Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths about World Affairs

by Chris Patten

"Not Quite the Diplomat" describes what has been happening in Britain, Europe and the world since 1997 from the perspective of one at the heart of international events. In examining how we got to where we are, he writes candidly about many of the major players and what happened behind closed doors. In arguing about where we should be, he writes with the directness of a man freed at last from the bonds of diplomatic restraint. Will the British still be trying to work out who we are and what we want to be as the world moves on? How far can Europe expand and is Europe all a terrible mistake or where our destiny lies? Does the old, fractured Western alliance still have the time and the will to shape the world before the rise of India and China? Chris Patten's answers to these questions are pungent and devastatingly well informed. No recent book by a politician of any political persuasion has been so engaging, so outspoken and often so funny. If Chris Patten is no longer the diplomat, it is the readers of this book who are the beneficiaries.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Biography

330 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 2005

About the author

Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH

Graduate of Balliol College, University Oxford (1965).

Among his services, appointments, and honors, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath (1979-1992), Minister for Overseas Development at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1986-1989), Secretary of State for the Environment (1989-1992), Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1990-1992), Chairman of the Conservative Party (1990-1992), the last Governor of Hong Kong (1992-1997), appointed a Companion of Honour (CH) by Queen Elizabeth II (1998), Chairman of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland (1998-1999), Chancellor of Newcastle University (1999-2009), 1999, appointed as one of the UK's two members to the European Commission (1999) and served as Commissioner for External Relations, appointed the European Union's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (2000-2004), received an honorary LL.D. degree from the University of Bath (2003), Chancellor of the University of Oxford (2003- ), elected a Distinguished Honorary Fellow of Massey College, University of Toronto (2005), received an honorary D.S.Litt. degree from the University of Trinity College, University of Toronto (2005), Toronto, an honorary D.Litt. degree from the University of Ulster (2005), and in 2005 he was also honored with a life peerage as Baron Patten of Barnes, of Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, as a Roman Catholic he played a vital role overseeing the visit of Pope Benedict XVI's to the UK (2010), and served as Chairman of the BBC Trust (2011-2014).

Reviews

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/922824.html[return][return]Patten's book is a joy to read, just as Patten himself is usually a joy to listen to. Americans may well get a lot more out of it than Europeans. I may be wrong; part of the problem is that I know Patten well enough that I don't find any of the views he expresses here surprising, and in fact I already agree with most of them. He is eloquent and specific on how the British Conservative government screwed up its relationship with Europe (though his assertion that this only really happened after he was kicked out of Parliament in 1992 is at variance with my memory). He is brilliant on the need for the EU to develop a sensible approach to the rest of the world, especially the rising powers of India and China, but also in its own neighbourhood, by integrating the Balkans and Turkey through the prospect of membership. He is also brilliant on the US - writing as a passionate admirer of the American project, but one who is deeply dismayed by the Rumsfeld/Cheney domination of foreign policy.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite being written in 2005 it is still very relevant today. I must confess I did no know much about Chris Patten, other than Hong Kong, but I was very impressed indeed by the degree of prescience shown in this book. Virtually everything he predicts here has come t rue or is still ongoing in the same direction. Whilst, when living in Australia, some of the characters are a bit hazy, I knew enough about most of them to find the book very revealing. Pity Patten has left high public office as his voice of reason would appear to be very much what is needed today, despite his sitting on the "other side" of great divide to me! Highly recommended but you do have to have a good working knowledge of European personalities!

[Pei-jean Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s always interesting to read a book written more than a decade ago and then reflect back on it with the perspective of today. I first came across Chris Patten when I found the book East and West at my usual junk shop haunt. At the time I didn’t know that he was the last governor of British Hong Kong even though I remember watching the hand over ceremony.
With humour and intelligence Patten delivers another book that is part memoir/part analysis into the complicated world of international diplomacy. Given the events that are currently occupying the world, this book is still relevant today as when it was first written.

[Les Dangerfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Largely a tour d’horizon of European international relations during the period of his being EU commissioner for external relations, 1999 - 2004. Way out of date now, of course, but interesting to go back to those times to remind oneself of what the big issues of the world were at that time.

[Gilles Demaneuf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite prophetic. An excellent (re)read.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

World views remains relevant even with latest US-China political development

[Matthew Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patten writes well, but it's startling how such an intelligent man seems so conditioned to the groupthink of his time. This book was published in 2005 and contains all those completely predictable but utterly wrong assumptions which one finds reading old political works: China will liberalise, the Euro will overcome it's initial teething problems, mass immigration from the EU will be quite limited, and the Conservative Party can make peace with EU membership. It makes me skeptical of the political ideas we take for granted today.

[Obile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, the extract on the front end paper is extremely misleading. It features witty comments by Patton on various world leaders of a gossipy nature. However, this book is of a much more serious nature, featuring incisive commentary on America, rising powers (China and India) and EU. He has a particular affinity for America and holds a respect for them that is not shared by Britain's continental counterparts.

I hoped for more content on Hong Kong, which he offered, albeit very briefly, when discussing his dealings with China and their officials.

All in all, this is a good, if not slightly rambling, read that offers the internationalist, realpolitik-es que views of a nuanced politician.

[Chevelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay. I first tried reading this book two years ago after watching Chris Patten in a television interview. I mustn't have been in the right frame of mind while reading his book, because I found him difficult and pedantic.

Two years later, I just can't get enough. Chris Patten is a maestro with words - his words are precise and his sentences economical, yet it sometimes reads like poetry. He is very dry, and can be very, very funny. He is, indeed, nobody's poodle.

[Salman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best political books I have ever read. He really was in the thick of things throughout his diplomatic career (as you can see from his colorful vignettes) and is able to layout the present political atlas with unexpected candor.

[Felicity Sims · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly easy to read: witty, down-to-earth, Patten readily admits mistakes and shares regrets as well as successes and ideas about the future.

Learnt a lot about how the European Commission works and the politics of the EU.

[Leopold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny insights into the workings of the Eu foreign policy. Very enlighting on many challenges facing the union.

[chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

for the advanced reader, with a good understanding of english politics

[Ulrich Gerst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intelligent man, intelligent book. Very interesting!

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's brilliantly written!

[Kenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

i don't normally read biographies, but it was signed... so... i tried my best