Published by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books. 491 pages. Price Rs. 795.
Still only a shade over sixty, Chris Patten has already had a remarkable career in British politics. He has held important ministerial portfolios and was the last British Governor of Hongkong and, subsequently, European Commissioner for External Relations. Already the author of several books, "WHAT NEXT" brings together the wealth of his experience, insight and erudition. Starting with a broad brush on the evolution of the state and statecraft, Patten ranges over issues of nationalism, globalization, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, the global arms bazaar, the continued exploitation of Africa, the looming crisis on water scarcity, organized crime, drugs, pollution, climate change, epidemics, democracy and prospects for the future. Many of them are issues that affect the well-being, if not the survival, of the planet. And he does this with scrupulous attention to facts, figures where necessary, and with a delicate sarcasm which scythes through hypocrisy, disdaining to mask his distaste for the neocon policies of Washington or the rapacity that still rages across Africa. What is
remarkable is that Patten's often forceful indictments are expressed in a non-judgemental, factual format which leaves no scope for flight.
Patten does not pontificate, nor provide solutions or answers to the many critical issues he dissects with skill and passion. He apprehends that the threat to globalization, which has brought huge benefits, could lie in the rich countries losing their nerve in the face of competition and details some of the huge subsidies being offered to farmers in the West. Terrorism has many faces and is "something that is very unlikely to be expunged from our lives". While the first goal of terrorists is to make us give up our civic ideals, "democracies should live by their principles in fighting terrorism".
What really shines in India, feels Patten, is its free society under rule of law and hopes that "Success should help give it the confidence to play a more assertive and self assured international role".
Patten clearly feels for the continued plight of Africa, first exploited by the West and now by their own corrupt governments and multinational interests. Political judgement and
concern for people is kept in abeyance as commercial interests predominate, with China's opportunism most evident. In the case of oil and gas, (we) "depend on much our well-being on countries with governments that are authoritarian, unstable or undemocratic". Patten considers Pakistan a fundamentally unstable state, whose nuclear activities were repeatedly overlooked.
The administration of George Bush is accused of jeopardizing the future by its obduracy on issues of environment and climate change. And the Iraq war has 'brutalized the country and brutalized the region and the world. The Iraq war has made the world less safe and the effort to contain terrorism more onerous".
"WHAT NEXT" is an outstanding book, a remarkable focus on most of the issues that must engage all thinking people and, certainly, all who influence decisions. It is a mirror to ourselves that does not flatter but duly cautions.