They’re can’t be many modern writers who have created a proverb. By their very nature, proverbs are old, time-tested pieces of folk wisdom. Over the course of the last few weeks, I’ve read two pieces of prose on serious topics and they both have used the proverb “Only Nixon could go to China.” This is remarkable on two bases: one, the event that inspired the proverb happened only in 1972, and two, the expression became famous only through its use in Star Trek VI: The undiscovered country. Neither writer credited the movie, the character Mr Spock (who introduced the phrase as an old Vulcan proverb) or the writer Nicholas Meyer.
Nicholas Meyer is an American writer who sent Jack the Ripper to modern New York pursued by H G Wells in his time machine, had Sherlock Holmes' cocaine addiction treated by Sigmund Freud, and wrote the three best Star Trek films. (If I have to explain that those are Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home, and The Undiscovered Country, I’m not sure our relationship is going to last.) While the expression “Only Nixon could go to China” existed before “Star Trek VI”, it was not proverbial, or even in common use, until Meyer, to coin a phrase, made it so.
The two pieces of prose were an article by Noel Pearson on the current debate on recognition* of Aboriginals in the Australian Constitution (a topic I know far too little about to make comment - an attitude which may queer my membership of the Bloggers Union) and the other was Great Hatred, Little Room: Making peace in Northern Ireland by Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s Chief-of-staff and chief negotiator for the UK Government during the peace process that left notorious rabble-rouser and Unionist Ian Paisley and ex-IRA terrorist Martin McGuinness as Chief and Deputy Minister of a working and independent Northern Irish Government. One can criticise Tony Blair for many things, not the least of which was leaving government in the hands of Gordon Brown, but his achievements in Northern Ireland are a legacy of which he can be proud.
Nor is it simply his legacy. As Yeats might say, I write it out in prose; David Trimble, John Hume, Ian Paisley, Martin McGuinness, Gerry Adams and many more all had to transcend their country’s history, tribal hatreds, real and imagined wrongs, their political parties and their own personal and interpersonal histories to achieve the creation of viable government in Northern Ireland that truly represents its people and not just a small section, and an end to widespread political violence. Nor is the story come to an end. Sinn Fein still want a united Ireland, the Unionists parties still want to maintain their link with the UK, and violence can still raise its ugly head. But both parties are committed to the concept that Northern Ireland will go in the direction that its people dictates, and that violence is not part of the solution.
Powell’s book is a detailed account of the negotiations between the Unionist, Nationalist and Republican political parties, and the UK and Irish governments that resulted in the St Andrew’s Agreement of 2007. Someone once said there was no future in Ireland, just the past happening over and over again. The peace process was a microcosm of the country’s history. Agreements nearly made, then broken, promises made, then broken, small advances, huge setbacks. Powell has little gift for giving us an assessment of the characters of the people involved but his head for detail makes complex negotiations at least intelligible for the lay reader. He is even-handed not only about the parties directly involved but also for what came before, in a potted history of Northern Ireland and even giving due credit to John Major and Margaret Thatcher. As the British government’s chief negotiator, this book is invaluable for an understanding of the process and will be essential reading for anyone interested in the topic. In the end, this is but one man’s view and I’m sure many more will follow. David Trimble has already registered some of his objections to this book and he will not be alone. I look forward to reading more.
This final process seemed to begin with moderate Nationalist politician John Hume’s decision to start talking to the Republican Sinn Fein. This was against his personal and political beliefs but he recognised that the only way to get anywhere was to talk. That is Powell’s chief message – the need to talk and to persist in talking even when it appears hopeless; worth remembering as we despair about the Middle East. It is also worth remembering both Hume and his Unionist counterpart Trimble (who shared the Nobel Peace Prize) were eventually forced out and replaced by the more extreme Sinn Fein leaders and Ian Paisley, who brought the process to its conclusion. In the end, only Nixon could go to China.
Live long and prosper.
*Not the original article but a follow-up.
*Not the original article but a follow-up.
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