Unaccountable elites
British writer Mark Curtis* talked to Assem El-Qersh, in London, about his latest book on British interests in the Middle East. Below are extracts from the interview
"The reality of Britain's foreign policy needs to be exposed. What I find amazing is the virtual silence of the mainstream British media and academics on this reality. I know from my experience that there is a mountain of evidence sitting in the Public Record Office -- where official, formerly secret documents are kept -- revealing past policies. It is very easy to visit and to document this history -- yet academics have systematically failed to do so. One reason is that most academics are not independent at all when it comes to analysis of their own government's policies -- they fear criticising too much and I see them more as part of the elite that produces foreign policy. There are some genuinely independent academics, but most tend to internalise the assumptions of the actual policy-makers. "The Blair government is now seriously out of control, especially in its support for the US hyperpower that sees few limits to exerting its power around the globe. I hope that this book will raise awareness in the UK of the reality of our government's policy, but the fact is that it is extremely difficult to change government policy. Up to two million people demonstrated against invading Iraq, but the government still went ahead. The basic problem is this: there is only the façade of democracy in Britain. In reality, foreign policy is made in a secretive way by a small set of people who are largely unaccountable to the public. There are few formal or informal mechanisms to influence foreign policy. The prime minister has such powers that he or she can even launch a war without even consulting parliament let alone getting its approval. My view is that it is this decision- making process that needs to be transformed -- I hope this book will contribute to raising awareness of the need for that.
"Basic British foreign policy aims are to help organise the global economy to benefit Western British corporations, to help control key regions to this effect and to maintain Britain's political status in the world.
"This is undoubtedly an imperial role when the rhetoric is pealed away. The need to control such key countries and regions is clearly revealed in the formerly secret files -- the key British aim in such interventions as Iran in 1953, Kuwait in 1961, British Guyana in 1953 and Kenya and Malaya in the 1950s, to name some, was to retain control of local resources by British companies.
"Leaders such as Mosaddeq in Iran, who represented a basically popular, nationalist alternative, have been traditionally removed -- indeed, Britain's MI6 was as much responsible for the 1953 coup and the installation of the Shah as was the CIA. The basic interest in the Middle East has, obviously, been control of oil. Middle Eastern oil was described by British planners in 1947 as a "vital prize for any power interested in world influence or domination". Ten years later, the British foreign secretary stated that "we must at all costs maintain control of this oil." When the current files are declassified, I will be amazed if the same priorities are not being articulated now in private.
"Politics should be primarily concerned with improving the lives of people. The single biggest issue is surely the fact that half our species lives in poverty -- over two and a half billion people live on less than two dollars a day. This is completely indefensible for a rich planet, and it is the world's powerful countries, including Britain, who are largely responsible for shaping the world order that preserves this inequity.
"I do not think that governments generally promote 'national' interests -- rather, they tend to promote 'elite' interests. This is a very different thing. It is in the British people's 'national' interests, for example, to see poverty eradicated and peace and security come to regions like the Middle East. But elites have more important priorities to pursue, such as control of oil, which has led to alliances with appalling regimes such as those in the Gulf, including, previously, Saddam Hussein's. It is a matter of democratising policy-making -- while foreign policy is made and implemented by an unaccountable elite, horrible policies will often result."
* Mark Curtis' Web of Deceit: Britain's Real Role in the World, was published this month by Vintage Books.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 5 -11 June 2003 (Issue No. 641)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/641/in5.htm