A new ’conditional solidarity’ is emerging which sees pragmatism trump old style-internationalism
A few weeks ago, a surprising story emerged in the Netherlands, counterintuitive to common perceptions of Dutch internationalism. NRC Handelsblad, one of the more respected Dutch papers, interviewed eight ambassadors from countries with either close ties to the Netherlands or with particular relevance to Dutch foreign policy. These ambassadors expressed their opinions in an undiplomatically open way.
The conclusion of the interviews, the paper says, is that the Netherlands – the assumed laboratory for both right-wing and left-wing populism, new euroscepticism and islamophobia - has become introspective, confused and inward-looking.
“The Dutch may go abroad on holiday but the country itself is increasingly becoming closed to the rest of the world,” said British ambassador Paul Arkwright. “And that can hurt its international reputation.” Japan's ambassador Takashi Koezuka agrees. “It is important that the Netherlands keeps looking abroad,” he said. “The Netherlands is looking to the future full of doubt, and does not know which way to go,” Israel’s ambassador Harry Kney-Tal is quoted as saying. Pakistan’s ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudry points out that people all over the world “loved the Dutch flag”. “It stood for solving problems rather than creating them,” he told the paper.
“I think you are far too busy with yourselves,” Germany’s ambassador Heinz-Peter Behr said. However, Dutch eurosceptism could lead to an improvement in the way Europe functions, he said. Afghanistan's ambassador Enaytullah Nabiel told the paper of the time he got lost in his official car and how three girls jumped on their bikes to take him to where he was going. “Typical Dutch?” the paper asked. “No, typical for immigrants,” the ambassador replied. India’s ambassador Bhaswati Mukherjee said she is unaware of the problems the Netherlands thinks it is facing. “I buy my tomatoes from the Moroccan and speak French with him. I pick up my cheese and olives from a Dutch-French couple. And I buy my fish from an Indonesian. I don’t see the problem.”
Together, these statements constitute a firm diagnosis of a relatively small country (G22 BNP) paralysed by the forces of globalisation, mass migration, identity politics, Eurozone crisis, etc. It demonstrates how such a country, seemingly, is increasingly closing itself off from the outside world.
But is it a true diagnosis? Is this really a good analysis of the new attitudes and behaviour of the Dutch people? Of course, you should always respect and take extremely seriously wise observations from foreigners about your country, especially from Her Majesty’s Ambassadors. But there is genuine doubt whether the picture of Holland as an anxious, autistic inward-looking country is a correct analysis at all. And to understand the forces and counterforces of the new global world, it is of utmost importance to really understand the dynamics which are in play.
The first to respond to the ambassadors’ assessment was Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, when he travelled on an official visit to meet David Cameron, his liberal-conservative friend. (The Dutch press speak about ‘’Camerutte’’ as counterweight to ‘’Merkozy’’.) Rutte replied that it is a mistake to say that the Netherlands is becoming an inward-looking country. Speaking in Birmingham, Rutte pointed out that 70% of the Netherlands' wealth is earned from exports. The Netherlands has an extremely open internationally connected economy, so it cannot at all afford to be inward-looking. In addition, the Dutch are major supporters of the European Union, although they would like a smaller government apparatus in Brussels, the PM said.
But these statements could have been all about damage control and international image-repair. Now an intelligent Dutch publicist, Herman Vuijsje, answered the Ambassador’s assessment more thoroughly. He has been able to prove, on the basis of data of recent research, that the image of the Dutch as inward-looking people is a total misunderstanding and misreading of what’s really going on.
In NRC Handelsblad (27 november 2011), Vuijsje quotes the latest annual report of the Social and Cultural Planning Bureau on The State of The Netherlands. Here a picture is portrayed of a country at the peak of its economic prosperity and socio-cultural happiness. Holland is, apart from Luxemburg, the richest per capita-income country of the EU. The labour market is functioning at its top level, including successful migrant integration. And the country of Geert Wilders can, surprisingly, still be defined as a high trust society. Trust in fellow citizens is exceptionally high. Though it is true, Dutch people tend to worry about the future. Many people think that the developments in society (not in their private life) are getting worse, rather than better. ‘’I’m OK, but the society in the wider world is getting less OK’’, is the sentiment amongst many Dutchmen.
Nevertheless, the Atlas of European Values, recently published by the Tilburg University, is proving the British ambassador in the Netherlands, Paul Arkwright, wrong. Not the Netherlands, but his own United Kingdom turns out to have strong xenophobic prejudice. 55% to 70% think that there are too many foreigners in their country, compared to 40% of Dutch people. Nearly 50% of British feel themselves ‘’a stranger in their own country’’ because of immigration, whilst only 25% of Dutch people feel this way. The most serious comparison is that of ancestry. More than 30% of the British think it is important that to become a genuine inhabitant of a nation, ancestors should have the nationality of the country. The Dutch consider this question to be ridiculous and rank at the end of the list of EU countries.
Data from the Eurobarometer (February/May 2010), as Vuijsje argues, confirms this overall picture. According to the Eurobarometer, the Dutch are the most internationally orientated in Europe. In their personal relations and lifestyle, they feel strongly connected to other countries. This is not that big surprise, if taking into account that the Netherlands ranked second, after Singapore, in Richard Florida’s list of World's Leading Creative Class Countries, referring to the share of a country’s workforce in high-skill, high-wage Creative Class jobs spanning the fields of science, technology, and engineering; business, management and finance; design and architecture; arts, culture, entertainment, and media; law, healthcare, and education. All professions with an inevitable international bias.
However, and this has to be taken seriously, the Dutch only feel ’European’ to a certain degree. Even the younger generations do not show a growing pro-Europe euphoria. Nevertheless, more than two-thirds of the Dutch firmly support membership of the European Union. The highest score of all EU-countries. But for the Dutch, the EU is a marriage of convenience, not a romantic affair. In this respect, The Netherlands has been transformed from one of Europe’s passionate founders to a normalised North-Western European country, adapting to new realities and conditions. Pragmatism rules. The Atlas of European Values speaks about ‘’conditional solidarity’’. There remains an overall orientation towards both Europe and the outside world, but the balance of cost and reward, duties and responsibilities is controlled more strictly than ever. The same applies to migration: migrants are welcomed by large majorities as long as they do not cause trouble (and crime, not Islam is the main trigger for xenophobic discontent).
The big question now is to what extent the eurocrisis and its fall-out will fit into the new Dutch climate of conditional solidarity.
A contribution to State of the Left, a monthly insight report from Policy Network's Social Democracy Observatory
René Cuperus is senior research fellow and director of international relations at the Wiardi Beckman Stichting, the thinktank of the Dutch Labour Party