The Dalai Lama as a non-state actor and his influence on environmental negotiations

At 75 years old the Dalai Lama has been one of the most influential and inspirational leaders to demonstrate the human spirit and will to change the entire world and to engage with individual people in the most positive way, making him incomparable with any political, spiritual or religious leader.
Although exiled to India by the PRC and with no real political control over Tibet he continues to have significant power over the future of his homeland. I am going to examine two ways in which the Dalai Lama uses his unique diplomatic skills in this extremely unique situation by looking at the evidence brought to recent public attention by WikiLeaks.

The first way that the exiled leader uses the situation to his advantage is by calling on the USA to survey the circumstances environmentally. The environment, global warming and the greenhouse effect are global buzz words that every country on this planet has to deal with one way or another, and so the Dalai Lama is calling on the USA to engage the international community on fighting atrocities being committed on the Tibetan Plateau as a result of Chinese occupation.

“The Dalai Lama criticized China's energy policy, alleging that dam construction in Kham and Amdo have displaced thousands of Tibetans and left temples and monasteries underwater. He recommended the PRC compensate Tibetans for disrupting their nomadic lifestyle with vocational training, such as weaving.”

As a result of the concerns the Dalai lama has expressed the USA and China seem to be working closer together on environmental challenges and have launched a ‘Strategic and Economic Dialogue’ focusing on the issue of climate change. Furthermore the leader has suggested increasing collaboration between scientists from the USA and China. By encouraging a closer relationship between these two states the future of Tibet looks brighter as it is inevitable China will have to give way to American and hence international pressure.

The second way that the Dalai Lama has shown the world that Tibet has not lost yet is by a more subtle act of diplomacy, a use of soft power. The emancipation of Tibet seems an impossible task against a state like China that is seemingly so impenetrable and strong. However, the people are always stronger than their leaders, internationally and domestically. The international community has an increasing awareness of the political situation in Tibet, an increasing understanding of the Dalai Lama and his philosophies as his books sales rocket and an increasing preoccupation for global warming; of which new and frightening effects are being felt. The Chinese community has also started to stand stronger against oppression as the Dalai Lama has

“…continued to strengthen ties with Chinese scholars and authors.”

By appealing to the intellectual public a new found wave of hope may be found, a courage that is needed so as to prevent the extinction of a peoples.

For all the controversies and fear that may have come out of the WikiLeaks scandal, I hope at least one thing can be seen as positive. I hope that the international community continues to help Tibet seek emancipation and that they truly understand the difficulties awaiting in the future, especially if major states continue to resist the importance and relevance of the environmental crisis.