Euston Manifesto
Encyclopedia
The Euston Manifesto is a 2006 declaration of principles by a group of academics, journalists, and activists based in the United Kingdom. The statement is a reaction to what are asserted to be widespread violations of leftist principles by others who are commonly associated with the political Left
. The manifesto states that "the reconfiguration of progressive opinion that we aim for involves drawing a line between forces on the Left that remain true to its authentic values, and currents that have lately shown themselves rather too flexible about these values."
These alleged violations mainly concern the Middle East; for example the Iraq war, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war on terror. Broadly speaking, the group asserted that the left as a whole is over-critical of the actions of Western governments, such as the military presence in Iraq, and correspondingly is overly supportive of forces opposing Western governments, such as anti-Western
Iraqi forces. As the document puts it, "we must define ourselves against those for whom the entire progressive-democratic agenda has been subordinated to a blanket and simplistic 'anti-imperialism' and/or hostility to the current US administration."
The manifesto proposed a "fresh political alignment," which involves "making common cause with genuine democrats, whether socialist or not," in which the left stands for democracy, freedom, equality, internationalism, the open-source movement, and historical truth, while condemning all forms of tyranny, terrorism, anti-Americanism, racism, anti-Semitism, including any form of it that "conceal[s] prejudice against the Jewish people behind the formula of 'anti-Zionism'".
The signatories say they "reject fear of modernity, fear of freedom, irrationalism, the subordination of women," and "reaffirm the ideas that inspired the great rallying calls of the democratic revolutions of the eighteenth century: liberty, equality and solidarity; human rights; the pursuit of happiness ... But we are not zealots. For we embrace also the values of free enquiry, open dialogue and creative doubt, of care in judgement and a sense of the intractabilities of the world. We stand against all claims to a total — unquestionable or unquestioning — truth."
The Euston Manifesto was criticised by detractors who alleged that it supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq
, equated opposition to Israel with anti-Semitism, and was an attempt to rally pro-war sentiment among the Left.
The authors and their collaborators call themselves the Euston Manifesto Group. There are about thirty members of the group, four of whom were most heavily involved in authoring the document: Norman Geras
, Marxist scholar and professor emeritus at Manchester University; Damian Counsell; Alan Johnson, editor of Democratiya
; and Shalom Lappin. Other members include Nick Cohen
of The Observer, who co-authored with Geras the first report on the manifesto in the mainstream press; Marc Cooper of The Nation; Francis Wheen
a journalist and authority on Marx
; and historian Marko Attila Hoare
. (see complete list)
The manifesto began as a conversation between friends, a gathering of (mainly British
) academics, journalists, and activists. At their first meeting in London
, they decided to write a "minimal manifesto", a short document summarising their core values. The original intention of its proposer was that the manifesto would provide a rallying point for a number of left-leaning blogs, to be collected by an aggregator, and the basis for a book collecting some of the best writing about related political questions. The group met more formally after the document's first drafting, at a branch of the O'Neill's Irish-themed pub chain
on London's Euston Road
— just across the road from the British Library
— where the manifesto was named, and its content voted on. It was first published in the New Statesman
on 7 April 2006.
There are similarities between the manifesto and the aims of the Henry Jackson Society
which was launched at Cambridge University in March 2005. Some Henry Jackson Society members are among the signatories of the manifesto. Figures around the American journal Telos
have launched an American chapter of the Euston group. Early signatories of the American statement included Ronald Radosh
, Martin Peretz
, Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, Michael Ledeen
, and Walter Laqueur
.
. Additionally, the authors note that, while they all identify as leftists or liberals, their anti-totalitarian ideals are not exclusive to any one point on the political spectrum. Following this, the manifesto lists and explains the core principles of their ideology:
of government. The authors note that the most effective governments in the world today are democracies.
Conversely, the authors strongly condemn tyrannical governments, regardless of the circumstances (i.e. during the Cold War
, supporting right-wing dictators in opposition to Communism
was immoral, just as supporting totalitarian communism was equally repugnant). The authors "draw a firm line" between themselves and those on the left who might support authoritarian regimes (e.g. those who support totalitarian communism in the pursuit of social progress
).
The authors strongly support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
, dismissing all arguments against the idea of eternal truths. They do not believe that any circumstance can justify ignoring a human right, if it is a human right. Particularly, they reject cultural relativism
, the belief that different cultures can have different standards, and one culture may not judge another. Also, they condemn what they see as a willingness by some on the left to criticise minor (although real) violations of rights at home, while ignoring or excusing much greater violations abroad.
must be economic and social equality between people of all races, religions, genders, and sexual orientations. Within this, they say labour unions are "bedrock organizations in the defence of workers' interests and are one of the most important forces for human rights, democracy-promotion and egalitarian internationalism." They also say "labour rights are human rights" and single out different, less-commonly represented people, including children and the sexually oppressed.
As part of promoting economic equality, the authors call for supporting increased development in poorer nations in order to alleviate extreme poverty
. Their prescription for this includes greater distribution of wealth within the trading system, and the radical reform of the World Trade Organization
, World Bank
, and the International Monetary Fund
. They also call for fair trade
, environmental protection
, debt forgiveness, and more aid. They support the campaign to Make Poverty History
.
.
Using strong language, the authors condemn and reject all forms of terrorism (defined by them as the intentional targeting of civilians) and call it a violation of international law
and the laws of war
. In their view, nothing can excuse terrorism. They single out Islamist terrorism as particularly heinous. They do however defend Muslims, saying that within that faith, the victims of terrorism's worst atrocities and its most vigorous opponents can be found.
, and argues that a state's sovereignty
should be respected only if "it does not torture, murder and slaughter its own civilians, and meets their most basic needs of life". If it fails in this duty, "there is a duty upon the international community of intervention and rescue". The form of such an intervention is not specified, but possible interpretations include diplomacy, economic sanctions
, and military action. This implied support for military action is one of the main points of disagreement between the manifesto's authors and their critics.
The manifesto emphasises the duty which genuine democrats have to respect historical truth, and to practice political honesty and straightforwardness. It claims that the reputation of the left was tarnished in this regard by the International Communist movement. It argues that some elements of the anti-war movement are guilty of making the same mistake in being too willing to work with "Islamist fascist
" organisations.
Later in the manifesto, the legacy of democratic movements is recalled. The authors say that they are the latest in a long line of activists committed to the spread of human rights and free expression. They recall specifically the revolutions of the eighteenth-century (most prominent among them the French Revolution
).
There is also strong sentiment among the authors in favor of the open source software, and an opposition to many types of intellectual property rights. The authors reject the ideas that free software is simply theoretical, but instead "a tested reality that has created common goods whose power and robustness have been proved over decades."
"freedom fighters" and reiterate their opposition to the previous Baathist regime. Furthermore, they argue that the focus of the left—regardless of how someone might have felt about the invasion—must be supporting the creation of a stable democracy in Iraq. Again, the authors espouse their egalitarian principles, saying that global inequality represents a "standing indictment of the international community
."
The manifesto was published in the New Statesman and in The Guardian
's "Comment is Free" section, then was launched formally on 25 May 2006 at the Union Chapel in Islington
.
It generated much lively debate on British and American blogs on the day of publication. Its critics argued it contained too many statements of the obvious, that it had little to say about "imperialism" or the power of global corporations, and that it was in reality a front for its authors' support for the current foreign policies of the British and American governments. Its supporters countered that very little of the statement's content had been directly criticised and that its opponents were merely worried that its principles would win broad support on the British left, thus challenging the consensus among left-liberal opinion that they believe predominates in the mainstream media.
The manifesto takes no position on the invasion of Iraq
. However some of its most prominent contributors, including Nick Cohen
, and the proprietors of the left-wing blog Harry's Place
, supported the invasion. Of the manifesto's principal authors, two were broadly against the war; two were broadly in support. Of eight people advertised as attending a Euston Manifesto Group meeting at the 2006 Labour Party Conference, six supported the Iraq War. One of these, Gisela Stuart
MP, declared during the 2004 American presidential election that a victory by challenger John Kerry
victory would prompt "victory celebrations among those who want to destroy liberal democracies."
Some of the manifesto's authors have criticised certain anti-war figures and groups, notably George Galloway
and the Stop the War Coalition
for their alliances with Islamists
. Although there is still disagreement within the group over the rationale for the war, the authors agree that, after the bombs stopped falling, the left should have united around a campaign to support Iraqi democrats, feminists, and progressives. Instead, in their view, alliances were formed with Islamist groups and Baathists.
The manifesto states that the left's political focus should be on reconstructing Iraq and instituting a stable democracy. Opponents reject this, saying that the question of invasion is still legitimate, and that refusal by some authors to oppose the invasion is unacceptable.
Looking back at the manifesto in April 2008, Daniel Davies, a contributor to The Guardian newspaper's online Comment Is Free forum, noted that the group had become largely inactive and claimed that one of its leading members, Alan Johnson, had abandoned Euston's key principle of "human rights for all" by advocating Britain's withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights
. Davies argued that the group's flaw was "the relentless refusal to actually bring anything down to brass tacks" and that they would demand action on various issues without following through on implementation. According to Davies, "it was this refusal to step down from Mount Olympus that finally did for the Euston Manifesto group. In the early days, it allowed them to assemble a broad coalition, uniting war supporters and opponents under a vague banner of 'that Galloway
chappie has gone a bit too far'. But almost as soon as the manifesto was published, it ran into its first big real-world test as Israel invaded Lebanon, and the strains began to show between those Eustonauts like Norman Geras
, who had taken seriously the universalist stuff about human rights, and the Atlanticist
element who had always assumed that they were joining a movement that would be happy to set all that stuff aside in the name of getting the bad guys."
The Website continues to be updated from time to time, but the Euston Manifesto Group seems to be moribund, having not held any public meetings for months (December 2009).
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
. The manifesto states that "the reconfiguration of progressive opinion that we aim for involves drawing a line between forces on the Left that remain true to its authentic values, and currents that have lately shown themselves rather too flexible about these values."
These alleged violations mainly concern the Middle East; for example the Iraq war, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war on terror. Broadly speaking, the group asserted that the left as a whole is over-critical of the actions of Western governments, such as the military presence in Iraq, and correspondingly is overly supportive of forces opposing Western governments, such as anti-Western
Anti-Western sentiment
Anti-Western sentiment refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, or governments in the western world. In many cases the United States, Israël and the United Kingdom are the subject of discussion or hostility...
Iraqi forces. As the document puts it, "we must define ourselves against those for whom the entire progressive-democratic agenda has been subordinated to a blanket and simplistic 'anti-imperialism' and/or hostility to the current US administration."
The manifesto proposed a "fresh political alignment," which involves "making common cause with genuine democrats, whether socialist or not," in which the left stands for democracy, freedom, equality, internationalism, the open-source movement, and historical truth, while condemning all forms of tyranny, terrorism, anti-Americanism, racism, anti-Semitism, including any form of it that "conceal[s] prejudice against the Jewish people behind the formula of 'anti-Zionism'".
The signatories say they "reject fear of modernity, fear of freedom, irrationalism, the subordination of women," and "reaffirm the ideas that inspired the great rallying calls of the democratic revolutions of the eighteenth century: liberty, equality and solidarity; human rights; the pursuit of happiness ... But we are not zealots. For we embrace also the values of free enquiry, open dialogue and creative doubt, of care in judgement and a sense of the intractabilities of the world. We stand against all claims to a total — unquestionable or unquestioning — truth."
The Euston Manifesto was criticised by detractors who alleged that it supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, equated opposition to Israel with anti-Semitism, and was an attempt to rally pro-war sentiment among the Left.
Euston Manifesto Group
Norman Geras
Norman Geras is Professor Emeritus of Government at the University of Manchester. In a long academic career, he has contributed substantially to the analysis of the works of Karl Marx, particularly in his book Marx and Human Nature and the article 'The Controversy About Marx and Justice', which...
, Marxist scholar and professor emeritus at Manchester University; Damian Counsell; Alan Johnson, editor of Democratiya
Democratiya
Democratiya was a free quarterly online review of books that aims "stimulate discussion of radical democratic political theory". Sixteen editions were produced from 2005 until a final edition in Autumn 2009....
; and Shalom Lappin. Other members include Nick Cohen
Nick Cohen
Nick Cohen is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He is currently a columnist for The Observer, a blogger for The Spectator and TV critic for Standpoint magazine. He formerly wrote for the London Evening Standard and the New Statesman...
of The Observer, who co-authored with Geras the first report on the manifesto in the mainstream press; Marc Cooper of The Nation; Francis Wheen
Francis Wheen
Francis James Baird Wheen is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster.-Early life and education:Wheen was born into an army family and educated at two independent schools: Copthorne Preparatory School near Crawley, West Sussex and Harrow School in north west London.-Life and career:Running...
a journalist and authority on Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
; and historian Marko Attila Hoare
Marko Attila Hoare
Marko Attila Hoare is a British historian of the former Yugoslavia who also writes about the current affairs of Southeast Europe, especially the Balkans including Turkey and the Caucasus.-Biography:...
. (see complete list)
The manifesto began as a conversation between friends, a gathering of (mainly British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
) academics, journalists, and activists. At their first meeting in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, they decided to write a "minimal manifesto", a short document summarising their core values. The original intention of its proposer was that the manifesto would provide a rallying point for a number of left-leaning blogs, to be collected by an aggregator, and the basis for a book collecting some of the best writing about related political questions. The group met more formally after the document's first drafting, at a branch of the O'Neill's Irish-themed pub chain
Pub chain
A pub chain is a group of pubs or bars with a brand image. The brand may be owned outright by one company, or there may be multiple financiers; the chain may be a division within a larger company, or may be a single operation. Examples include Chef & Brewer, Wetherspoons, Walkabout, Taylor Walker...
on London's Euston Road
Euston Road
Euston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...
— just across the road from the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
— where the manifesto was named, and its content voted on. It was first published in the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
on 7 April 2006.
There are similarities between the manifesto and the aims of the Henry Jackson Society
Henry Jackson Society
The Henry Jackson Society is a non-partisan association. The society's goals include the promotion of "democratic geopolitics". The society is named after after Henry M. Jackson, the late Democratic Senator from Washington State...
which was launched at Cambridge University in March 2005. Some Henry Jackson Society members are among the signatories of the manifesto. Figures around the American journal Telos
TELOS (journal)
Telos is an academic journal published in the United States. It was founded in May 1968 to provide the New Left with a coherent theoretical perspective. It sought to expand the Husserlian diagnosis of "the crisis of European sciences" to prefigure a particular program of social reconstruction...
have launched an American chapter of the Euston group. Early signatories of the American statement included Ronald Radosh
Ronald Radosh
Ronald Radosh is an American writer, professor, historian, former Marxist, and neoconservative. He is known for his work on the Cold War espionage case of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and his advocacy of the state of Israel....
, Martin Peretz
Martin Peretz
Martin H. "Marty" Peretz , is an American publisher. Formerly an assistant professor at Harvard University, he purchased The New Republic in 1974 and took editorial control soon afterwards. He retained majority ownership until 2002, when he sold a two-thirds stake in the magazine to two financiers...
, Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, Michael Ledeen
Michael Ledeen
Michael Arthur Ledeen is an American specialist on foreign policy. His research areas have included state sponsors of terrorism, Iran, the Middle East, Europe , U.S.-China relations, intelligence, and Africa and is a leading neoconservative...
, and Walter Laqueur
Walter Laqueur
Walter Zeev Laqueur is an American historian and political commentator. He was born in Breslau, Germany , to a Jewish family. In 1938, Laqueur left Germany for the British Mandate of Palestine. His parents, who were unable to leave, became victims of the Holocaust...
.
Summary of the manifesto
The authors start by identifying themselves as "progressives and democrats" and calling for a new political alignment in which the left stands unambiguously for democracy, and against tyranny and terrorismTerrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. Additionally, the authors note that, while they all identify as leftists or liberals, their anti-totalitarian ideals are not exclusive to any one point on the political spectrum. Following this, the manifesto lists and explains the core principles of their ideology:
Democracy, tyranny, and human rights
First and foremost, the authors say, the manifesto stands in support of pluralist democracy, including free expression, political freedom, and the separation of powersSeparation of powers
The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
of government. The authors note that the most effective governments in the world today are democracies.
Conversely, the authors strongly condemn tyrannical governments, regardless of the circumstances (i.e. during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, supporting right-wing dictators in opposition to Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
was immoral, just as supporting totalitarian communism was equally repugnant). The authors "draw a firm line" between themselves and those on the left who might support authoritarian regimes (e.g. those who support totalitarian communism in the pursuit of social progress
Social progress
Social progress is the idea that societies can or do improve in terms of their social, political, and economic structures. This may happen as a result of direct human action, as in social enterprise or through social activism, or as a natural part of sociocultural evolution...
).
The authors strongly support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
, dismissing all arguments against the idea of eternal truths. They do not believe that any circumstance can justify ignoring a human right, if it is a human right. Particularly, they reject cultural relativism
Cultural relativism
Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture. This principle was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and...
, the belief that different cultures can have different standards, and one culture may not judge another. Also, they condemn what they see as a willingness by some on the left to criticise minor (although real) violations of rights at home, while ignoring or excusing much greater violations abroad.
Equality and development
The manifesto is strongly supportive of egalitarian principles. While they intentionally do not specify their preferred economic system, they say that a fundamental tenet of left-liberalismLiberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
must be economic and social equality between people of all races, religions, genders, and sexual orientations. Within this, they say labour unions are "bedrock organizations in the defence of workers' interests and are one of the most important forces for human rights, democracy-promotion and egalitarian internationalism." They also say "labour rights are human rights" and single out different, less-commonly represented people, including children and the sexually oppressed.
As part of promoting economic equality, the authors call for supporting increased development in poorer nations in order to alleviate extreme poverty
Extreme poverty
Extreme poverty, as defined in 1996 by Joseph Wresinski, the founder of ATD Fourth World, is:"The lack of basic security connotes the absence of one or more factors enabling individuals and families to assume basic responsibilities and to enjoy fundamental rights. The situation may become...
. Their prescription for this includes greater distribution of wealth within the trading system, and the radical reform of the World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
, World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, and the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
. They also call for fair trade
Fair trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
, environmental protection
Environmental protection
Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...
, debt forgiveness, and more aid. They support the campaign to Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History is the name of a campaign that exists in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark , Finland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and Ireland...
.
Opposing anti-Americanism
The authors stand unambiguously in support of America the country and people, while still allowing for criticism of its government and foreign policy. While noting that the United States is "not a model society," the authors note that it is a strong and stable democracy. Particularly, they commend America for its "vibrant culture." This said, they note that America has in the past supported dictators, contrary to the values of the manifesto.Israel and Palestine
Statement of Principles #7 of the Manifesto reads:We recognize the right of both the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples to self-determination within the framework of a two-state solutionTwo-state solutionThe two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the consensus solution that is currently under discussion by the key parties to the conflict, most recently at the Annapolis Conference in November 2007...
. There can be no reasonable resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that subordinates or eliminates the legitimate rights and interests of one of the sides to the dispute.
Against racism and terrorism
The manifesto is opposed to all forms of racism, including anti-immigration, inter-tribal conflict, and other forms of discrimination. The authors draw particular attention to what they describe as the recent resurgence of antisemitism, believing that some have attempted to hide antisemitism under a cover of anti-ZionismAnti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionistic views or opposition to the state of Israel. The term is used to describe various religious, moral and political points of view in opposition to these, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be...
.
Using strong language, the authors condemn and reject all forms of terrorism (defined by them as the intentional targeting of civilians) and call it a violation of international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
and the laws of war
Laws of war
The law of war is a body of law concerning acceptable justifications to engage in war and the limits to acceptable wartime conduct...
. In their view, nothing can excuse terrorism. They single out Islamist terrorism as particularly heinous. They do however defend Muslims, saying that within that faith, the victims of terrorism's worst atrocities and its most vigorous opponents can be found.
A new internationalism
The manifesto calls for the reform of international law in the interests of "global democracy and global development". It supports the doctrine of humanitarian interventionHumanitarian intervention
Humanitarian intervention "refers to a state using military force against another state when the chief publicly declared aim of that military action is ending human-rights violations being perpetrated by the state against which it is directed."...
, and argues that a state's sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
should be respected only if "it does not torture, murder and slaughter its own civilians, and meets their most basic needs of life". If it fails in this duty, "there is a duty upon the international community of intervention and rescue". The form of such an intervention is not specified, but possible interpretations include diplomacy, economic sanctions
Economic sanctions
Economic sanctions are domestic penalties applied by one country on another for a variety of reasons. Economic sanctions include, but are not limited to, tariffs, trade barriers, import duties, and import or export quotas...
, and military action. This implied support for military action is one of the main points of disagreement between the manifesto's authors and their critics.
Historical truth, openness, and heritage
The manifesto argues that pluralism within the movements of the left is essential. The authors promise to criticise in forthright terms those leftists who ally with "illiberal theocrats" or other anti-democratic figures and organisations. Additionally, they promise to listen to the ideas of both the left and the right, if such communications is made in the hopes of furthering democracy.The manifesto emphasises the duty which genuine democrats have to respect historical truth, and to practice political honesty and straightforwardness. It claims that the reputation of the left was tarnished in this regard by the International Communist movement. It argues that some elements of the anti-war movement are guilty of making the same mistake in being too willing to work with "Islamist fascist
Islamofascism
The term Islamofascism is a neologism which draws an analogy between the ideological characteristics of specific Islamist movements from the turn of the 21st century on, and a broad range of European fascist movements of the early 20th century, neofascist movements, or totalitarianism.-Origins of...
" organisations.
Later in the manifesto, the legacy of democratic movements is recalled. The authors say that they are the latest in a long line of activists committed to the spread of human rights and free expression. They recall specifically the revolutions of the eighteenth-century (most prominent among them the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
).
Freedom of ideas and open source software
According to the manifesto, people must be allowed to express and criticise opinions within the traditional constraints against libel, slander, and incitement to violence. Here, religion is singled out as fair game for expression and criticism alike. However, the authors say, this right should be tempered by the personal responsibility of the speaker.There is also strong sentiment among the authors in favor of the open source software, and an opposition to many types of intellectual property rights. The authors reject the ideas that free software is simply theoretical, but instead "a tested reality that has created common goods whose power and robustness have been proved over decades."
Elaboration
In the final section, the authors elaborate on specific world issues. Most prominently, the authors condemn those who call the Iraqi insurgencyIraqi insurgency
The Iraqi Resistance is composed of a diverse mix of militias, foreign fighters, all-Iraqi units or mixtures opposing the United States-led multinational force in Iraq and the post-2003 Iraqi government...
"freedom fighters" and reiterate their opposition to the previous Baathist regime. Furthermore, they argue that the focus of the left—regardless of how someone might have felt about the invasion—must be supporting the creation of a stable democracy in Iraq. Again, the authors espouse their egalitarian principles, saying that global inequality represents a "standing indictment of the international community
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
."
Reception
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
's "Comment is Free" section, then was launched formally on 25 May 2006 at the Union Chapel in Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
.
It generated much lively debate on British and American blogs on the day of publication. Its critics argued it contained too many statements of the obvious, that it had little to say about "imperialism" or the power of global corporations, and that it was in reality a front for its authors' support for the current foreign policies of the British and American governments. Its supporters countered that very little of the statement's content had been directly criticised and that its opponents were merely worried that its principles would win broad support on the British left, thus challenging the consensus among left-liberal opinion that they believe predominates in the mainstream media.
The manifesto takes no position on the invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. However some of its most prominent contributors, including Nick Cohen
Nick Cohen
Nick Cohen is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He is currently a columnist for The Observer, a blogger for The Spectator and TV critic for Standpoint magazine. He formerly wrote for the London Evening Standard and the New Statesman...
, and the proprietors of the left-wing blog Harry's Place
Harry's Place
Harry's Place is a British political blog. It has been nominated for a number of awards, including a Guardian award for political blogs, the 2005 Weblog awards for UK blogs, as well as the UK section of the Islamic Human Rights Commission's 'Annual Islamophobia Awards' 2006; posts on the site have...
, supported the invasion. Of the manifesto's principal authors, two were broadly against the war; two were broadly in support. Of eight people advertised as attending a Euston Manifesto Group meeting at the 2006 Labour Party Conference, six supported the Iraq War. One of these, Gisela Stuart
Gisela Stuart
Gisela Gschaider Stuart is a German born, British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston since 1997.-Early life:...
MP, declared during the 2004 American presidential election that a victory by challenger John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
victory would prompt "victory celebrations among those who want to destroy liberal democracies."
Some of the manifesto's authors have criticised certain anti-war figures and groups, notably George Galloway
George Galloway
George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...
and the Stop the War Coalition
Stop the War Coalition
The Stop the War Coalition is a United Kingdom group set up on 21 September 2001 that campaigns against what it believes are unjust wars....
for their alliances with Islamists
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
. Although there is still disagreement within the group over the rationale for the war, the authors agree that, after the bombs stopped falling, the left should have united around a campaign to support Iraqi democrats, feminists, and progressives. Instead, in their view, alliances were formed with Islamist groups and Baathists.
The manifesto states that the left's political focus should be on reconstructing Iraq and instituting a stable democracy. Opponents reject this, saying that the question of invasion is still legitimate, and that refusal by some authors to oppose the invasion is unacceptable.
Legacy
Australian journalist Guy Rundle argued that the Euston Manifesto's attempt to create a "progressive realignment" in support of democracy in the Middle East has failed as evidenced by the failure of Euston signatories to take a consistent stand supporting Israel in the 2006 Lebanon War over which Rundle states Euston Manifesto signatories "have overwhelmingly divided along pre-existing political lines." Rundle argues that "any attempt to use the collective power of the manifesto to make an impact would reveal that it has no collective power. Its attempt to build a broad virtual coalition has left it as a statement of liberal universalisms with no character, and allowed it to be defined by what it opposes, the mainstream anti-war movement...the EM group merely reproduces the confusion and atomisation of the Blogosphere in a new form."Looking back at the manifesto in April 2008, Daniel Davies, a contributor to The Guardian newspaper's online Comment Is Free forum, noted that the group had become largely inactive and claimed that one of its leading members, Alan Johnson, had abandoned Euston's key principle of "human rights for all" by advocating Britain's withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...
. Davies argued that the group's flaw was "the relentless refusal to actually bring anything down to brass tacks" and that they would demand action on various issues without following through on implementation. According to Davies, "it was this refusal to step down from Mount Olympus that finally did for the Euston Manifesto group. In the early days, it allowed them to assemble a broad coalition, uniting war supporters and opponents under a vague banner of 'that Galloway
George Galloway
George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...
chappie has gone a bit too far'. But almost as soon as the manifesto was published, it ran into its first big real-world test as Israel invaded Lebanon, and the strains began to show between those Eustonauts like Norman Geras
Norman Geras
Norman Geras is Professor Emeritus of Government at the University of Manchester. In a long academic career, he has contributed substantially to the analysis of the works of Karl Marx, particularly in his book Marx and Human Nature and the article 'The Controversy About Marx and Justice', which...
, who had taken seriously the universalist stuff about human rights, and the Atlanticist
Atlanticism
Atlanticism is a philosophy of cooperation among Western European and North American nations regarding political, economic, and defense issues, with the purpose to maintain the security of the participating countries, and to protect the values that unite them: "democracy, individual liberty and...
element who had always assumed that they were joining a movement that would be happy to set all that stuff aside in the name of getting the bad guys."
The Website continues to be updated from time to time, but the Euston Manifesto Group seems to be moribund, having not held any public meetings for months (December 2009).