Looking Ahead: Malta's Foreign Policy Agenda

Every country's challenge is to ensure that its foreign policy goals are consistent with its internal policies. The effects of a country's internal and external policies must aim in the same direction. This is especially the case in the rapidly changing contemporary security environment. Mobilising and deploying a country's diplomatic resources on a consistent basis is essential if improving coherence between internal and external security is to be achieved. Given the rapid sea-change underway where does this leave Malta? Which strategic foreign policy vision will enable Malta to maximise its national interests? What foreign policy path offers Malta the best security guarantee that will serve as an insurance policy in times of instability? In the new world order that is emerging it is likely that failure to take action in one direction or another will result in someone else or circumstance designing your future for you. Given the direct bearing that foreign policy has on domestic policy, mapping out and implementing a strategic foreign policy agenda is Malta's main challenge, particularly now that international relations are in such a state of flux.

Throughout the Cold War Malta sought to maximise its national interests by remaining aloof from the superpower chess game. Neutrality and the Non-Allgned Movement became the buzzwords of Malta's foreign policy agenda with close relations established with the likes of China and the Arab world. At the start of the twenty-first century this is the scenario that Malta finds itself in. The choices made at this defining moment will determine Malta's future domestic and foreign policies for decades to come. This book examines Malta's foreign policy agenda. Chapter One provides an overview of this subject and sets the stage for a more in-depth assessment of the different strategic options that are currently being considered by Malta's political movements later in the book. This includes consideration of a number of other foreign policy alternatives that could contribute to Malta's economic development. Chapter Two examines regional dynamics across the Euro-Mediterranean area in contemporary international relations.

Assessing Malta's foreign policy options can only be conducted in a serious manner if one takes into consideration Malta's regional reality - the pattern of relations that have been evolving in Malta's vicinity since the end of the Cold War. Chapter Three focuses on Malta's relations with the European Union. This includes a comprehensive analysis of how recent relations have evolved, with a particular emphasis on relations between 1990, when Malta submitted its application to join the European Union, and the present state of affairs. Chapter Four looks into Malta's foreign policy role from a Euro-Mediterranean perspective. This chapter provides an overview of the main events that have taken place since the launching of the Barcelona Process in November 1995 and the significant role that Malta has been playing in this international initiative. Chapter Five consists of an overview of a series of foreign policy alternatives that have been suggested over the years with regards Malta's future. These include the Switzerland in the Mediterranean model, the Dubal in the Mediterranean framework, and the Singapore in the Mediterranean modality.

Chapter Six assesses the possibility of nurturing a foreign policy consensus in Malta. This chapter examines the pros and cons of adopting more of a national approach when it comes to foreign policy making. Particular attention is dedicated to the changing nature of the concepts of national interest, sovereignty, and interdependence in post-Cold War relations and the implications these could have on Malta's foreign policy. Chapter Seven, Identifies what foreign policy measures should be taken to ensure that Malta succeeds in realising its maximum potential in the twenty-first century. This chapter offers a look ahead by providing a strategic vision of the foreign policy agenda that Malta should adopt in order to navigate successfully in the ever-changing international system. This analysis includes an assessment of what it would require to shift Malta's foreign policy agenda away from that of a nation-state to that of a region-state. This would include implementing a foreign policy framework that no longer focused on myopic nationalistic ideals but instead embraced more wide-ranging regional objectives of both a European and Mediterranean orientation.

The objective of this book is to trigger a more serious and coherent debate about Malta's foreign policy options. The analysis provided is based on Malta's choices and also serves as an international perspective of reality. Even if one does not agree with some of the analysis presented, and I hope this is somewhat the case, it is hoped that this book will help to focus future debates on this important topic on solid argumentation rather than political rhetoric as so often happens. Identifying forward-looking policy opportunities is the book's guiding theme - thus the title - Looking Ahead.