WELCOME MS. MALCORRA

A new toolbox to tackle old problems of foreign policy

A word of warning: if you are absolutely convinced that the result of the presidential election is a blessing for Argentina, it is suggested you skip this column and invest your time in reading other sections of the Herald. The same applies if you believe that Scioli’s defeat is a tragedy. Again, do not waste time and read more valuable sections of the daily.

This column will focus on the appointment of Susana Malcorra as the incoming foreign minister, and has nothing to do with the merits or demerits of both the elected and incumbent presidents.

Her appointment came as a surprise at a time when most of the speculation suggested different members of the victorious alliance. All of them with clear political party commitments. By contrast, except for a minor involvement with the UCR, the lady is not a politician. In fact, the link with partisan politics is so tenuous that many of the press’ descriptions of the new foreign minster do not even mention it. And — in line with this — none of the reports about the participation of the UCR in the future Cabinet includes her as part of the deal.

The non-partisanship factor has caused surprise beyond Argentine borders. The foreign ministers of Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia and Paraguay are all active politicians. Just to cite further examples, the same happens in other countries, like the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. The only possible exception would be Brazil’s Mauro Vieira. His merits for the job come mainly from a long, brilliant career as a diplomat.

But here again, there are no similarities. Some of the names mentioned as possible foreign ministers in a Macri presidency belonged or have belonged to the diplomatic service. In some cases as foreign ministers

But that is not the case with Ms Malcorra. She never served as an Argentine diplomat.

So what is so special about the new Foreign Minister? For starters, she was, until she shifted jobs, the UN Secretary General’s Chef de Cabinet. And before that, she had first been the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Executive Director of the UN’s World Food Programme and then the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Field Support. This last position implied guaranteeing the logistic for more than 100,000 people involved in peace-keeping activities. In addition, it should be noted that -before joining the UN - the lady had a very successful career in the corporate world.

Some Macri analysts or critics, suggest that Malcorra has been chosen for her top managerial skills in order to join peers with equally strong credentials. Both supporters and critics of the new president argue that he does not believe in traditional politics which, they argue, Macri feels can be replaced by professional managers.

It is strongly suggested that her managerial skills are a contributory bonus. But several other reasons associated with Ms Malcorra’s career path contribute to make her the ideal person for Mauricio Macri’s foreign policy needs, which are about conflict and high politics and not about logistics and management.

The work of any country’s diplomats is to promote its national interest. Praiseworthy of course. But frequently conflictive. Two or more sides determined to win, but often without much regard for rules and ethics. Or even life and death, if the stakes are high enough. Terrible, but such is life.

By contrast, the UN is mostly in the job of managing conflict. Keeping the peace even if the deep roots of the conflict cannot be solved. Stopping famine and feeding people even if it is done on the basis of donations from member governments. The UN is quite successful at limiting damage. Conflict resolution is always there as an objective. But damage containment is, perhaps, as much as you can ask for.

A review of many of Argentina’s current foreign policy problems show a striking similarity. Issues cannot be sorted out. Perhaps because they are too complicated, but they can be managed so things are not paralyzed causing even greater damage.

There is no shortage of examples. Rightly or wrongly, the next government plans to revise the alliances which —again, rightly or wrongly — the Kirchner governments entered into with Russia and China. In both cases, but especially in relation with China, there seems to be complicated business and cooperation arrangements from which it is not easy to walk away. So, at the same time that Argentina wants to try a rapprochement with its traditional EU and US partners it is also engaged in a deal with China that raises eyebrows from its newest would-be partners.

And then there is Brazil. The world economy, not to mention its own political situation, is harming Brazil, which — in turn — harms Argentina. Once again, the problem cannot be solved, there are too many independent variables at play, including the businesses from both sides. Realistically the best possible scenario seems to be one where conflict has to be managed without much hope of definite solutions.

And related to Brazil is Venezuela. Macri has decided to raise the political ante. He wants to punish Venezuela on account of Nicolás Maduro’s human rights policies. He has decided to pick up a fight and to try to apply Mercosur’s democratic clause on that country. Thus, our next President is choosing a fight not only with Maduro, but also with Brazil that is in favour of Maduro. Not to mention the barrage of local criticisms from Kirchnerite quarters. Susana Malcorra will have to find delicate balances in order to avoid having situations getting out of hand. And her UN experience, placing her above the problems in order to attempt damage containment, is likely to be more useful than any experience in defending positions of petty fights at nation state level.

@andresfederman

CREDITS: BUENOS AIRES HERALD