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Unpleasant global reality vis-à-vis Ethiopia Getachew Assefa Sustainable-africa.org September 14, 2004 Look around Right from the outset, I would like to underline that I preferably use value-neutral terms "South" and "North" in referring to the conventionally used terms "developing world" and "developed world" respectively. In contemporary discussions of development and other economic issues, the most commonly used catch word is Sustainable Development. At global level, sustainable development implies, as many would agree, intergenerational and intragenerational equity. In other words, a commitment to Sustainable Development calls for a dedication to global equity between all people in today's world (intragenerational) and between the people in today's world and the tomorrow's world (intergenerational). In reality, however, the countries in the North spearheaded by the G-8 countries are working for providing their current generation in their part of the world an exclusively best living standard. They are doing every thing possible under the sky to again exclusively sustain this living standard for generations to come only in their part of the world. They are carrying out this mission at the expense of anything, be it justice, moral values and democracy. A good example is the case of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Those of you who have had the chance to get information about the issues behind the WTO negotiations can easily understand how the global market (including in ones own sovereign country) can be and is being manipulated by the countries in the North in such a way that every thing leads to their exclusive benefit. Lobbies, petitions and other pressures specifically when organized by agents of change including civil societies from the capitals of the North (activists such as Attac ) have a lasting impact on the global politics that affects our very survival. NGOs, civil societies in these capitals are working for a shift in attitude of the North towards a mutually beneficial position that best serves our common future. Some of this change of attitude has started to materialize after 9-11 that decision-makers in the North have begun to realize, more than ever before, that we all, the South and the North, do live in a common insecure world and uncertain future. We should provide this change with a significant momentum both by lobbying the decision makers and providing primary information to the citizens in the North about the realities of our part of the world. As we all know the information meal served by the media industry to these citizens is unfortunately cooked in such a way that it fits the interests of either of their governments or that of big corporations which are indirectly ruling the world as maintained in David C. Korten's book, When Corporations Rule the World. Are we sovereign enough? Within the current global economic order that is too big and too complex in comparison to the current Ethiopian economy, it is necessary to wisely identify and accordingly deal with the challenges and opportunities of unpleasant global reality. If the current WTO rounds of discussions go through as designed by the big powers of the North, our economic sector (agriculture, industry, even service sector) can not remain immune to the manipulation of the North. If they are not stopped some how through a just system in place in the global arena, it would not be long before we should consult the big guys whether we should live on tourism or on coffee. Yes! As a reaction to this strong negative analysis, you would naturally ask: "why would a sovereign state like Ethiopia ask the permission of these guys (the countries in North) for every decision it takes?" Well, the fact of the matter is that the same question has already been asked by the former chief economist of the World Bank and Noble Laureate Joseph Stiglitz: "why would a sovereign state ask for the permission of the IMF [International Monetary Fund] for every decision it takes?" The unpleasant reality that led him to ask this question in his own words goes: In 1996, Ethiopia repaid a U.S. bank loan early, using some of its reserves since it was paying a far higher interest rate on its loan than it was receiving on its reserves. Economically, this decision was perfectly sensible. I would have advised it to pay it off [as it did]. The United States and the IMF had protested against this early refund since Ethiopia's early repayment deprived the U.S. bank of a high-interest from the loan on which it [the bank] was making large profits. They [The US and IMF] were bothered not by the logic of the strategy but by the fact that Ethiopia had undertaken this course without consulting and the approval of the IMF [or the US]. Now why would a sovereign state ask for the permission of the IMF for every decision it takes? When I urged Ethiopians to join hands in petitions or lobbying initiatives in my previous article entitled "Why Ethiopians in the Diaspora should join the "Big Noise"", the emphasis was on influencing the governments in the North to dismantle barriers such as subsidies and tariffs. As you all know, the countries in the North subsidize their farmers with 390 billion dollars annually. This is six times more than their total global annual aid expenditure. This huge subsidy makes countries like Ethiopia terribly uncompetitive in the global markets, including in their own domestic market where the products imported from these countries are dumped at cheaper prices than the prices of the same products produced locally (at the same quality). So what? The core question is, both at government level and citizen level, are Ethiopians prepared to do the right thing at the right time as a remedy to our short and long-term problems so that our country is not left in the dark? We need to act now and in unison. If there is willingness, the good news is that Ethiopians can lead or at the worst case actively participate in consolidated efforts of countries in the South in two fronts. The first task is preventing any new binding agreement worked out by the North that would hinder our economic development. The second important task involves trying to undo the already existing weave of bottle-necks. A symbol and witness to a success story of Ethiopians' leadership of this kind is Dr. Tewolde Berhane's Alternative to Noble Prize award. He deserved this prestigious award for what he has tirelessly done to successfully influence global decision makers in his role as a leading negotiator of the group known as G-77-plus-china in international negotiations on biosafety. A multitude of approaches should be utilized in every possible way to lift up our country to a better level. A level where Ethiopia can be characterized by a well functioning economy and its people become significantly less vulnerable to drought and other internal as well as external crises. To this end, I encourage Ethiopians to join hands in every endeavor that has a potential of positively contributing even the slightest input to the betterment of our country by networking with other Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia. Unless we join arms of commitment to do something, there is little that would spare us from the cruelty of the existing unfair global system. The following two reflections on the aforementioned book by Korten clearly illustrate this. Desmond M. Tutu- Nobel Peace Laureate: [This book is] a searing indictment of an unjust international economic order. . . It left me devastated but also very hopeful. Something can be done to create a more just economic order. John Cavanagh- Institute for Policy Studies and co-author of Global Dreams: "Korten weaves together a devastating critique of the tyranny of the global economy with an arsenal of well-argued alternatives to offer an empowering agenda for change." Best regards Getachew A. www.tigrai.net |