The Historian Diplomat

The Historian Diplomat

Small steps can add up to big achievements, says Australian ambassador on his second assignment in Thailand.

Having a good knowledge of history can make the life of a career diplomat easier, says James Wise. As Australia’s ambassador to Thailand, he puts his knowledge to the test daily.

“We need to find ways to help the Australian business community to understand how big the Thai economy is and how sophisticated the Thai economy is as well”

Mr Wise, who is nearing the end of his second posting in Thailand, believes history can show people the way forward to understanding the situation in any given circumstance. His own love of the subject convinced him that the foreign service would be a perfect career.

Growing up in a very small, rural and isolated community, Flinders Island on the northeastern tip of Tasmania, Mr Wise did not even leave the island until he was 9. However, his love of history and eagerness to learn and explore launched him on a three-decade adventure that has taken him to many interesting corners of the world. In addition to Thailand, his postings have included the Soviet Union, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.

“To me, there are very few subjects more important than history. If you want to understand the current situation, you really need to know something about the past. What we are trying to understand now is the result of history,” he told Asia Focus during a recent interview in Bangkok.

Mr Wise is preparing to retire at the end of September but plans to continue living in Thailand with his Indian wife. From here he expects to shuttle back and forth to Australia and advise Australian companies.

In his long career as a diplomat, he has observed that few things are more essential than knowing the background of a country. During his time at the University of Tasmania, Mr Wise decided to concentrate on the history of Japan and India, adding that he wanted to expand his familiarity about Asia.

He admits that he probably would have become a history teacher had he not taken up a job in the foreign service. His one regret is that despite having studied Japanese history, he still has not had a chance to visit Japan.

The reason he finds diplomacy such an interesting and noble profession goes back to the natural curiosity of humans to explore the other parts of the world. Moreover, the job allows a person to help his own country engage with the world better.

During his early years, his work was almost entirely related to Papua New Guinea, where he was then posted as third secretary in the Australian Embassy at Port Moresby in 1983. He describes the time there as a rewarding experience, saying that since then he has never really thought of any other career options.

Mr Wise sees Asia as more than just a place to work but more as a second home. He has travelled extensively throughout the region and also is married to an Indian woman. They have two adult children.

“My first exposure to Asia was as a student’ rather than as a diplomat,” he recalls. “I was studying Indian history, therefore India was a country I always wanted to visit.

“Interestingly, my first trip to Asia was to India, but the route I took, just by chance, was through Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok to Kolkata. So at the end my first journey to Asia, I happened to touch the countries in the region which I now know best of all.”

Discussing his perception of the relationship between Australia and Asia, Mr Wise says the level of engagement between his government and those of other countries is substantial. However, outside of the government ties, the relationship is considered rather more uneven.

Using Thailand as an example, he says the trade relationship between the two countries is very strong. Thailand is Australia’s eighth largest trading partner and Australia is Thailand’s sixth largest trading partner.

In terms of education, more than 20,000 Thai students head to Australia each year, but only a small number of Australian students study in Thailand. On the other hand, Australian tourists coming to Thailand far outnumber their Thai counterparts going Down Under.

“However, unlike the commercial relationship, the investment relationship is still far below potential,” he says of Australia and Thailand. “We need to find ways to help the Australian business community to understand how big the Thai economy is and how sophisticated the Thai economy is as well. I don’t think the Australian community yet appreciates either the size or the sophistication of Thailand’s economy.”

One of the important missions that the ambassador is trying to achieve is to bring more Australian students to Thailand, and also to enhance the engagement between the two countries particularly in terms of research links.

Among the areas in which the two nations can collaborate are the services sector, agriculture and renewable energy, he believes.

Asked about how he measures diplomatic achievement, Mr Wise responded that in foreign affairs it is important to look at the overall outcome rather than just a particular event or a single milestone.

“Our job is to make a difference through the accumulation of small steps, or small achievements. By doing as many small things as you can, you tilt the balance a little more in your country’s favour.”

Sometimes, a diplomat may waste a lot of time trying to achieve one enormous success story but failing. That’s why it’s better to focus on doing a lot more individual, achievable things, Mr Wise advises.

In his opinion, a good diplomat needs to have a good overall strategic sense of his country’s objectives and what more it wants to achieve from the relationship with another country. It’s also crucial for a diplomat to find time to explore the host country as much as possible.

“I did a rough calculation: I think I’ve visited 61 provinces in Thailand (out of 77). It’s very important that we travel a lot because our job is to understand the entire country very well and we cannot do that by staying only in the capital.”

Mr Wise added that cross-cultural understanding sometimes can become a burden in the embassy’s working environment. Therefore, it is very important for the ambassador to create a good atmosphere for team building to prosper.

Asked how he manages to lead a large embassy, he says the ambassador’s role is to let the staff know the broad direction and vision of where the embassy is heading.

“As leaders, we need to learn how to step back and give people the opportunity to make their contribution. And you can do that much more safely if your staff are well-trained.”

With advances in transport and telecommunications infrastructure, including the rise of the internet, the distance between countries has shrunk, and therefore the role of the diplomat has also changed.

“Because of modern communications, it is now a lot easier for ministers or leaders to interact with each other,” notes Mr Wise. “They can just pick up the phone and call each other or arrange to meet bilaterally or at multilateral or regional events. In these circumstances, the role of ambassadors has obviously changed.”

Mr Wise, however, believes that the role of ambassador will remain an important profession because there are real limits on the extent to which leaders and minister can deal with each other directly.

“They will only do it when there is a compelling need or when an opportunity emerges, such as during an international conference. Nevertheless, whenever there is an issue abroad, our prime minister or ministers will always ask, ‘What does the ambassador think?’

“Because we are the people who are there, on the ground, trying our best to understand what is happening and how the bilateral relationship can be protected and, where possible, promoted.”

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