Checkpoint: Democrats Should Learn From Northern Irish Peace
Terence Spencer
America, as a major global player, exerts an influence that few nations can hope to match. Whether that influence is a positive or a negative is a matter for serious debate, but there is no denying its presence. American politicians often voice their opinions on the politics of foreign nations, and in doing can help shape the political course within countries. One such nation that knows this fact intimately is a small West European island: Ireland.
The island has been divided between the Republic of Ireland (an independent state in the South) and Northern Ireland (NI, a territory held by the United Kingdom in the North) for the last century. From the 1970’s onwards, NI was plagued by a thirty-year period of widespread violence known as “The Troubles”. The conflict was between the mostly Catholic Nationalist community, who wished to rejoin the Republic, and the mostly Protestant Unionist community, who wished to remain part of the UK. Catholics were discriminated against in employment, housing, and education. Unionists even formed paramilitary groups such as the Ulster Volunteer Force who terrorized Nationalist communities with the assistance of the police and British military. This discrimination led to a surge of support for the Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group aimed at reuniting a “Free Ireland.” More than 3,500 people lost their lives in the violence of the irregular war that ensued.
It was only in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement that a tenable peace was reached. This peace agreement was an international effort, and at the forefront of talks was then U.S. President Bill Clinton. Reportedly, Clinton considers the NI Peace Process one of his greatest foreign policy achievements. Unfortunately, those members of the British political establishment who support Brexit have been consistently looking to undermine that achievement in their quest to pull NI out of the European Union (56% of the vote from NI in the 2016 referendum was in favor of remaining in the EU).
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of Britain’s Conservative Government, is seeking to override parts of the NI protocol agreed with the EU last year, a protocol designed to safeguard the GFA and prevent a return to a hard border between NI and the Republic. These plans have provoked condemnation from many American politicians, chief among them the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Both Pelosi and Biden have made it clear that if the UK breaks international law by undermining the GFA, a US-UK trade deal will be off the table with a Democratic White House. Pelosi additionally stated that such a deal would never make it past Congress while Democrats control the House of Representatives, describing the GFA as “the bedrock of peace in Northern Ireland”. It is worth noting that Biden is himself Irish-American, and has in the past discussed his Irish roots and how they inspire him on the campaign trail.
Despite his own belief that the people of Ireland love him, Trump has a much closer relationship with Britain and especially PM Johnson. The two men appear to have much in common, from an obvious right-wing streak to a complete lack of any filter between their brains and their mouths. Both men have also encouraged their respective political parties to adopt policy platforms that some commentators would describe as “far-right”. Trump has been a vocal supporter of Brexit throughout his entire presidency, and assuming he wins another term in office will presumably do everything in his considerable power to support Johnson from across the Atlantic. The Trump Administration’s cosy relationships with countries such as Israel and Saudi Arabia have made it clear that breaching international law will not affect his opinion of a foreign nation, there is no reason to suspect that the situation in NI will elicit a different response.
Just as Trump would want to cosy up to the UK for the trade deal potential, Biden more than likely has his own motives for voicing support for the GFA. The EU have prioritized the maintenance of peace and free movement of goods and people on the island of Ireland. This stance that has proved frustrating for Britain’s Brexit negotiators, who would probably prefer to ignore the Irish question altogether. Should Biden prove victorious in the upcoming elections, his stance on the GFA may lead to future trade talks with the EU. The remaining 27 member states would prove to be a far more valuable trade ally than the UK alone, especially as Brexit wreaks havoc on the British economy.
It is also possible that Biden’s emphasis on defending the peace process in NI is an insight into his potential foreign policy, should he find himself in the Oval Office. Despite winning a Nobel Peace Prize, Barack Obama was extremely fond of ordering drone strikes as President, and Trump has proven to be no better. If Biden can take the lessons of the GFA, and apply them to other conflicts across the globe as Bill Clinton imagined back in 1998, then perhaps he can break the chain of White House warmongering.
American intervention in foreign conflicts has rarely worked out for the better, but the NI Peace Process is a shining example of how it can be done right. By focusing on dialogue and mediation, rather than drone strikes and economic sanctions, meaningful change can be engendered. People across the island of Ireland are happy to see that politicians in a powerful country like the US are willing to stand up for the international laws that protect them in the face of the UK’s dismissal. If Biden does not take the lessons of the GFA to heart in his foreign policy, however, he is likely to repeat the mistakes and misdeeds of his predecessors.