Pages 20-21
Dr Liam Fox, former British Defence Secretary, delivered the keynote speech, Changing Threats to Global Security, at a 20 July meeting on security issues at the Centre for Strategic Studies in Baku.
In a wide-ranging and forthright survey of the changes in international relations since,
The Cold War was won…..by those who believed in the triumph of liberty and human spirit
Dr Fox from the outset registered the significance of the maturing partnership between the UK and Azerbaijan in energy security, the struggle against terrorism and the conflict in Afghanistan. But he also stated his belief that the political classes have not fully understood the consequences of globalisation for the strategic security environment and the need for realignment. He cited the
….appalling strategic failure for EU leaders to alienate Turkey to such an extent that that public opinion there no longer seems interested in EU membership.
Respecting sovereignty
The reasons for this lag he attributed to European politicians still viewing their continent as central to the political and economic world and their nostalgia for the relative simplicity of the bipolar Cold War era. Dr Fox’s own country also had to catch up, he said:
In recent years, in many ways, Britain has lost its focus on the regional issues which have shaped the agenda for so many of you here today. We need now to reconnect and that is exactly what the British government is now doing.
Our goal is to deepen bilateral and multilateral relationships with our key partners – recognising and respecting sovereignty – but also recognising that today’s world is one of necessary partnership not optional isolation.
Cautioning that democracy takes time to develop, in the case of the UK, 150 years between Adam Smith and universal suffrage, the message nevertheless was that,
It is no coincidence that those nations who have embraced liberty most fully have been the dominant global economic and political power
and he gave Georgia’s campaign against corruption as an example of what could be achieved.
Appeasement of aggressors never works
Turning to other issues specific to the region he was addressing, Dr Fox was no less direct:
Not only is sovereign Azerbaijan territory still occupied by an alien military force, but neighbouring Georgia also has Russian troops occupying part of its sovereign territory. History teaches us that appeasement of aggressors never works…. Especially in view of the potential for regional destabilisation from the north and south, Liam Fox concluded….
the international community, and NATO in particular, must understand the strategic importance of the South Caucasus….
Together with Turkey and Georgia, Azerbaijan will be a key ally in building a new security architecture to ensure the free and secure future that we all wish to achieve together.
Utterly unjustifiable occupation
In a thoughtful question and answer session that followed, much appreciated by the speaker, discussion covered Syria, Russia and Iran, as well as European and NATO policies. Of course, Dr Fox was asked for his ideas on resolving the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, and he continued to pull no punches.
It is an utterly unjustifiable occupation…. the international community needs to condemn what would be condemned elsewhere…. what else do you call the taking of sovereign territory by foreign troops but occupation?
In practical terms, he thought there could be lessons from Northern Ireland in which the agenda had been changed from sectarian division to socio-economics. Once the spread of wealth gave people a stake in society, the grounds for violence were removed. Warning against a presumption that western states hold all the answers, he noted that there are other powerful actors in the region. However, he also pointed to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s wish for a NATO enlargement summit. Dr Fox brought the open exchange to a close by reminding his audience that the European Union was not a state and did not have a single foreign policy; it was NATO, he concluded, that had maintained peace and security in the West.
Dr Liam Fox, former British Defence Secretary, delivered the keynote speech, Changing Threats to Global Security, at a 20 July meeting on security issues at the Centre for Strategic Studies in Baku.
In a wide-ranging and forthright survey of the changes in international relations since,
The Cold War was won…..by those who believed in the triumph of liberty and human spirit
Dr Fox from the outset registered the significance of the maturing partnership between the UK and Azerbaijan in energy security, the struggle against terrorism and the conflict in Afghanistan. But he also stated his belief that the political classes have not fully understood the consequences of globalisation for the strategic security environment and the need for realignment. He cited the
….appalling strategic failure for EU leaders to alienate Turkey to such an extent that that public opinion there no longer seems interested in EU membership.
Respecting sovereignty
The reasons for this lag he attributed to European politicians still viewing their continent as central to the political and economic world and their nostalgia for the relative simplicity of the bipolar Cold War era. Dr Fox’s own country also had to catch up, he said:
In recent years, in many ways, Britain has lost its focus on the regional issues which have shaped the agenda for so many of you here today. We need now to reconnect and that is exactly what the British government is now doing.
Our goal is to deepen bilateral and multilateral relationships with our key partners – recognising and respecting sovereignty – but also recognising that today’s world is one of necessary partnership not optional isolation.
Cautioning that democracy takes time to develop, in the case of the UK, 150 years between Adam Smith and universal suffrage, the message nevertheless was that,
It is no coincidence that those nations who have embraced liberty most fully have been the dominant global economic and political power
and he gave Georgia’s campaign against corruption as an example of what could be achieved.
Appeasement of aggressors never works
Turning to other issues specific to the region he was addressing, Dr Fox was no less direct:
Not only is sovereign Azerbaijan territory still occupied by an alien military force, but neighbouring Georgia also has Russian troops occupying part of its sovereign territory. History teaches us that appeasement of aggressors never works…. Especially in view of the potential for regional destabilisation from the north and south, Liam Fox concluded….
the international community, and NATO in particular, must understand the strategic importance of the South Caucasus….Together with Turkey and Georgia, Azerbaijan will be a key ally in building a new security architecture to ensure the free and secure future that we all wish to achieve together.
Utterly unjustifiable occupation
In a thoughtful question and answer session that followed, much appreciated by the speaker, discussion covered Syria, Russia and Iran, as well as European and NATO policies. Of course, Dr Fox was asked for his ideas on resolving the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, and he continued to pull no punches.
It is an utterly unjustifiable occupation…. the international community needs to condemn what would be condemned elsewhere…. what else do you call the taking of sovereign territory by foreign troops but occupation?
In practical terms, he thought there could be lessons from Northern Ireland in which the agenda had been changed from sectarian division to socio-economics. Once the spread of wealth gave people a stake in society, the grounds for violence were removed. Warning against a presumption that western states hold all the answers, he noted that there are other powerful actors in the region. However, he also pointed to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s wish for a NATO enlargement summit. Dr Fox brought the open exchange to a close by reminding his audience that the European Union was not a state and did not have a single foreign policy; it was NATO, he concluded, that had maintained peace and security in the West.
