Mark Muller Stuart: How Scotland can be a force for good in global peace-making

The first point to note is that people of Scotland increasingly want the Scottish Government to have a greater voice in international affairs. They are no longer content to let Westminster speak exclusively on their behalf, particularly in relation to issues that transcend borders and traditional constructs of foreign policy, such as climate change, human rights, war and conflict resolution. 

Second, many of the issues that concern people are no longer “foreign” but global in nature involving “problems without passports”, which require sovereignty to be pooled and action to be taken not only on the international but also the national and devolved level as well. All of this has real consequences for how the UK and Scotland is to be governed in the future.

Thirdly, since 1998, the Scottish Government has demonstrated its own desire to act on the international stage both in relation to development assistance but also support of the global rules-based order. A succession of first ministers have not only promoted Scotland economically abroad through the setting up Hubs and Scotland Houses but also expressed its commitment towards combating climate-change and helping to promote peace in the world. 

Fourth, there are real entry points for Scotland to engage in peace-building. Best practice suggests the most sustainable peace processes are those that are most inclusive and based upon respect for international norms.

It is why recent UN peace processes have developed innovative new mechanisms to include the voice of civil society, women, youth business and local communities. The move toward this more transparent form of peace-making favours gives small nations like Scotland real traction. 

What is needed today is a more multi-layered, full-spectrum approach toward peace-making, where hard power is married to soft power, and the dynamic energy of small nations and other sub-state actors – from non-state mediators, INGO’s, civil society, cultural institutions, religious, business and local communities – are all harnessed in the service of peace-making.

That is because conflicts in the 21st century are no longer purely interstate in nature but beset by disruption in which an array of non-state actors, backed by shadowy sponsors, pay little respect to territorial boundaries, the sovereign rights of states or the law of armed conflict. 

So let me then set out why Scotland has a contribution to make in this evolving environment. Firstly, over the course of the last 20 years, I have been repeatedly struck by how Scotland is seen as vibrant soft-power small nation, with an extraordinary historical brand, which has managed to preserve its culture and identity despite the presence of a powerful neighbour. 

That Scotland can be used as a platform for dialogue in the service of peace-making is not a new idea.

The Edinburgh International Festival was founded in 1948 to bring a shattered world together in the aftermath of the war. More recently, in the 1990s Angus Robertson chose a small Speyside town, Craigellachie, for reconciliation talks between two former Soviet allies in association with the NGO LINKS.

Since then, Beyond Borders Scotland, which I established with the help of leaders from across the political divide, has promoted mutual understanding between different nations and groups through numerous dialogue platforms. 

Much of this happened because Scotland has unique insights to offer in relation to a critical issue with which virtually all international conflict negotiators need to deal – namely how to negotiate and effect a political transition without recourse to violence.

Today, it provides one of the best examples of how smaller nations within larger states can transition towards greater democracy in a consensual manner. This is to say nothing of its experience of holding referendums and national dialogues in relation to the right to self-determination. 

Then there are Scotland’s developing ties with the UN. In October 2015 the UN Envoy to Syria stopped off with me between Moscow and Washington to meet with Nicola Sturgeon to explore Scotland’s peaceful political transition and its gender parity cabinet.

He was so impressed he brought the Syrian Women Advisory Board to meet with party leaders and spend time at Traquair House with experts to build a more inclusive UN peace process.

A similar space was provided to the UN Special Envoy to Yemen and his Board when he came to Edinburgh in 2019. 

Scotland also has a wide variety of expert resources to deploy from its international relations and conflict resolution departments at Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, Aberdeen and Dundee universities to the Political Settlements Programme run by Professor Christine Bell, which gives regular support to peacemakers tasked with drafting peace agreements. 

Then there are its elder statespeople with real experience of government and multilateral diplomacy at the highest level within the EU, Nato and the UN Security Council, which Beyond Borders deployed in places such Oman and Iraq with the help of the FCO. 

Finally, there are Scotland’s cultural festivals, which have been used to promote reconciliation and forgiveness. For example, over the last decade Beyond Borders International Festival has brought a multitude of artists, thought and civic leaders from numerous conflict zones together to share experiences.

Such platforms not only promote mutual understanding but provide mechanisms through which to make important interventions. Thus, in 2018 the exiled President of Catalonia came to the Beyond Borders with a message of unconditional dialogue for the new Spanish Socialist PM Minister, which led to the pardoning of Catalonian politicians convicted of alleged sedition. 

As the four nations of the United Kingdom, and indeed Europe and the wider world, begin to digest and come to terms with the full implications of the UK leaving the European Union, it behoves any policymaker serious about peace-making to recognise Scotland’s growing desire and capacity to act in support of it and the global rules-based order. 

Whether this should be conducted through a devolved arrangement or as an independent state is for the people of Scotland to decide.

But the positive values that underpin Scotland’s internationalism and humanitarianism, as demonstrated through its commitment to peace-making, can only make it a greater force for good in the world, whatever its constitutional future turns out to be, and I for one intend to support it.