Conversations in Diplomacy: Peter Sutherland

Peter Sutherland is an Irish international businessman and former Attorney General of Ireland. He has also served as the European Commissioner for Competition—where he was the youngest person to occupy this position—and as Director-General of the World Trade Organization. Sutherland is currently the Chairman of Goldman Sachs International and the London School of Economics. He is also involved in a number of international political and business organizations.

In this interview with Peter Sutherland, FDP examines the role of business in international leadership. Sutherland points to the arduous negotiations that have taken place over the Doha Development Round as a “massive failure of global leadership” that undermines the process of multinationalism. He believes this indicates a larger problem in the leadership structure of the European Union, which only advocates change when the idea of fear surrounds a particular issue. Sutherland ultimately believes in a Federalist vision for Europe, but does not see it as a realistic possibility. To him, the first step in creating greater European integration would be to create positive leadership in order to suppress the conventional “Eurosceptic” media.