The valuable contribution of former leaders

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with them, it is important that the people who have been responsible for the country’s fate should speak publicly about what was and what is. For years now, mature Western democracies have had a special place reserved for politicians who have served as prime minister or in some other high-ranking position. Some, like Henry Kissinger, for example, become statesman after they retire from active politics, while others never shed the role of ephemeral politician.

What matters is that universities and think tanks abroad often bring together panels featuring veteran leaders and officials who are ready to speak openly on most topics. They and their teams give us oral histories and valuable testimony that shed light on important events from the past. It is crucial for any country to hear the voices of those who have had the remarkable experience of having to make critical decisions that determine the country’s future. This is why I am infuriated by the cynicism of those who dismiss these former officials and disregard their opinions on important matters.

These naysayers really should take a moment to think how different it is to hear from someone with experience, even if this experience comprised failures and dangerous experiments. We have a tendency to lump everything together and throw it into the mill of cynicism and aloofness that so defines this era. At the same time, our tolerance for any opinion that disagrees with our own is declining. For some reason, we approach everything like a competition, like rabid fans in the stands who will either cheer or boo – loudly, sometimes even violently.

It’s hard to have a meaningful and constructive conversation when public dialogue starts to look like a blood sport. We need such conversation and we expect it, if not demand it, from our former prime ministers first and foremost. We don’t want them to deliver yet another sermon to a captive audience, but to take a position on the important matters that concern us and to speak candidly of their own experience with such issues. If they throw a little bit of self-criticism into the mix too, then so much the better. We have everything to gain from their experience and so do they – as history has so clearly proven – in terms of their legacy.