On Xenophobia and Isolationism in Iceland
One of the rather unfortunate side effects of the economic downturn is the rise in xenophobia and isolationism here in Iceland. It’s a sort of siege mentality. Appropriately enough there’s even a book out called “The Siege” (links to an Icelandic review of the book) in which the author, Styrmir Gunnarsson, argues that foreign banks, the IMF and the European Union set out to destroy the Icelandic economy and take over our resources. It shouldn’t come as a big surprise that Styrmir (we go by first names here in Iceland) is a member of the Icelandic anti EU movement. The same arguments can be heard in many quarters these days and recent public opinion surveys show a negative attitude towards Iceland joining the European Union.
I can’t say that I’m surprised. Iceland was for a very long time a homogenous society, with relatively little contact with the outside world. Our nationalism is based on the same foundations of Nordic superiority as was evident in parts of Europe until 1945 and we haven’t really adjusted to the fact that this idea was completely rejected. Nor have we been able to follow the rather obvious trend in European foreign policy, which is the idea that working together makes the whole stronger than the individual nations. To me this seems fairly self evident. In an international system based upon anarchy (i.e. might makes right), the rule of law pushed for by the European Union, makes a lot of sense for a small weak nation state like Iceland. Indeed we have been quite happy to become members of NATO. This despite not having our own army, which sort begs the question of what support we would give in the event of an attack on another NATO member state. We are long time members of the UN, WTO (formerly GATT) and numerous other international bodies.
So I’ve been thinking about what might explain our reluctance to become full fledged members of the most successful supranational democratic institution ever created. We’re quite close in cultural terms to Norway and it’s worth noting that Norway has twice rejected EU membership. I’ve looked at the multiple reasons given by the objectors and there seem to be a common thread there. The foreigners are out to get us. Which is strange considering Icelandic history. We may have fought over fishing rights with the UK, but in general our history has few indications that foreigners have a particular interest in taking over Iceland. Even the US seems to have shown considerable restraint in interfering in Icelandic affairs during the cold war. So without any actual evidence for this idea, it’s hard to take it seriously. As a matter of fact, besides us paying back loans we may have taken out from banks around the world, I don’t think foreigners have a great deal of interest in Iceland or our affairs. Indeed the evidence seems to point in the opposite direction. It seems to indicate that foreign interest in Iceland is generally positive and benign.
Just recently we had a great example of this. A Chinese government official came to visit Iceland. We ended up getting credit lines from the Chinese central bank, some commercial agreements and in general some positive indications from the Chinese that they would like to be seen as friends of Iceland. Surprisingly, this seemed to have the opposite effect. At least if you read the Icelandic blogsphere (link in Icelandic) and news media. Immediately some Icelandic commentators started speculating on the ulterior motives of the scheming Chinese. The Chinese were here to take over our resources. Which would be easy enough for them to do. We have 3 bankrupt banks which would cost them about 1 days revenue (or less) to purchase outright. Along with deeds to just about every resource we have. But they haven’t shown the slightest bit of interest in doing so. The Chinese Embassy has just moved into a much larger building. Becoming overnight, the largest embassy in Reykjavik. But this might simply be a matter of sound commercial judgement by the Chinese. After all real estate prices have plummeted in Reykjavik, so they probably got a good deal on the new embassy building. Nonetheless, I’m not naive enough to think that the Chinese did this out of the goodness of their hearts. As a matter of fact, this gesture is in line with current Chinese foreign policy. Of building up goodwill among a broad spectrum of nations. Furthermore, if the Northwestern passage opens up. Iceland might become a great place to have a friendly container port. But it’s hard to imagine that we’d place special restrictions on international shipping, including the Chinese. What is of deep interest to the Chinese is building positive relations with nations in NATO and the European Union. I think this interest in Iceland is a great opportunity for us. There is already a positive relationship between us and China. China is a rapidly rising power. Second largest economic power in the world already and set to surpass the US within a few years. It all reminds me of something my a former colleague of mine used to say: “The east is not a beast, but a feast”. Which is true on multiple levels. Instead of being frightened of the rest of the world, we should be open to it. Embrace the opportunity offered by membership in the EU. Embrace the opportunity offered by friendly relations with the Chinese. Being afraid, isolationist and xenophobic is surely the road to ruin.
I can’t say that I’m surprised. Iceland was for a very long time a homogenous society, with relatively little contact with the outside world. Our nationalism is based on the same foundations of Nordic superiority as was evident in parts of Europe until 1945 and we haven’t really adjusted to the fact that this idea was completely rejected. Nor have we been able to follow the rather obvious trend in European foreign policy, which is the idea that working together makes the whole stronger than the individual nations. To me this seems fairly self evident. In an international system based upon anarchy (i.e. might makes right), the rule of law pushed for by the European Union, makes a lot of sense for a small weak nation state like Iceland. Indeed we have been quite happy to become members of NATO. This despite not having our own army, which sort begs the question of what support we would give in the event of an attack on another NATO member state. We are long time members of the UN, WTO (formerly GATT) and numerous other international bodies.
So I’ve been thinking about what might explain our reluctance to become full fledged members of the most successful supranational democratic institution ever created. We’re quite close in cultural terms to Norway and it’s worth noting that Norway has twice rejected EU membership. I’ve looked at the multiple reasons given by the objectors and there seem to be a common thread there. The foreigners are out to get us. Which is strange considering Icelandic history. We may have fought over fishing rights with the UK, but in general our history has few indications that foreigners have a particular interest in taking over Iceland. Even the US seems to have shown considerable restraint in interfering in Icelandic affairs during the cold war. So without any actual evidence for this idea, it’s hard to take it seriously. As a matter of fact, besides us paying back loans we may have taken out from banks around the world, I don’t think foreigners have a great deal of interest in Iceland or our affairs. Indeed the evidence seems to point in the opposite direction. It seems to indicate that foreign interest in Iceland is generally positive and benign.
Just recently we had a great example of this. A Chinese government official came to visit Iceland. We ended up getting credit lines from the Chinese central bank, some commercial agreements and in general some positive indications from the Chinese that they would like to be seen as friends of Iceland. Surprisingly, this seemed to have the opposite effect. At least if you read the Icelandic blogsphere (link in Icelandic) and news media. Immediately some Icelandic commentators started speculating on the ulterior motives of the scheming Chinese. The Chinese were here to take over our resources. Which would be easy enough for them to do. We have 3 bankrupt banks which would cost them about 1 days revenue (or less) to purchase outright. Along with deeds to just about every resource we have. But they haven’t shown the slightest bit of interest in doing so. The Chinese Embassy has just moved into a much larger building. Becoming overnight, the largest embassy in Reykjavik. But this might simply be a matter of sound commercial judgement by the Chinese. After all real estate prices have plummeted in Reykjavik, so they probably got a good deal on the new embassy building. Nonetheless, I’m not naive enough to think that the Chinese did this out of the goodness of their hearts. As a matter of fact, this gesture is in line with current Chinese foreign policy. Of building up goodwill among a broad spectrum of nations. Furthermore, if the Northwestern passage opens up. Iceland might become a great place to have a friendly container port. But it’s hard to imagine that we’d place special restrictions on international shipping, including the Chinese. What is of deep interest to the Chinese is building positive relations with nations in NATO and the European Union. I think this interest in Iceland is a great opportunity for us. There is already a positive relationship between us and China. China is a rapidly rising power. Second largest economic power in the world already and set to surpass the US within a few years. It all reminds me of something my a former colleague of mine used to say: “The east is not a beast, but a feast”. Which is true on multiple levels. Instead of being frightened of the rest of the world, we should be open to it. Embrace the opportunity offered by membership in the EU. Embrace the opportunity offered by friendly relations with the Chinese. Being afraid, isolationist and xenophobic is surely the road to ruin.
Ummæli
May be interesting for your folk in Iceland to also have a look at.
From what I've read and heard about China in Africa it's a mixed bag. But if you consider the history of foreign influences in Africa. It's really hard to find anyone with a stellar history of involvement in African affairs. But I don't want to come across as being apologetic for the Chinese and in a sense my point was that we might be in a much stronger position to deal with the Chinese if Iceland joins the EU, than if we stand outside it. Our total economic output is simply so small, that it would be relatively easy for China to simply buy all of our resources (indirectly through control of our financial system) that it's a matter of national interest to join up with a larger supranational entity.