Former Conservative politician gives his take on modern politics (Not Quite the Diplomat - Christopher Patten)

Member Name: julwhite

Product:	Not Quite the Diplomat - Christopher Patten
Date:	31/03/08 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fascinating and well-written book

Disadvantages: Sometimes skips around subjects very quickly

"Not Quite the Diplomat" is a book by Chris Patten, a former Conservative politician. It was published in 2006 (the hardback book was published in 2005) by Penguin Books and the ISBN is 0141021446. The book is his view of politics around the world as it currently stands and how it has developed.

Chris Patten has a long record in Foreign Affairs, formerly an MP and Foreign Office Minister, he was MP for Bath until 1992 and Conservative Party Chairman who was given much credit for helping John Major's Conservative Party winning the 1992 General Election, despite losing his own seat.

After Chris Patten lost his Bath seat, John Major considered making him Foreign Secretary and bringing him back via a by-election for a Parliamentary seat such as Chelsea. Ultimately the then Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd, argued that he would be an ideal candidate to be the last Governor of Hong Kong, before it was returned to the Chinese in 1997.

After 1997 Patten returned to British politics where for just under 2 years he chaired an enquiry into policing in Northern Ireland, in a bid to try and make the Catholic population feel more comfortable with the RUC who policed the Province. He recommended a name change to The Police Service of Northern Ireland and many political commentators felt his work helped the peace process.

After his work on the policing committee he turned his sight back to European affairs and was the Britain representative at the European Commission, where he became the Commissioner for External Affairs. He held this position until 2004 when he broadly retired from politics, and then wrote th book.

I've written this biography of Chris Patten because his wide experience is what under-pins this book, which is less of an auto-biography and much more of his take on politics around the world. He had previously written another book about his time as Hong Kong Governor called The Last Governor.

In this book, Patten does very well in what I consider tying up the various issues which confront modern politicians. He spends much time looking at the situation in the Middle East, in North America and also the distance which Britain has from the current European Union.

His views on subjects are always interesting, and Patten writes very well, quoting heavily on his experiences in world politics, but without appearing too patronising. Patten is partisan and although disagrees with many politicians from his own party, he remains loyal to the cause which he has thought for.

He gives his opinions on many issues. He writes that he believes Tony Blair is a man who does have integrity, and that his principles are important to him across many issues, including his reasons for going to war with Iraq. But he adds that "the convictions that drive Mr Blair do not always seem well thought through." He gives the example of Robin Cook's insistence of an ethical foreign policy after Labour came to power in 1997, but questions whether that was followed through with, saying that Blair ignored countries with the worst human rights records and tackled those which arguably needed dealing with less urgently.

Turning to the European Union, Patten specifically mentions the way which we look at the French. He writes, "This is the country with which we generously came close to merging our destiny in the darkest days of defeat in the last war, as Churchill himself proposed. Why do we distrust the French?". Patten argues that we should recognise the links that the two countries do have, and think less of the differences which might exist between our nations.

Much of what Patten writes does seem very logical, it is very coherently argued and his level of political knowledge is unquestioned. It is clear that his views do not chime with many in the Conservative Party, and he acknowledges this in the book, questioning the reasoning which for example some Euro-sceptics have for the position which they take.

One of the other interesting areas which Patten looks at is with the future of China. Patten knows the country well, having become quite disliked by China over his handling of the takeover by the country of Hong Kong from the British in the 1990s. He is optimstic about the future of China, but writes, "The greatest peril we face is not how we can cope with China's continuing success, but what we do if China gets into difficulties".

Patten argues quite logically that a China that continues to develop economically has a bright future as the institutions which once held the country back can be modernised and the whole country brought forward. He looks back at the history of China, which he notes only recently under Communist leadership has moved away from a nation which has a history of democratic revolution, especially in the 19th century.

Patten does though acknowledge the progress which China has made, and praises them for that, but he gives due notice to the problems which do exist with the development of the country and the way they do not fully embrace democracy. He writes, "Although they point towards Western failings and double standards, none of this remotely justifies the continuing widespread abuse of human rights - the imprisonment of dissidents, the incontinent use of capital punishment, the persecution of religious groups and sects and the treatment of Tibet".

I found this book a fascinating alternative view of how the world is today, not just the situation which we find ourselves in, but also how he would deal with the problems and how leaders around the world are currently dealing with those problems.

Patten is very enthuastic and positive about the future of politics and the role which the leading nations in the world have, but especially how he sees Britain having a bright future, for example, leading in the European Union rather than having a dislike of all of the European institutions.

Overall, I was very impressed by this book. It's very readable for someone who isn't overly knowledgeable about politics and history, but is interesting in learning more. Patten writes with knowledge, but never assumes that the reader has a factual knowledge which would then make the book inaccessible.

If I were to make negative comment, it would mostly be that the book does tend to skip around from place to place, time period to time period. In some ways however this probably just reflects the way that politics is, never just one issue, but lots of issues blending together. It does give the impression though sometimes that the book contains lots of random subjects, which although interesting, remain rather loosely linked.

The book is inevitably biased towards his party and himself, as the book is partly a memoir of Patten's time in politics. But in my view, it's a well-written book which has much to say.

The papeprback version of this book sells for 8.99 pounds, but is currently available from Amazon for 6.99 pounds.

Summary: Thought-provoking look at where we are today politically in the world