Ehem...now that that's out of the way and everyone knows why I haven't posted in 6 days (eep!) I may have to combine some days....they will come at a later pace. Again, I'm sorry. Don't get an an HP--they suck.
Ok. So Day 9 of our trip consisted of a tour of the Belgian Parliament and Senate and a meeting at NATO.
I didn't find the Belgian parliament all that interesting except for the actual architecture and decor of the building. The Belgian House of Representatives is represented by the colour green. Everything is decorated in green. The Belgian senate is decorated in red. Literally everything for them is red. the funny part is that they share the same building. Their governmental structure is bicamaral (obviously with the senate and house) and is very similar to the Canadian system except when you break it down to the regional and linguistic level...
The tour guide (who was the spitting image of Cogsworth) at one point mentioned how the plaques in the senate that were a memorial to the dead of WWI were removed because of the Nazi invasion of Belgium during WWII. He spoke about the Nazi flag that covered up the holes where the plaques were and Hitler speaking from the speaker's podium. That actually happened. It was more than haunting to imagine.
On a lighter note, the Belgian Parliamentary gift shop was ripe with booty. I got a swank leather dossier to keep all my papers and things in while travelling throughout Brussels from meeting to meeting. I must say, for only 15 euro, it's pretty snazy.
After lunchtime, we had to catch our bus from the Royal Park to NATO.
Visiting NATO was very interesting. We weren't allowed to bring any cameras, cellphones, or transmitting electronics of any kind.
When we arrived, the first thing I noticed were the Czech hedgehogs that lined the compound. This was some serious business.
After one of the more rigorous security checks I've ever endured, we were seated in a bland meeting room. The first person we met with was Benedicte Borel. She was a member of the "public diplomacy" division. She was sent to talk to us about the functioning of NATO and give us an overview of the directives and missions.
She briefly explained the current operations of NATO:
- Afghanistan
- Kosovo (KFOR)
- Iraq (NTM-I)
- Operation Active Endeavour (in the Mediterranean)
- Counter-Piracy (in the Gulf of Aden)
She also described the 3 stages that NATO has been through historically. The first was the Cold War, when NATO was created as a response to the Communist threat from the Soviet Union. Next there was the transformation. This started just after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and continued until about 2000. During this time, NATO was not too sure of its place in the world, seeing that it's number one foe had been dismantled and essentially disarmed. But the post-9/11 NATO is just called "Missions." This time has been of seperate security missions in places that are of international concern: the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Mediterranean, and the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.
Ms. Borel also spoke of the next possible enlargement, which is supposed to include Bosnia, Montenegro and Macedonia (technically its the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM to NATO out of respect for Greece). The membership of Georgia and the Ukraine were discussed but Ms. Borel assured us that the Ukraine would probably never join and that Georgia wasn't quite ready to join (more like the other countries in NATO aren't ready to join to protect Georgia from Russian invasion, but hey...its all in your point of view right?)
This discussion took a bunch of different turns which I could talk about for hours, but I need to start wrapping up soon (early day tomorrow). One that I did find interesting was NATO as a world police. If you think about it, the anti-piracy initiative and the Afghanistan and Kosovo missions are just extended police initiatives. This is an interesting angle to look at NATO from. It definitely means that its lost its original purpose as a collective security coalition.
The next speaker from NATO was French General Erik Sandahl whose last mission was to Kosovo (he also acted as a personal advisor to the French Prime Minister on the ex-Soviet republics in Eastern Europe). He was a great speaker--different from the politicians and press people we've met previously. General Sandahl told it like it was.
"Is there an end in sight for Afg--"
"nope."
Answers that short were not common though. He would go on and on explaining everything, which was tiresome and interesting all in the same time. He had everyone hanging on his everyword because he could drop big names or big experiences any time.
Never at anytime in my life have I felt closer to the elite of the high political world. This guy was a military attache to the French ambassador in Romania, advisor to the French Prime Minister and NATO General. Like seriously...
He had some good advice for us too. Military operations and love are a lot a like--it's either too late or not enough.
He also introduced me to the interesting concept of dynamics within the relationship of NATO (which I think can be used with any relationship): the security provider vs. the securty consumer. Who gains more security out of the relationship and who needs to pick up the slack of the other? Its amazing how much politics can be just like life and any other relationship you can have with another human being.
I hope that I'll be back in that heavily guarded fortress soon. But hopefully I'll be going in for business instead of education, arguing a new treaty or trying to lobby for a certain issue.
Sigh. To dream of the future.
Posts from other days will follow shortly! Promise!
I have so enjoyed these blog postings. I think that it would be a good thing to continue these postings throughout the rest of your education. It proves to us that it is money well spent!
ReplyDeleteAnd this is why it's important to own a MAC. ;)
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