Carne Ross: An independent diplomat

Translator: Etrit Adami Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

My story is a little bit about war.

Historia ime eshte pak rreth luftes.

It's about disillusionment.

Ka te beje me zhgenjimin.

It's about death.

Ka te beje me vdekjen.

And it's about rediscovering

Dhe rreth rizbulimit

idealism

idealizmit

in all of that wreckage.

ne te tere ate mbeturine.

And perhaps also, there's a lesson

Dhe ndoshta , eshte nje mesim

about how to deal with

se si te manovrosh me

our screwed-up, fragmenting

mosmarrveshjet tona , apo coptimet

and dangerous world of the 21st century.

e nje bote te rrezikshme te shekullit te 21-te.

I don't believe in straightforward narratives.

Une nuk besoj ne tregime te ndershme.

I don't believe in a life or history

Une nuk besoj ne nje jete apo histori

written as decision "A" led to consequence "B"

e shkruajtur me qellimin "A" te con ne konseguencen "B"

led to consequence "C" --

me pas ne konseguencen "C" --

these neat narratives that we're presented with,

keto tregime modeste qe ne prezantohemi me,

and that perhaps we encourage in each other.

dhe ndoshta ne inkurajojme njeri-tjetrin .

I believe in randomness,

Une besoj tek rastesia,

and one of the reasons I believe that

dhe nje nga arsyet qe une besoj ate

is because me becoming a diplomat was random.

eshte sepse une qe u bera diplomat ishte e rastesishme.

I'm colorblind.

Une nuk i dalloj dot ngjyrat .

I was born unable to see most colors.

Une linda me mundesi te kufizuar per te pare shumicen e ngjyrave.

This is why I wear gray and black most of the time,

Kjo tregon qe une vishem me ngjyre gri dhe te zeze gjate gjithe kohes,

and I have to take my wife with me

dhe me duhet te marre dhe gruan me vehte

to chose clothes.

per te me zgjedhur rrobat.

And I'd always wanted to be a fighter pilot when I was a boy.

Dhe une gjithmone kam dashur te behem pilot luftarak kur kam qene i ri .

I loved watching planes barrel over

Mbaroja per te pare fucite e avionit gjate

our holiday home in the countryside.

pushimeve rreth gjithe qytetit.

And it was my boyhood dream to be a fighter pilot.

Dhe ajo ishte enderra ime te behesha pilot luftarak.

And I did the tests in the Royal Air Force to become a pilot,

Dhe dhashe provimet ne Forcat Ajrore Mbreterore per tu bere pilot,

and sure enough, I failed.

dhe sigurisht , qe deshtova.

I couldn't see all the blinking different lights,

Sepse nuk mund te shikoja pulsimin e dritave te ndryshme ,

and I can't distinguish color.

dhe nuk mund te dalloja ngjyrat.

So I had to choose another career,

Keshtu qe mu desh te zgjedh nje karriere tjeter,

and this was in fact relatively easy for me,

dhe ishte ne fakt relativisht e lehte per mua,

because I had an abiding passion all the way through my childhood,

sepse une kisha nje pasion te qendrueshem gjate gjithe kohes se femijrise time,

which was international relations.

qe ishin marrdheniet nderkombetare.

As a child,

Si femije qe isha ,

I read the newspaper thoroughly.

e lexoja gazeten te gjithe.

I was fascinated by the Cold War,

U mrekullova nga Lufta e Ftohte,

by the INF negotiations

me negocimet e INF

over intermediate-range nuclear missiles,

rreth nje rreze te ndermjetme predhash berthamore,

the proxy war between the Soviet Union and the U.S.

ne luften e prokuruar nga Bashkimi Sovjetik dhe U.S.

in Angola or Afghanistan.

ne Angola dhe Afganistan.

These things really interested me.

Keto gjera vertet me interesonin mua.

And so I decided quite at an early age

Keshtu qe une vendosa qe kur isha i ri

I wanted to be a diplomat.

qe do behesha diplomat .

And I, one day, I announced this to my parents --

Dhe Une, nje dite, ja shpalla kete gje prinderve te mi --

and my father denies this story to this day --

dhe babai ma mohoi kete histori deri me sot --

I said, "Daddy, I want to be a diplomat."

I thashe, " Babi une dua te behem Diplomat. "

And he turned to me, and he said,

Ai u kthue nga une, dhe tha,

"Carne, you have to be very clever to be a diplomat."

"Carne, duhet te jesh shume i zgjuar per tu bere nje diplomat."

(Laughter)

( Te qeshura )

And my ambition was sealed.

Dhe ambicja ime u vulos.

In 1989,

Ne 1989,

I entered the British Foreign Service.

Une hyra ne Sherbimet Britanike te Huaja.

That year, 5,000 people applied to become a diplomat,

Ate vit, 5,000 njerez aplikuan per tu bere diplomat,

and 20 of us succeeded.

dhe 20 nga ne dolen me sukses.

And as those numbers suggest,

Dhe sic ato numura premtonin ,

I was inducted into an elite

Une u rekrutova ne brendesi te nje elite

and fascinating and exhilarating world.

te nje bote te magjepsur dhe gazmore.

Being a diplomat, then and now,

Duke qene nje diplomat, atehere dhe tani ,

is an incredible job, and I loved every minute of it --

eshte nje pune e pabesueshme, dhe e admiroja cdo minute te saj --

I enjoyed the status of it.

Une e gezoja ate status.

I bought myself a nice suit and wore leather-soled shoes

Bleva nje kostum per vehte dhe vishja kepuce lekure

and reveled in

dhe isha entuziast

this amazing access I had to world events.

per kete qe qasje qe une kisha ne evente boterore

I traveled to the Gaza Strip.

Une kam udhetuar ne Ripin e Gazes.

I headed the Middle East Peace Process section

Une drejtoja Procesin e Paces ne Lindjen e Mesme pjese kjo e

in the British Foreign Ministry.

Ministrise se Jashteme Britanike.

I became a speechwriter

Une u bera nje perpilues fjalimesh

for the British Foreign Secretary.

per Sekretaren e Jashtme Britanike

I met Yasser Arafat.

Une takova me Yasser Arafat.

I negotiated

Une negociova

with Saddam's diplomats at the U.N.

me diplomatet e Saddamit ne Kombet e Bashkuara.

Later, I traveled to Kabul

Me vone, une udhetova per ne Kabul

and served in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.

kam punuar ne Afganistan mbas renies se Talebaneve.

And I would travel

Dhe udhetoja me

in a C-130 transport

nje mjet tranposrti C-130

and go and visit warlords

per te takuar udheheqesit ushtarake

in mountain hideaways

te fshehur ne male

and negotiate with them

dhe te negocioja me ta

about how we were going to eradicate Al Qaeda from Afghanistan,

sesi do te shfarosnim Al Qaeda nga Afganistani,

surrounded by my Special Forces escort,

i rrethuar nga eskortat e Forcave Speciale,

who, themselves, had to have an escort of a platoon of Royal Marines,

te cilet, per vehten e tyre, i duhej eskorte e Marines Mbreterore,

because it was so dangerous.

nga qe ishte shume e rrezikshme.

And that was exciting -- that was fun.

Dhe kjo ishte emocionusese -- ishte argetuese.

It was really interesting.

Ishte me te vertete interesante.

And it's a great cadre of people,

Dhe eshte nje grup kuadrosh njerzish,

incredibly close-knit community of people.

shume te lidhur me njeri-tjetrin.

And the pinnacle of my career, as it turned out,

Pastaj, kulmi i karrieres time, sic doli me vone,

was when I was posted to New York.

kur me derguan ne New York.

I'd already served in Germany, Norway,

Une do te desha te punoja ne Gjermani, Norvegji,

various other places,

ne vende te ndryshme,

but I was posted to New York

por me derguan ne New York

to serve on the U.N. Security Council for the British delegation.

ne sherbim te Keshillit te Kombeve te Bashkuara per delegacionin Britanik.

And my responsibility was the Middle East,

Dhe pergjegjesia ime ishte Lindja e Mesme,

which was my specialty.

qe ishte e preferuara ime.

And there, I dealt with things

Dhe atje, une u mora me gjera

like the Middle East peace process,

si procesi i paqes ne Lindjen e Mesme,

the Lockerbie issue --

ceshtja Lockerbie ---

we can talk about that later, if you wish --

ne mund te flasim per kete me vone, nqse doni --

but above all, my responsibility was Iraq

por mbi te gjitha, pergjegjesia ime ishte Iraku

and its weapons of mass destruction

dhe armet e shkaterrimit ne mase

and the sanctions we placed on Iraq

dhe sanksionet qe ne vume ne Irak

to oblige it to disarm itself of these weapons.

per te detyruar per c'armatimin e keyre armeve.

I was the chief British negotiator

Une isha Shefi i negociatorit Britanik

on the subject,

per kete teme,

and I was steeped in the issue.

dhe une u ndala ne kete ceshtje.

And anyway,

Dhe gjithsesi ,

my tour -- it was kind of a very exciting time.

udhetimi im -- ishte shume intensiv per mua.

I mean it was very dramatic diplomacy.

Dua te them ishte nje diplomaci dramatike.

We went through several wars

Ne shkuam ne shume luftra

during my time in New York.

gjate kohes time ne New York.

I negotiated for my country

Une negociova per vendin tim

the resolution in the Security Council

per zgjidhjen ne Keshillin e Sigurimit

of the 12th of September 2001

te 12-te shtatorit te 2001

condemning the attacks of the day before,

duke denuar ashper sulmet e nje dite me pare,

which were, of course, deeply present to us

qe ishin, pa dyshim, shume te renda per ne

actually living in New York at the time.

qe jetonim aktualisht ne New York ate kohe.

So it was kind of the best of time, worst of times

Pra ishte nje kohe e mire por edhe e keqe

kind of experience.

per te tilla eksperienca.

I lived the high-life.

Une jetova nje jete jashte mase aktive.

Although I worked very long hours,

Megjithse, punoja me ore te zgjatura,

I lived in a penthouse in Union Square.

Une jetoja ne nje papafingo ne Union Square.

I was a single British diplomat in New York City;

Isha i vetmi diplomat Britanik ne New York...

you can imagine what that might have meant.

... mund ta imagjinoni cfare do te thoshte kjo.

(Laughter)

( Te qeshura )

I had a good time.

Une ja kalova mire.

But in 2002,

Por ne 2002,

when my tour came to an end,

kur udhetimit tim po i vinte fundi,

I decided I wasn't going to go back

vendosa qe nuk do te kthehesha prape

to the job that was waiting for me in London.

tek puna qe po me priste ne Londer.

I decided to take a sabbatical,

Une vendosa te bej pak pushim ,

in fact, at the New School, Bruce.

ne te vertete, tek Shkolla e Re, Bruce.

In some inchoate, inarticulate way

Ne menyre provizore, apo pa e ditur mire

I realized that there was something wrong

kuptova qe dicka nuk shkonte

with my work, with me.

ne punen time, me mua.

I was exhausted,

Isha i rraskapitur,

and I was also disillusioned

dhe isha gjithashtu i diziluzionuar

in a way I couldn't quite put my finger on.

ne nje menyre qe s'mund as ta mendoja.

And I decided to take some time out from work.

Dhe vendosa te marre sisa dite pushimi nga puna.

The Foreign Office was very generous.

Zyra e puneve te jashteme u tregua shume zemer-gjere.

You could take these special unpaid leave, as they called them,

Une mund ti merrja keto pushime speciale qe nuk paguhen, sic i quajne ata,

and yet remain part of the diplomatic service, but not actually do any work.

dhe ende jane pjese e sherbimit diplomatic, por jo per te bere ndonje pune.

It was nice.

Ishte e lezetshme.

And eventually, I decided

Dhe perfundimisht, une vendosa

to take a secondment to join the U.N. in Kosovo,

per nje pune te dyte prane Kombeve te Bashkuara ne Kosove,

which was then under U.N. administration.

qe ishte atehere nen administrimin e Kombeve te Bashkuara.

And two things happened in Kosovo,

Dhe dy gjera ndodhen ne Kosove,

which kind of, again,

te ciles , perseri

shows the randomness of life,

tregojne rastesite e jetes,

because these things turned out to be

sepse keto gjera u bene

two of the pivots of my life

dy gjera qe do te me kthenin mbrapa ne jeten time

and helped to deliver me to the next stage.

dhe me ndihmuan per te me cuar ne fazen tjeter.

But they were random things.

Por ishin gjera te rastesishme.

One was that, in the summer of 2004,

Njera ishte, ne veren e 2004-es,

the British government, somewhat reluctantly,

qeveria Britanike, disi pa deshire,

decided to have an official inquiry

vendosi per te bere nje hetim zyrtar

into the use of intelligence on WMD

ne perdorimin e inteligjences mbi WMD

in the run up to the Iraq War,

gjate luftes ne Irak,

a very limited subject.

nje teme e limituar.

And I testified to that inquiry in secret.

Une deshmova per ate hetim ne menyre sekrete.

I had been steeped in the intelligence on Iraq

Une u ndala ne sherbimin inteligjent mbi Irakun

and its WMD,

dhe Armet e Demtimit ne mase te tij,

and my testimony to the inquiry said three things:

dhe ne ate deshmi permenda tre gjera:

that the government exaggerated the intelligence,

qe qeveria e kishte ekzagjeruar me inteligjencen,

which was very clear in all the years I'd read it.

qe ishte me se i dukshem ne te gjithe vitet qe kam lexuar une.

And indeed, our own internal assessment was very clear

Dhe ne te vertet, vleresimi jone i brendshem ishte shume transparent

that Iraq's WMD

qe WMDm e Irakut

did not pose a threat to its neighbors, let alone to us.

nuk perbente kercenim per komshinjte tane, por na ishte lene neve.

Secondly, the government had ignored all available alternatives to war,

Se dyti , qeveria kishte injoruar cdo lloj alternative per lufte,

which in some ways

qe ne disa menyra

was a more discreditable thing still.

ishte akoma dicka e turpshme .

The third reason, I won't go into.

Arsyeja e trete, Une nuk desha te hyja .

But anyway, I gave that testimony,

Por gjithsesi, une e dhashe ate deshmi,

and that presented me with a crisis.

dhe ajo me beri te ndihem ne siklet.

What was I going to do?

Cfare do te beja une ?

This testimony was deeply critical of my colleagues,

Kjo deshmi ishte thellesisht kritike per koleget e mi,

of my ministers, who had, in my view

e ministrive te mia, qe kishin, per mendimin time

had perpetrated a war on a falsehood.

kishim penetruar nje lufte e gabuar .

And so I was in crisis.

Dhe keshtu qe une isha ne krize.

And this wasn't a pretty thing.

Dhe kjo nuk ishte gje e mire.

I moaned about it, I hesitated,

Une renkoja per te, hezitoja,

I went on and on and on to my long-suffering wife,

Une vazhdova te torturoj gruan time te pervuajtur,

and eventually I decided to resign from the British Foreign Service.

dhe perfundimisht une vendosa ta le Sherbimin e Huaj Britanik.

I felt -- there's a scene in the Al Pacino movie "The Insider," which you may know,

Une u ndieva si -- eshte nje fragment tek filmi me Al Pacino"The Insider",nese ju kujtohet

where he goes back to CBS

ku ai kthehet tek CBS

after they've let him down over the tobacco guy,

mbasi e kishin abandonuar ndaj djalit te cigareve,

and he goes, "You know, I just can't do this anymore. Something's broken."

dhe shkon, " A e di , Une nuk mund ta beje me kete. Dicka eshte thyer."

And it was like that for me. I love that movie.

Dhe keshtu ishte per mua. Une e pelqej ate film.

I felt just something's broken.

Une u ndieva qe dicka eshte thyer.

I can't actually sit with my foreign minister

Une nuk mund me te ulem me ministrin e jashtem

or my prime minister again with a smile on my face

ose kryeministin perseri me ate buzeqeshjen ne fytyren time

and do what I used to do gladly for them.

dhe te bej ate qe beja me gjithe qef per ta.

So took a running leap

Keshtu qe bera nje kapercim

and jumped over the edge of a cliff.

dhe kerceva pertej kufirit te shkembit.

And it was a very, very uncomfortable, unpleasant feeling.

Dhe ishte shume, shume e pa kendeshme, nje ndjesi e pa kendeshme.

And I started to fall.

Dhe une fillova te bie,

And today, that fall hasn't stopped;

Dhe sot, kjo renie nuk ka ndaluar;

I'm still falling.

Une jam ende duke rene.

But, in a way, I've got used to the sensation of it.

Por, nje menyre, qe une jam mesuar me ndjesine e saj.

And in a way, I kind of like

Dhe ne nje menyre, me pelqen

the sensation of it a lot better

kjo ndjesi shume me teper

than I like actually standing on top of the cliff,

sesa te jem ne maje te shkembit,

wondering what to do.

duke menduar cfare te bej.

A second thing happened in Kosovo,

Nje tjeter gje ndodhi ne Kosove,

which kind of -- I need a quick gulp of water, forgive me.

e tipit -- me duhet te gllenjke uje, me falni .

A second thing happened in Kosovo,

Nje tjeter gje ndodhi ne Kosove,

which kind of delivered the answer,

nje lloj pergjigje percjellse,

which I couldn't really answer,

te ciles s'mund to pergjigjesha,

which is, "What do I do with my life?"

qe eshte, "Cfare do te bej me jeten time?"

I love diplomacy --

Une e admiroj diplomacine --

I have no career --

Une s'kam kariere --

I expected my entire life to be a diplomat, to be serving my country.

Une prisja tere jeten time per tu bere nje diplomat, ti sherbeja vendit tim.

I wanted to be an ambassador,

Desha te behesh nje ambasador,

and my mentors, my heroes,

dhe keshilltaret e mi, heronjte e mi,

people who got to the top of my profession,

njerez qe kane hipur ne majen e professionit,

and here I was throwing it all away.

dhe ketu une po i hidhja te gjitha poshte.

A lot of my friends were still in it.

Shume nga miqte e mi ishin akoma ne pune.

My pension was in it.

Pensioni im ishte ne te.

And I gave it up.

Dhe une hoqa dore.

And what was I going to do?

Dhe cfare do te beja ?

And that year, in Kosovo,

Dhe po ate vit ne Kosove,

this terrible, terrible thing happened, which I saw.

gjera te tmerrshme ndodhen, qe i pashe .

In March 2004, there were terrible riots

Ne Mars te 2004, aty ishin trazira te temerrshme

all over the province -- as it then was -- of Kosovo.

gjate gjithe provinces --sec ishte me pas -- ne Kosove.

18 people were killed.

18 njerez u vrane.

It was anarchy.

Aty ishte nje konfuzion.

And it's a very horrible thing to see anarchy,

Eshte nje gje e tmerrshme te shohesh kete konfuzion,

to know that the police and the military --

duke ditur qe policia dhe ushtria --

there were lots of military troops there --

aty kishte shume trupa ushtarake --

actually can't stop that rampaging mob

s'mund ta ndalonin dot kete turme te inatosur

who's coming down the street.

qe po vinte nga fundi rruges.

And the only way that rampaging mob coming down the street will stop

Dhe e vetmja menyre per te ndaluar kete tumre te inatosur

is when they decide to stop

ishte vetem kur donin ata te ndalonin

and when they've had enough burning and killing.

kur te mjaftoheshin me djegjet dhe vrasjet.

And that is not a very nice feeling to see, and I saw it.

Dhe kjo eshte nje ndjesi e tmerrshme per ta pare, dhe une e pashe ate.

And I went through it. I went through those mobs.

Dhe une shkova permes tyre.Une u futa ne turme.

And with my Albanian friends, we tried to stop it, but we failed.

Dhe me miqte e mi Shqiptare, u munduam ti ndalojme, por deshtuam.

And that riot taught me something,

Dhe ajo trazi me mesoi mua dicka,

which isn't immediately obvious and it's kind of a complicated story.

qe nuk ishte menjehere e dukshme dhe eshte nje histori e komplikuar.

But one of the reasons that riot took place --

Por nje nga arsyet qe ajo revolte mori shkas --

those riots, which went on for several days, took place --

ato trazira, qe vazhduan per dite me radhe, u zhvilluan --

was because the Kosovo people

sepse Kosovareve

were disenfranchised from their own future.

ju ishte hequr e drejta e votes per te ardhmen e tyre.

There were diplomatic negotiations about the future of Kosovo

Kishte disa negocime per te ardhem e Kosoves

going on then,

qe po vazhdonin,

and the Kosovo government, let alone the Kosovo people,

dhe qeveria e Kosoves, i la vetem Kosovaret,

were not actually

aktualisht mos

participating in those talks.

marre pjese ne keto bisedime.

There was this whole fancy diplomatic system,

Ishte nje trillim i tere ne sistemin diplomatic,

this negotiation process about the future of Kosovo,

ke proces negocimi rreth te ardhmes se Kosoves,

and the Kosovars weren't part of it.

dhe qe Kosovaret nuk ishin pjese e saj .

And funnily enough, they were frustrated about that.

Dhe me e forta ishte, qe ata ishin te irrituar per kete.

Those riots were part of the manifestation of that frustration.

Keto trazira ishin pjese e manifestimit te ketij deshtimi.

It wasn't the only reason,

Nuk ishte arsyeja e vetme,

and life is not simple, one reason narratives.

dhe jeta nuk eshte e lehte me nje argument te vetem.

It was a complicated thing,

Ishte dicka e komplikuar,

and I'm not pretending it was more simple than it was.

dhe une nuk pretendoj qe ishte me e lehte se c'ishte.

But that was one of the reasons.

Por ajo ishte nje nga arsyet.

And that kind of gave me the inspiration --

Dhe ajo gje mua me frymezoi --

or rather to be precise,

ose per te qene me i sakte,

it gave my wife the inspiration.

i dha gruas time frymezimin .

She said, "Why don't you advise the Kosovars?

Ajo tha, " Pse nuk i keshillon Kosovaret ?

Why don't you advise their government on their diplomacy?"

Pse nuk e keshillon qeverine e tyre rreth diplomacise?"

And the Kosovars were not allowed a diplomatic service.

Kosovareve nuk i ishin lejuar sherbimi diplomatik.

They were not allowed diplomats.

Nuk lejohej te kishte dipllomate.

They were not allowed a foreign office

Nuk ju ishte lejuar zyra e puneve te jashtme

to help them deal with this immensely complicated process,

dhe per ti ndihmuar ata ishte nje proces shume i komplikuar ,

which became known as the Final Status Process of Kosovo.

qe u be me vone si Statusi Final i Kosoves.

And so that was the idea.

Dhe keshtu me erdhi ideja.

That was the origin of the thing that became Independent Diplomat,

Kjo ishte origjina e kesaj gjeje qe me vone u krijua Diplomati Pavarur,

the world's first diplomatic advisory group

grupi i pare ne bote me keshillime diplomatike

and a non-profit to boot.

qe eshte jo-fitim-prurese ne zhvillim.

And it began when I flew back from London

Dhe filloi kur une u ktheva ne Londer

after my time at the U.N. in Kosovo.

mbas kohes time tek U.N ne Kosove.

I flew back and had dinner with the Kosovo prime minister and said to him,

Une u ktheva dhe pata nje darke pune me Kryeministrin e Kosoves dhe i thashe atij,

"Look, I'm proposing that I come and advise you on the diplomacy.

Shiko, po ju propozoj qe te vij per t'ju keshilluar mbi dipllomacine.

I know this stuff. It's what I do. Why don't I come and help you?"

Une marr vesh. Kjo eshte ajo qe bej une.Pse mos te vij the t'ju ndihmoj juve?

And he raised his glass of raki to me and said,

Dhe ai ngriti goten e rakise dhe me tha,

"Yes, Carne. Come."

"Po, Carne. Hajde. "

And I came to Kosovo

Dhe une erdha ne Kosove

and advised the Kosovo government.

dhe keshillova qeverine Kosovare.

Independent Diplomat ended up advising three successive Kosovo prime ministers

Diplomati Pavarur perfundoi me suksess me keshillimin e tre Kryeministrave te ardhshem te Kosoves

and the multi-party negotiation team of Kosovo.

dhe grupin e shume partive te Kosoves.

And Kosovo became independent.

Dhe Kosova u be e pavarur.

Independent Diplomat is now established

Diplomati Pavarur tashme eshte themeluar

in five diplomatic centers around the world,

ne pese qendra diplomatike neper bote,

and we're advising seven or eight

dhe ne ofrojme asistencen tone ne shtate ose tete,

different countries, or political groups,

vende te ndryshme, ose grupe politike,

depending on how you wish to define them --

varet se si desheron ti ti percaktosh ato --

and I'm not big on definitions.

une nuk jam per percaktime te medha.

We're advising the Northern Cypriots on how to reunify their island.

Ne po keshillojme Qipron Veriore se si te ri-unifikojne ishujt e tyre.

We're advising the Burmese opposition,

Ne jemi duke keshilluar opoziten e Burmes,

the government of Southern Sudan,

qeverine e Sudanit te Jugut,

which -- you heard it here first --

qe -- e degjuat per te paren --

is going to be a new country within the next few years.

qe do te behen nje shtet i ri brenda disa viteve.

We're advising the Polisario Front of the Western Sahara,

Ne jemi duke keshilluar Frontin Polisario te Saharase Perendimore,

who are fighting to get their country back

ne po luftojme per ti kthyer mbrapsh vendin e tyre

from Moroccan occupation

nga uzurpimi Moroken

after 34 years of dispossession.

mbas 34 vjeteve shpronesim.

We're advising various island states in the climate change negotiations,

Ne jemi duke keshilluar shtetet ishuj ne negocimet rreth ndryshimit te klimes,

which is suppose to culminate

qe supozohet te arrije kulmin

in Copenhagen.

ne Kopenhagen.

There's a bit of randomness here too

Ka dicka te zakonshme gjithashtu edhe ketu

because, when I was beginning Independent Diplomat,

sepse , kur isha ne fillimet e Diplomatit te Pavarur,

I went to a party in the House of Lords,

Shkova ne nje feste me disa pjestare te larte te parlamentit,

which is a ridiculous place,

qe ishte dhe vend qesharak ,

but I was holding my drink like this, and I bumped into

por e mbaja ne dore goten kshu , dhe u perplasa tek

this guy who was standing behind me.

ky djale qe po qendronte mbrapa meje.

And we started talking, and he said --

Dhe ne filluam te flasim, dhe ai tha --

I told him what I was doing,

Une i thashe atij se cfare po beja,

and I told him rather grandly

dhe i thashe atij mjaft gjeresisht

I was going to establish Independent Diplomat in New York.

Qe une do te themeloja Diplomatin e Pavarur ne New York.

At that time there was just me --

Ne ate kohe isha vetem une --

and me and my wife were moving back to New York.

dhe une dhe gruaja ime do te shkonim ne New York .

And he said, "Why don't you see my colleagues in New York?"

Dhe ai the, " Pse nuk i takon koleget e mi ne New York ?"

And it turned out

Dhe ja ku doli

he worked for an innovation company called ?What If!,

ai punonte per nje kompani zhvillimi e quajtur? Cfare nese!,

which some of you have probably heard of.

qe ndoshta disa nga ju mbase e kane degjuar.

And one thing led to another,

Dhe punet moren drejtim

and I ended up having a desk

duke perfunduar ne nje tavoline pune

in ?What If! in New York,

ne? Cfare nese! ne New York ,

when I started Independent Diplomat.

kur une fillova Diplomatin e Pavarur.

And watching ?What If!

Duke pare? Cfare nese!

develop new flavors of chewing gum for Wrigley

te gjeja nje shije te re cemcakizi per Wrigley

or new flavors for Coke

ose shije te re per Coca Cola

actually helped me innovate

actualisht me ndihmoje mua te sillja dicka te re

new strategies for the Kosovars

strategji te reja per Kosovaret

and for the Saharawis of the Western Sahara.

dhe per ata te Saharas te Saharase Perendimore.

And I began to realize that there are different ways of doing diplomacy --

Dhe une fillova te kuptoje qe keto jane menyra te ndryshme per te bere diplomacy --

that diplomacy, like business,

qe dipllomacia, si busnesi ,

is a business of solving problems,

eshte nje bisnes qe zgjidh problemet ,

and yet the word innovation doesn't exist in diplomacy;

dhe ende fjala risi nuk ekziston ne diplomaci;

it's all zero sum games and realpolitik

eshte nje shumezim me zero ne politiken reale

and ancient institutions that have been there for generations

dhe institucionet e lashta qe kane qene aty perpara shume brezave

and do things the same way they've always done things.

kane bere te njejten gje brez pas brezi.

And Independent Diplomat, today,

Dhe Diplomati Pavarur, sot,

tries to incorporate some of the things I learned at ?What If!.

perpiqet te fuse disa nga gjerat qe une mesova tek? Cfare nese!..

We all sit in one office and shout at each other across the office.

Ne te gjithe ulemi ne zyre dhe i bertasim njeri-tjetrit matane zyres.

We all work on little laptops and try to move desks to change the way we think.

Ne te gjithe punojme me laptopa te vegjel dhe perpiqemi te zhvendosim tavolinat dhe te ndryshojme menyren e te menduarit.

And we use naive experts

Dhe ne perdorim eksperta naive

who may know nothing about the countries we're dealing with,

qe ndoshta nuk dime asgje rreth shteteve qe ne meremi,

but may know something about something else

por mund te dine dicka rreth dickaje tjeter

to try to inject new thinking

per ty perpjekur per te injektuar menyra te reja te menduari

into the problems

ne probleme

that we try to address for our clients.

qe ne perpiqemi ti adresojme per klientet tane.

It's not easy, because our clients, by definition,

Dhe nuk eshte e lehte, sepse klientet tane, sipas percaktimit,

are having a difficult time, diplomatically.

jane duke kaluar kohe te veshtira, ne dipllomaci.

There are, I don't know,

Ka disa, Nuk e di ,

some lessons from all of this,

disa leksione nga e gjitha kjo ,

personal and political --

personale dhe politike --

and in a way, they're the same thing.

ne nje menyre, qe ato jane te njejtat gjera.

The personal one

Ajo personale

is falling off a cliff

eshte duke rene nga shkembi

is actually a good thing, and I recommend it.

eshte aktualisht nje gje e mire, dhe une e rekomandoj ate.

And it's a good thing to do at least once in your life

Dhe eshte gje e mire pe te bere te pakten ne jeten tende

just to tear everything up and jump.

vetem sa te shkepus cdo gje dhe te kercej.

The second thing is a bigger lesson about the world today.

Gjeja e dyte eshte nje mesim me i madh rreth botes sot.

Independent Diplomat is part of a trend

Indipendent Diplomat eshte pjese e nje tendence

which is emerging and evident across the world,

qe po zhvillohet dhe evidente pertej botes,

which is that the world is fragmenting.

qe eshte ajo e coptimit te saj.

States mean less than they used to,

Shtetet nuk jane me ato qe kane qene,

and the power of the state is declining.

dhe fuqia e shtetit eshte ne renie.

That means the power of others things is rising.

Kjo do te thote qe fuqia e gjerave te tjera eshte duke u ngritur.

Those other things are called non-state actors.

Keto gjera te tjera quhen aktore jo-shteterore.

They may be corporations,

Ato mund te jene korporata,

they may be mafiosi, they may be nice NGOs,

ato mund te jene mafioze, mund te jene NGOs,

they may anything,

mund te jene cfaredo,

any number of things.

cdo numer gjerash.

We are living in a more complicated and fragmented world.

Ne po jetojme ne nje bote me shume te komplikuar dhe te coptuar.

If governments are less able

Ne qoftese qeverite jane me pak te afta

to affect the problems

per te zgjidhur probelmet

that affect us in the world,

qe na prekin neve ne bote,

then that means, who is left to deal with them,

kjo do te thote, qe kush do me merret me me to ,

who has to take greater responsibility to deal with them?

kush duhet te marri pergjegjesine per tu marre me to ?

Us.

Neve.

If they can't do it, who's left to deal with it?

Nqs nuk mund ta besh , kush ka ngelur per ta bere ate?

We have no choice but to embrace that reality.

Ne nuk kemi zgjedhje per te perqafuar kete realitet.

What this means is

Cfare do te thote kjo

it's no longer good enough

qe nuk eshte me e mjatueshme

to say that international relations, or global affairs,

per te thene qe marrdheniet nderkombetare, ose punet globale,

or chaos in Somalia,

ose kaosi ne Somali,

or what's going on in Burma is none of your business,

apo cfare po ndosh ne Burma nuk eshte puna jote,

and that you can leave it to governments to get on with.

dhe ti mund ta lesh ate ne dore te qeverive per tu marre.

I can connect any one of you

Une mund te lidhe cdo njerin nga ju

by six degrees of separation

me gjashte marrdhenie ndarjeje

to the Al-Shabaab militia in Somalia.

tek milicia Al-Shabbab ne Somali.

Ask me how later, particularly if you eat fish, interestingly enough,

Me pyesni mua me vone, vecanerisht kur ha peshk, vertet majft

but that connection is there.

por lidhja qendron aty.

We are all intimately connected.

Ne te gjithe jemi te lidhur ngushte.

And this isn't just Tom Friedman,

Dhe kjo nuk eshte vetem Tom Fridman,

it's actually provable in case after case after case.

eshte e vertetueshem rast mbas rasti.

What that means is, instead of asking your politicians to do things,

Ajo qe do te thote eshte, ne vend qe te pyesesh politikanet te bejne dicka

you have to look to yourself to do things.

duhet te shikosh vehten se si ben gjerat.

And Independent Diplomat is a kind of example of this

Dhe Diplomati Pavarur eshte nje lloj shembulli e kesaj

in a sort of loose way.

ne nje lloj menyre te humbur.

There aren't neat examples, but one example is this:

Nuk ka shembuj te qarte, por nje shembull eshte i tille:

the way the world is changing

menyra se si bota eshte duke ndyshuar

is embodied in what's going on at the place I used to work --

eshte misheruar se cfare eshte duke ndodhur ne vendin ku une punoja me pare --

the U.N. Security Council.

tek Keshilli Kombeve te Bashkuara.

The U.N. was established in 1945.

Kombet e Bashkuara jane themeluar ne 1945.

Its charter is basically designed

Akti themelues ne themel eshte i ndertuar

to stop conflicts between states --

per te ndaluar konfliktet mes shteteve --

interstate conflict.

ato ndershteterore.

Today, 80 percent of the agenda

Sot, 80 perqind e aktivitetit

of the U.N. Security Council

te keshillit te sigurimit te U.N

is about conflicts within states,

eshte rreth konflikteve brenda shteteve,

involving non-state parties --

duke perfshire partite jo legjitime --

guerillas, separatists,

guerrilasit, separatistiet,

terrorists, if you want to call them that,

terroristet, n.q.s doni ti thoni kshu ,

people who are not normal governments, who are not normal states.

njerez qe nuk jane qeveri normale, qe nuk jane shtete normale,.

That is the state of the world today.

Ky eshte shteti i botes sot.

When I realized this,

Kur une e kuptova kete,

and when I look back on my time at the Security Council

dhe kur kthehem pas ne kohen kur isha une tek Keshilli i Sigurimit

and what happened with the Kosovars,

dhe se cfare ndoshi me Kosovaret,

and I realize that often

dhe e ate shpesh

the people who were most directly affected

njerizit qe ishin prekur me shume nga kjo

by what we were doing in the Security Council

nga cfare bente aty Keshilli i Sigurimit

weren't actually there, weren't actually invited

nuk ishte aktualisht aty, nuk ishin ftuar

to give their views to the Security Council,

per te dhene mendimet e tyre tek Keshilli Sigurimit,

I thought, this is wrong.

Une menova kjo eshte gabim.

Something's got to be done about this.

Dicka duhet te bere per kete.

So I started off in a traditional mode.

Keshtu qe u vura ne levizje ne sipas menyres tradicionale.

Me and my colleagues at Independent Diplomat

Une dhe koleget e mi tek Diplomati Pavarur

went around the U.N. Security Council.

u sollen rreth U.N Keshillit te Sigurimit.

We went around 70 U.N. member states --

Ne ishim rreth 70 anetare te U.N

the Kazaks, the Ethiopians, the Israelis --

Kazaket, Etiopianet, Izraelitet --

you name them, we went to see them --

mund ti dini ato , ne vajtem per ti pare ato --

the secretary general, all of them,

sekretari pergjithshem, te gjithe ata,

and said, "This is all wrong.

dhe tha . " Kjo eshte e tera e gabuar.

This is terrible that you don't consult these people who are actually affected.

Kjo eshte e temershme qe ti nuk i keshillon keta njerez qe jane aktualishte te prekur.

You've got to institutionalize a system

Ti duhet ti institucionalizosh nje sistem

where you actually invite the Kosovars

ku ti ftosh Kosovaret

to come and tell you what they think.

per te ardhur dhe per te treguar vfare mendojne ata.

This will allow you to tell me -- you can tell them what you think.

Kjo do te lente ty per te me thene mua --mund ti thush atyre cfare mendon ti.

It'll be great. You can have an exchange.

Do te ishte gje e madhe. Mund te kishe nje shkembim .

You can actually incorporate these people's views into your decisions,

Aktualisht mund te nderfusesh mendimet e ketyre njerzve ne vendimet e tua,

which means your decisions will be more effective and durable."

qe do te thote vendimet e tua do te jene me efektive dhe te besueshme."

Super-logical, you would think.

Super-logjike, do te mendoje.

I mean, incredibly logical. So obvious, anybody could get it.

Dua te them, teper elogjike. kaq dukshem, cdo njeri mud ta kuptoje ate.

And of course, everybody got it. Everybody went, "Yes, of course, you're absolutely right.

Dhe patjeter, cdonjeri e mori vesh ate. Te gjithe iken duke thene," Po Patjeter, ti ke te drejte.

Come back to us

Kthehuni mbrapa tek ne

in maybe six months."

ne ndoshta 6 muaj .

And of course, nothing happened -- nobody did anything.

Dhe sigurisht, asgje nuk ndoshi -- asnjeri s'beri gje.

The Security Council does its business

Keshilli Sigurimit ben punet e veta

in exactly the same way today

ekzaktesisht sic i ben edhe sot

that it did X number of years ago,

qe beri x numer vitesh me perpara,

when I was there 10 years ago.

kur une isha 10 vjet me perpara.

So we looked at that observation

Keshtu qe ne pame kete mbikqyrrje

of basically failure

ne themel te deshtuar

and thought, what can we do about it.

dhe menduam, cfare mund te bejme per te.

And I thought, I'm buggered

Dhe une mendova, Une jam nje hajvan

if I'm going to spend the rest of my life

nqs do kaloja pjesen tjeter te jetes time

lobbying for these crummy governments

duke ndikuar tek keto qeveri te pa vlera

to do what needs to be done.

per te bere ate qe duhej bere.

So what we're going to do

Pra ajo cfare ne do te bejme

is we're actually going to set up these meetings ourselves.

eshte qe ti bejme keto takime me vehten tone.

So now, Independent Diplomat

Keshtu qe sot, Diplomati Pavarur

is in the process of setting up meetings

eshte ne procesin e organizimit te takimeve

between the U.N. Security Council

mes U.N Keshillit te Sigurimit

and the parties to the disputes

dhe partive dhe konflikteve

that are on the agenda of the Security Council.

qe jane ne axhenden e Keshillit te Sigurimit.

So we will be bringing

Keshtu qe ne do te sjellim

Darfuri rebel groups,

grupin rebel Darfuri,

the Northern Cypriots and the Southern Cypriots,

Qipriotet Veriore dhe ata Jugore,

rebels from Aceh,

rebelet nga Aceh,

and awful long laundry list

dhe nje liste e tmerrshme

of chaotic conflicts around the world.

e konflikteve rreth gjithe botes.

And we will be trying to bring the parties to New York

Dhe do te perpiqemi te sjellin ata ne New York

to sit down in a quiet room

per tu ulur ne nje dhome te qene

in a private setting with no press

ne nje bisede private pa media

and actually explain what they want

dhe te na shpjegojne aktualisht cfare ata kerkojne

to the members of the U. N. Security Council,

nga pjestaret e Keshillit te Sigurimit,

and for the members of the U.N. Security Council

dhe nga anetaret e keshillit te U.N

to explain to them what they want.

ti shpjegojme cfare kerkojne ata.

So there's actually a conversation,

Aktualisht kemi pasur nje bisedim ,

which has never before happened.

qe nuk ka ndoshur ndonjehere.

And of course, describing all this,

Dhe sigurisht, duke pershkruar te gjithe kete,

any of you who know politics will think this is incredibly difficult,

cdonjeri nga ju qe merret me politike do te mendoje qe eshte shume e veshtirte,

and I entirely agree with you.

dhe une jam ploteshisht dakord me ju.

The chances of failure are very high,

Keto shanse apo deshtime jane shume te larta,

but it certainly won't happen

por nuk do te ndodhe

if we don't try to make it happen.

nqs nuk do te perpiqemi qe te ndoshin .

And my politics has changed fundamentally

Dhe politika ime ka ndryshuar renjesisht

from when I was a diplomat to what I am today,

qe kur une isha nje diplomat e deri me sot,

and I think that outputs is what matters, not process,

dhe une mendoj qe rezultater kane rendesi , jo procesi ,

not technology, frankly, so much either.

jo teknologjia, sinqerisht, kaq shumer per kedo .

Preach technology

Bej moral per teknologjine

to all the Twittering members of all the Iranian demonstrations

per te gjithe anetaret eTwitter-it te te gjithe demonstrueseve Iraniane

who are now in political prison in Tehran,

qejane tani ne burgim politik ne Terhan,

where Ahmadinejad remains in power.

ku Ahmadinexhad qendron ne fuqi.

Technology has not delivered political change in Iran.

Technologjia nuk ka shkaktuar ndonje ndryshim politik ne Iran.

You've got to look at the outputs, and you got to say to yourself,

Duhet te shikoni rezultatet, dhe duhet ta thoni vete,

"What can I do to produce that particular output?"

" Cfare mund te bej per te pasur nje rezultat te vecante?"

That is the politics of the 21st century,

Kjo eshte politika e shekullit te 21-te,

and in a way, Independent Diplomat

dhe ne nje menyre , Diplomati Pavarur

embodies that fragmentation, that change,

misheron kete coptim , kete ndryshim ,

that is happening to all of us.

qe po na ndodh te gjithe neve.

That's my story. Thanks.

Kjo eshte historia ime. Falemderit