatred and contempt must not be acceptable. Such a transformation will be difficult and time-consuming to implement, for it means modifying long-established mind- sets that have deep historical and cultural roots. And that will take real leadership at every level of the community. Equal application of the rule of law is not a new idea either, and it has a very practical basis. As is surely obvious, where there is discrimination and selfishness in the conduct of our affairs that reaches a point where a group within society— defined by culture, creed, race or relative poverty—is denied the means to make informed and effective use of its political freedoms so as to lead reasonably satisfactory lives, then the stability of the whole community is undermined. Where such a group is publicly demeaned, and its dis- tinguishing characteristics, culture and history are derided, cooperation from that group and a sense of shared responsi- bility for the well-being of the community as a whole deterio- rates over time or never is formed in the first place. Of course, human history is full of examples of “my boot on your neck” backed up with sufficient strong-arm tactics working very well to the advantage of some for long periods of time. But this too has never been just, and it is never a model for community improvement. In society, every individual’s sense of self-respect and self-confidence rests importantly not only on others’ assess- ments and judgments, but on his or her conviction that fairness prevails in the application of laws and the provision of oppor- tunity. Vindicating John Hume’s Optimism As we assess Northern Ireland’s experience in facing up to the legacy of the Troubles, can we conclude that John Hume was right? For my part, I am convinced that he was, and that there are always two options for dealing with ethnic or sec- tarian conflicts wherever they may be found in this world. A divided community can continue to do business as usual, with its many attendant costs and failures, or it can find a better way to manage relations between neighbors. There are an almost infinite number of options for resolving such conflicts, for human beings can be quite ingenious when they want to be. The political structure created by Northern Ire- land’s Good Friday Agreement is a good example of what can be accomplished when people put their minds to it. Moreover, the agreement satisfies two key requirements that, as a diplomat and conflict-resolution practitioner, I have seen play out in many different settings. Successful solutions to a longstanding ethnic or sectarian conflict will invariably include (1) a reasonably equal application of the rule of law and (2) an effective effort to ensure parity of esteem between the parties. In short, when crafting an approach to an ethnic or sectar- ian conflict, or seeking to judge the likely effectiveness of a pro- posed solution to such a dispute, what we must look for every time is a reasonably level playing field and a commitment to a reasonable degree of mutual respect. n As we assess Northern Ireland’s experience in facing up to the legacy of the Troubles, can we conclude that John Hume was right?