Both of them are complete newcomers to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a new Foreign Minister and a new Permanent Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The test is the same and they need to face it together.
After a brief exchange, both of them agreed that although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is one of the three major ministries, it is a thankless department. Nowadays, both the United States and the Soviet Union advocate decolonization. For colonial countries like the United Kingdom,
That said, the external situation is still quite severe.
"Just like France now, protests have been going on for a long time." Harold Wilson pointed out that France's current difficulties are due to the high investment in the Algerian war and the economic crisis, which led to this crisis.
"I also agree with the minister's view." Alan Wilson changed the subject. "It seems that this will be the minister's first problem after taking office. I think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should first find out the internal trends in France before making a decision.
.”
If this is the case for the Foreign Secretary, why is it not a test for Alan Wilson? The first thing is to understand the current situation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Having worked overseas for a long time, he will inevitably have to change his working methods after returning to London.
Edward Bridges also agreed with this point. Working in London is very different from working overseas, most obviously in the degree of freedom. Alan Wilson also understood that this may be the difference between the so-called Beijing officials and feudal officials.
"We must protect the interests of our own department and at the same time maintain a good relationship with the minister. If we cannot become friends with the minister like Norman did, we must at least be on peace with each other."
Edward Bridges said with an experienced tone, "Under normal circumstances, you should not conflict with ministers, unless it is a mistake that leads to serious consequences. However, different people have different ways of coping. I will argue with reason. Faced with Norman,
You might not make the same choice about the same thing."
Homeland is different from overseas. At least for the current Alan Wilson, he cannot replicate in London what he did in Kuala Lumpur.
"I will adjust my mentality." Alan Wilson replied gratefully. This is just like the vast majority of people who write online novels who believe that they have the potential to be a great aunt, but at the very least they are unrecognized.
But it doesn’t hold back that 90% of writers can’t earn even a penny. There is a gap between ideal and reality after all.
"You have to think about it, the minister has just taken office and is actually not familiar with diplomatic work. Now it is time to formulate a set of diplomatic concepts for the minister." Edward Bridges smiled gently, "Let's
Ministers have a platform to perform."
"Indeed, this is the top priority now." Alan Wilson slapped his head. He had been doing administrative work in the colonies. Now he should change his mind and formulate a past plan, allowing the minister to implement a grand blueprint that does not exist.
At least in name, Britain is still a global empire, and its foreign policy must cover the whole world. The three-ring diplomacy declared in name, or the two wings flying together in fact, is not a gain or loss for one city or one place.
The reason why the British Empire became the British Empire was that diplomacy was of course too important. For hundreds of years, Britain has been trying to maintain a balance of power among the countries on the European continent: whichever side is weak, Britain will help whichever side is strong.
, Britain went to contain it.
As long as there is this balance, countries on the European continent will automatically check each other, and the UK can rest easy.
But balanced diplomacy is just a guideline, by no means the essence of the diplomatic field. The UK does not have the ability to plan for the distant future. In fact, it means taking a step-by-step view of the current situation. Because you cannot predict the distant future, you cannot predict it in advance.
Find the precise location of that equilibrium point. This equilibrium point can only be determined based on the current circumstances and conditions.
If there is one person in the UK who has this ability, it would be the newly appointed Permanent Under Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"It's time to be knighted." Seeing her husband come back and start to plunge into the ocean of politics again, Pamela Mountbatten put down her son and decided to pursue a new route.
The younger son was lying on his stomach and squirming towards his father, his clumsy look successfully attracted Alan Wilson's attention.
"My son." Alan Wilson, who picked up his son, had a kind face and made faces at the little guy.
Huh... She snorted for no reason. Pamela Mountbatten had a disgusted look on her face, "It's just the son that's important, right?"
"This accusation is unreasonable. You and Pamela are equally important." Alan Wilson rejected the dirty water thrown at him and defended himself, "I have always attached great importance to family, and you are an existence that cannot be measured by anything.
.”
"You know how to say nice things!" Pamela Mountbatten rolled her eyes at her husband and picked up her son who stretched out his little hand. "In the second week of May, I found a lot of people. You have to know that a hereditary
It’s hard to win a title, and many families have asked for help, but you don’t seem to care.”
"My heart is full of gratitude, and I clearly feel my wife's passionate love for me." Alan Wilson swore, with two words written all over his face, loyalty...
Immediately, he devoted himself to the formulation of foreign policy. Adaptability is the concept of British diplomacy. The most intuitive example is the Vienna Peace Conference after Napoleon's defeat.
In the late stages of the Napoleonic Wars, France's defeat was certain, but the conflicts between Britain's three major allies, Russia, Prussia and Austria, intensified.
When Russia was pursuing Napoleon, its power had penetrated deep into the heart of Europe, and it was likely to replace Napoleon as the overlord of the European continent. Prussia wanted to rely on Russia's power to expand its territory and suppress Austria at the same time, so after the war Russia-Prussia
The possibility of forming a new alliance is increasing. In this case, the equilibrium point of Britain has changed.
Therefore, after defeating Napoleon, the European powers held the Congress of Vienna to arrange post-war matters, and British diplomacy made relatively large adjustments. First, it no longer opposed France, but insisted on being lenient to France: France's status as a continental power must be retained.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! In this way, Britain's allies will be afraid and will not dare to move immediately. The enemy does not need to be completely defeated, but can be kept for use.
In addition, the weakest of Britain's allies is Austria, and it is also particularly worried about the alliance between Russia and Prussia, so Britain has established a particularly close cooperative relationship with Austria, so that Britain has help to compete with Russia and Prussia.
.
In the end, Britain formed a balance that was beneficial to Britain through the Vienna Peace Conference.
However, in Alan Wilson's view, adaptability is already a matter of the previous era, and current diplomatic work must make long-term plans.
First of all, a basis must be established, that is, it is almost impossible for a war between major powers to break out. This is because no country can bear the consequences of a nuclear bomb attack, and Britain especially cannot bear it.
Since a world war will not break out, the basis for today's allies and tomorrow's enemies will not exist. The current situation will definitely remain for a long time. So we cannot consider adapting to changes in the short term. Instead, we must clarify a diplomatic framework for what Britain needs, and then
used for decades to come.
From a macro perspective, taking history as a guide, the British Empire's diplomacy in the 19th century was essentially centered on ensuring the security of British India, so a peripheral defense system was created.
Now that the Malayan colony has replaced the role of British India, and can still use the surrounding Netherlands and Portugal, the strategy in the Asian direction is the inheritance of protecting the security of British India, but replaced by Malay
Ya.
Harold Wilson also agreed with this point. Britain had transferred so many industries and used the pound area to support them. When the harvest was about to begin, other countries would never be allowed to separate the Malayan colonies from Britain. No matter what they were planning to do,
who!
"You can even use Malaya as a base to carry out offshore balancing in Asia. During the time I worked in Malaya, I realized that maybe the Soviet camp was not as monolithic as the Americans said.
The correct judgment is that China does not have a vassal relationship with the Soviet Union."
The specific contents are in the one-pound report, which the Foreign Secretary can read slowly by himself.
"Of course, the far east is not urgent at the moment." Alan Wilson changed the topic, "Compared with other directions, Europe is still the top priority, and the current situation in France is quite worrying. We really
We do not hope that a repeat of 1789 will have an unpredictable impact on the whole of Europe."
The world economic crisis that began last year caused France's industrial production to drop by 5%. However, the United Kingdom continued to increase. In terms of finance, France's total expenditure last year was 55.4 billion francs, with a deficit of more than 10 billion francs.
The huge fiscal deficit is naturally due to the need to support Algeria's war and military expenditures, which has led to conflicts between the left and right factions in France. Since March, protest marches have occurred from time to time. If nothing else, France will change its government again.
"You mean, France might lead to the Soviet Union?" Harold Wilson asked, full of disbelief.
"It's not that serious, but I'm very complicated about the current situation in France. The French can help Britain attract attention." Alan Wilson said with mixed feelings, "If the war ends so easily, all the pressure will be on Britain."
Whether to help the French or not is a difficult question for Alan Wilson. If France is defeated, Britain will not be able to hold on.
"Dear, the French Communist Party should be very complicated. Do you know anyone?" After returning home, Alan Wilson asked Pamela Mountbatten. At the critical moment, his wife's connections were more practical.
"Are you going to join the Communist Party?" Pamela Mountbatten gave a look that doubted her husband's trustworthiness.
"How is it possible? I am one of ours." Alan Wilson almost exploded when faced with this suspicion.