Strolling About on the Roof of the World ( Strollers, to its friends) is the title of a book published in 2001 to mark the first hundred years of what is now The Royal Society For Asian Affairs. They have another centenary to mark this year.
This year their journal is 100 years old. As the importance of China and India increase in the world order, the RSAA provides valuable insights in their programme of lunchtime, evening and dinner lectures and cover much else besides. However, it is all too easy to miss them and so having them published in the journal (it comes out three times a year) is a great benefit of being a member of the RSAA, which is a bargain at £75.
The current edition has articles on Afghanistan, Japan, Iran, Latin America as well as excellent book reviews. But the article that interested me most is what Sir Tony Brenton had to say when he delivered the inaugural Lord Denman Memorial Lecture in June this year. Tony Brenton’s name will be familiar to you from his frequent media appearances as an expert commentator on Russia. He was our ambassador in Moscow from 2004 to 2008 and speaks Russian and Arabic.
His deeply interesting lecture is titled Russia Turns East: Or Does It? He outlines Russia’s place in the world and its relationships with European and Eastern nations over the past six centuries. This sets the scene for the end of the Cold War and Russia’s reaction to the break-up of much of its empire. You will probably not be surprised to know that he is critical of the way America and Europe have treated Russia in the last thirty-five years. He points to warmer Sino-Russian friendship and the long-term impact that will have on us in Europe – not good. While he is a prophet of doom, he admits that he is envisaging the worst case and it is not inevitable. Let’s hope some American and European policy makers read the RSAA journal.
The RSAA has been interested in Russia since its earliest days. The 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention got a rough reception from some members. The convention broadly agreed that neither Russia nor Great Britain would interfere in Tibet; Afghanistan was to be under the British sphere of influence and Persia was to be divided three ways. Russia would have the north, Britain the south and there would be a neutral zone in the middle. The RSAA saw this as a sell-out in Persia and said so. Throughout the last century the society drew attention to Russian ambitions in India and the Middle East so Sir Tony’s contribution can be seen as a continuation of this theme.
If this interests you as much as it does me, take a stroll with Hugh Leach and Susan Maria Farrington as your guides.