Training future diplomats to stop the duduk diplomacy

By: Rasim Belko

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The diplomacy of Bosnia and Herzegovina has long been, like the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina itself, in a big mess.

On the margins of all major events, without direct communication with centers of economic and political power, this diplomacy does not contribute in the slightest to the development and better position of our country.

Ministers of Foreign Affairs are appointed as cadres of the parties that secure that position in coalition wars and agreements.

And then we usually get cadres made for gaffes, whose body of work consists of various photo ops, receptions, and speeches. We have long been without real diplomacy.

The current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bisera Turković, is no exception to this story. Barely six months have passed since her appointment, and she has already become known for nepotism, family-and-friend hiring, gaffes, and outings. All together, a large amount of foolishness, seemingly funny, but in practice disastrous.

The current head of BiH diplomacy has so far visited Belgrade and Kakanj. As for Belgrade and all the foolishness uttered, it would have been better if she hadn't, and when it comes to Kakanj, a well-known center of power in the Zenica-Doboj Canton, it is hard to explain to a sane mind.

We have already read enough about the minister's gaffes, from the one related to MAP and NATO, to this one about Qatar will or won't help.

Such a head of diplomacy, such a diplomatic network. Give yourself the task of naming 10 ambassadors, and you will realize that these missions are staffed by anonymous individuals loyal to party presidents. Duduk diplomacy therefore yields no results.

An occasional isolated case, and that's where it ends.

Because of a fraction of the non-existent foreign policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the cadres who would truly fight for the state in missions around the world, it would be desirable to form a two-year school of diplomacy with all the elements necessary for such work.

But not modeled after Široki Brijeg or Travnik, but a school where true experts and specialists in international affairs and connoisseurs of the circumstances in those relations would teach. At the same time, the help of international experts should not be excluded.

This school would have to be mandatory for all who want to enter diplomacy. Unfortunately for party leaders, it could not be completed ad hoc, but we would have a diplomatic pool from which to draw capable cadres for diplomatic missions.

Until we do that, we will have ambassadors who, in several years of their mission, have done absolutely nothing that would help the BiH economy or the state in better positioning on the map of international relations.

Because our political leaders, or rather politicos, are either under blockade or under surveillance by those centers of power, so even a visit to Kakanj, for example, is considered a success. That is why we need educated and state-oriented ambassadors and diplomats, who can and know how to reach those who decide the fate of BiH and all of us who live here.

If we look at the region, we will see that top world officials come to neighboring countries, and that is necessary if you want to gain international political help and support. Children born during the visit of some serious world political heavyweight will soon start school.

Buried by internal strife and turmoil, we have neglected the necessary segment of positioning in a world still polarized between two major blocs.

Our diplomats in some segments only add an extra burden on our necks, and in some, they get lost in the natural beauties of the countries we send them to. When they return, knowing where they were is perhaps the best proof of their work.

It is therefore time to educate cadres so that in the foreseeable future we will have professional and capable diplomats. Instead of the current duduks.