Northern Ireland as a Role Model for Peace in the Middle East

The following is some background on why I feel that Northern Ireland is a role model for peace in the Middle East and my rationale for getting involved.

History clearly demonstrates that the best way to deter terrorist attacks is to address the root causes of the attacks because unaddressed grievances give the terrorists community support they wouldn’t otherwise have. It’s also important to note that no matter how much progress is made toward peace, there are always dissidents who will oppose any peace initiative, often with tragic results. Ireland is a perfect example. Michael Collins, with great imagination and ruthlessness, caused England, then the most powerful country in the world, to seek a truce. Subsequently, sufficient grievances of the Irish people were addressed via a treaty creating an Irish Free State resulting in peace, albeit briefly, with the exception of Northern Ireland. Tragically, some Irishmen repudiated the treaty, even though it was ratified by a majority of the Irish people, and initiated a civil war leading to the death of Michael Collins, their former compatriot. Equally unfortunate was that the grievances of the Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland were allowed to fester for fifty years, eventually, bursting on the international scene with Bloody Sunday. The IRA, which barely existed at the time, evolved into a force to protect Irish Catholics from murder, burnouts, etc. As a result, the IRA gained the support of their communities and the legitimacy to promote its own agenda, which only escalated the problems. The IRA became very efficient and sophisticated in the use of advanced weapons, including planting a bomb under Prime Minister Thatcher’s hotel suite in the Brighton Hotel, firing a rocket into 10 Downing Street during a Cabinet meeting, and blowing up Lord Mountbatten, a member and great friend of the Royal Family, etc. In these matters, no one can remember when it began, only the last atrocity, and which side was responsible and what to do in retribution. In the process, many innocent Protestants and Catholics were killed.

In 1994, the IRA declared a ceasefire in Northern Ireland. Most importantly, President Clinton, with the strong support of Senator Edward Kennedy, followed through with a campaign promise to Irish Americans to issue a Visa to Gerry Adams, head of the Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA. This caused a fury in the British Foreign Office because, heretofore, Northern Ireland was always considered a British internal affair. Now, a third party, the President of the United States, was investing his personal prestige and that of America, and its 40,000,000 people of Irish descent, in the solution of the problems in Northern Ireland. This was a fundamental change. One of the first orders was to help the economy of Northern Ireland, beginning with an economic conference to be held in Washington. All parties from Northern Ireland, plus many CEO’s from the private sector in America were invited. It had become clear to everyone that the only issue all parties would get in the same room and discuss was jobs and economic development. The Clinton Administration wanted to take advantage of the window of opportunity to demonstrate that peace could bring benefits to Northern Ireland, and, in particular, to those areas most affected by violence. Both Catholics and Protestants, living in communities with unemployment rates of 65% unemployment rate, wanted jobs, desperately enough to put aside their hatreds. Many people responded to this need, both in Northern Ireland and America, and the results were remarkable. In seven years, Northern Ireland reduced its unemployment rate from 15% to 5%, but most importantly, new jobs were being seen in traditionally high unemployment areas such as West and North Belfast, where most of the violence had taken place. Many people began to feel that they were becoming better off, and that good things were happening. This is still the mood in Northern Ireland. It’s what held the peace together while the political problems with the Assembly, etc. were resolved. However, it’s important to note that there are still dissidents on both sides, as there were in Michael Collins’ day, who are doing everything in their power to upset the peace process. However, jobs are key because new recruits for paramilitary organizations are drawn from their communities and the better the people in these communities are doing, economically, the fewer the recruits.

One of the most important job-creating engines for Northern Ireland was call centers. For example, thanks to the help of John Hume, the Industrial Development Board, etc., Stream International put a call center in Derry, Northern Ireland, employing 400 people at a time when it would be the equivalent of putting a center in Ramallah today. It has been hugely successful and now employs about 800 people and has won awards for quality of service. Most importantly, Protestants and Catholics work together in harmony in these centers. Other call centers, and related activities, have expanded greatly in Northern Ireland leading to 5% unemployment, and peace. These were jobs, incidentally, that by-passed Northern Ireland in the past because of the violence.

The Middle East has the same opportunity as Northern Ireland to create call center jobs and economic development. The reason is that it has communities in Jordan, West Bank, Gaza, and Israel that have large populations of intelligent, well educated, hard working people, who make perfect candidates to handle jobs offered by this industry. The telecommunications infrastructure exists to service world corporations as well as access the 275,000,000 Arab market. There are few call centers in the Middle East today because most of them by-passed the Middle East for India or other parts of the world because of the violence. India now has more than 100,000 call center related jobs. Just think what even 20,000 jobs could do for the economies of the Middle East, while providing young people with an economic ladder and a future with hope. Fortunately, there are many major corporations in the world headed by both Arabs and Jews who would consider call center services located in the Middle East.

Unfortunately, there will be no peace in the Middle East, just as there was no peace in Ireland and Northern Ireland, until the root causes of the problems were addressed. Thus, when peace breaks out in the Middle East and a ceasefire is called, it is imperative to be prepared to create a large number of private sector jobs as a peace dividend, ideally, with local management and ownership for as many people as possible, particularly in those areas with the highest unemployment rates. This is why I, and others, have been working on this problem in recent years. As in Northern Ireland, it will lead to the all important community support for an enlightened new approach to solving traditional problems. However, it’s important to recognize that, as in Northern Ireland, this can’t be accomplished without the involvement of a powerful third party, such as the President of the United States, or a powerful business consortium, or both. Key to any success will be the perception of fairness and impartiality by all parties. Under the circumstances, this would be no small achievement.

It’s important to note that history clearly shows that countries with the most powerful military and intelligence services in the world have proven that it’s virtually impossible to cope with terrorism. England, Israel, and now the United States are all perfect examples of how difficult it is to cope with a few, determined people who are willing to risk everything on behalf of their cause. Even if the preventive measures are successful they are only temporary until the next wave of terrorists is activated. Thus, the message seems very clear. The only solution to terrorism in the long term is to address the root causes. If America were wise, it would fight terrorism with jobs as it did in Northern Ireland, rather than bombs. Bombs make enemies, jobs make friends. Why a long-term solution is so important is that the well being of our children and grandchildren is at stake.