Wealth and Power for the Common Good

Sitting on a tour boat on Berlin’s river Spree, former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda waves to passersby with a white handkerchief.

"Since my imprisonment in 1960, I have always carried a white handkerchief with me as a symbol of peace," he explains.

"The Interaction Council is a way to peace," Kuanda adds.

Together with 30 other former world leaders, the Zambian president has travelled to Berlin for this year’s InterAction Council, an annual meeting of former presidents from all over the globe.

Founded in 1983 by former prime Minister Takeo Fukada, the InterAction Council was established "to mobilize the experience, energy and international contacts of a group of statesmen who have held the highest office in their own countries".

For the ministers, it offers a chance to relive past glories while debating issues pressing their successors. Following the meeting, the ex-heads of state draw up practical solutions that are handed on to world leaders for consideration.

Wine and Berliner Weisse

"Mind your head!"

After 3 days of intense discussion and debate, the Council’s members shout in unison as the tour boat nears yet another of Berlin’s low bridges. Up on deck, drinking wine and Berliner Weisse, are former leaders from all over the world, including Prime Ministers James Bolger from New Zealand, Poland’s Hanna Suchochka, Australian Malcolm Fraser and the former head of state of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings.

"To put it bluntly, we have made it plain that wealth and power can be for the common good" Council Chairman and former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser says, speaking over a glass of champagne. Fraser has not missed one of the 20 meetings which have taken place in countries such as Finnland, Germany, and Japan, and is a dedicated member of the so-called "Old Boys" summit.

As the boat slowly chugs down the Spree, passing through what was once East Berlin, the tour guide points out both old and new in Berlin and speaks of change in the German capital since the fall of the wall.

"Much has changed in the Council’s 20 -year existence", Fraser says, including the personell. Besides politicians from the western world, members from former communist states, including Russian leader Yevgeniy Primakov, now belong to the club and are as fully integrated as their western counterparts.

Just a few seats away from the Australian leader sits Chinese Dr. Song Jian, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

"Being able to cut across party beliefs after the collapse of communism is an important function of the Council", Malcolm Fraser says.

Recommendation and action

"However, what is more important, is that the problems we have debated from the start have become far more serious".

Seeking cooperation and action in areas including peace and security, revitalization of the world economy, population, environment and universal ethics, the Council members jointly develop recommendations and practical solutions for the political, economic and social problems confronting humanity. These recommendations are then passed on to current governments.

Past papers have covered topics from deforestation and world economy, to lessons of German unification to Korea. Both these and the Council's "Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities", which was conceived in 1997, have since met with much acclaim among current world governors.

"A bunch of old leaders" ?

After four hours on the boat, a three-course meal and sufficient beverage, the atmosphere is one of cordiality and liveliness. Shortly before reaching Potsdam, Kenneth Kuanda (photo)gets up from his seat, and picks up a song, which he says, is against AIDS. The group claps. Only Honorary Chairman Helmut Schmidt, the 80-year-old former German Chancellor, looks tired.

What at a first glance may look like an old boys’ reunion is in fact much more: Speaking earlier at the conference, Schmidt is remarkably sharp in his criticism of the US, describing their Middle East politics as "not consistent" and showing obvious contempt for Bush’s "Axis of Evil", which he says, does not exist.

"Not all governments may listen to a bunch of old leaders," Malcolm Fraser says. But as former governors must not fear party politics, and have no power to lose, there is a certain nonchalance in the air which makes out of a gathering of elder statesmen a somewhat unique, and ostentatiously self-confident organisation.

The US is missing

Arriving in Potsdam, the group is helped off the boat and guided to Schloss Cecelienhof, where the then-Soviet Premier Stalin, British Prime Ministers Churchill and Atlee and US President Truman, met for the Potsdam Conference almost half a century ago.

At this year’s meeting, the US is missing. Both Kissinger and Clinton cancelled at the last minute.

An underlying criticism of the US prevails depite the joviality of the evening, especially when talk turns to the Middle East conflict. "The US alone will not be able to solve it. But together with the EU, there is a greater chance of success," Fraser says.

The group also sees a more active role for Germany in the EU. "Germany has its difficulties in the Middle East due to its past," Fraser said. "But as an EU member, it can play a far more active role."

The Middle East conflict is indeed an issue which the Council has turned to, and will be focusing on in more depth in the near future. Looking for a common ethical standard for all major religions, "we would achieve a great deal if we could achieve a declaration over the next 12 months", the former Australian Prime Minister says.

On the bus on the way back to Berlin, talk has reduced to a tired murmur. Kenneth Kaunda sits in the back and watches the landscape pass by. After five hours on the boat, and walking through Potsdam, he still holds on tightly to his white handkerchief.