Foreign policy in retrospect II

As stated in this column yesterday the global context affects foreign policy. No nation could ignore the global geo-political realities without compromising the national interest. This means that foreign policies of nations should also evolve with the changing geo-political realities if they are not to become anachronistic.

Hence, a necessary condition in working out a foreign policy is a clear knowledge of the geo-political realities. The world has changed much since the time of Sri Lankan independence. The bi-polar world that emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War collapsed in the early 1990’s.

The unipolar world that arose then is also in the decline. Today we witness a shift of the centre of gravity of the world economy and the epicentre of global politics to Asia. New powers are emerging. They have entered into a series of multilateral alliances engulfing countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.

In Asia, China and India are the emerging giants. In Europe, Russia is once again developing into a world power. It has also the advantage of being considered an Asian power since the Urals, the dividing line between Europe and Asia is situated in that country. Both Shanghai Cooperation Council and the extended ASEAN as well as the G8 include China as a member.

The G8, in the meantime has given way to G20 as the principal driving force of the world economy. In Africa, South Africa is the emerging giant. In Latin America it is Brazil that is the emerging power. In West Asia it is Iran that is in the forefront.

Sri Lanka is defeating attempts by certain western nations to put it in the dock over alleged human rights allegations during the last phase of the war. This is tested friendship. Sri Lanka has no necessity to downgrade this relationship on account of accusations by vested interests.

It is strange to see local media highlighting oft quoted accusations that Sri Lanka has found friends among ‘pariah nations’. Actually there are no ‘pariah nations’. They are respected nations that have won acclaim from the majority of nations. The use of this very term signifies that its authors are still in the age of the Cold War and Super Power rivalry. The term has now become an anachronism.

It is these nations that came to the assistance in procuring the necessary military hardware when certain other countries imposed an embargo on arms shipments to Sri Lanka. Besides, in a situation when then national question was made a bargaining issue for disbursement of aid by the donor community following the Tokyo Meeting, it is India, China, Iran and Libya that came forward to supply much needed aid.

This relationship not only brought a beneficial economic result but also consolidated national sovereignty and territorial integrity. To understand this one has to imagine what would have been the situation had Sri Lanka failed in its effort to contain and defeat terrorism.

What of the future? There are two basic premises. They are the imperatives of fast tracking development and ensuring the dismantling of the global LTTE terrorist network. Both these imperatives call for a continuation of the present foreign policy line.

This does not mean that it is perfect. It means that in the main the policy pursued is correct and should be sustained. No doubt it could be better fine-tuned and much improvement could be made in its delivery. More uniformity in its presentation could also help much.

Help inventors

Aruna Samarawickrama, a young inventor from Matara has won a Special Prize at the Seoul International Invention Fair 2009. Aruna and many others like him have won international awards for new inventions.

Unfortunately most of these inventions remain only personal souvenirs for want of sponsors to assist them in producing them on mass scale. It is regrettable that their talent is not recognized and encouraged beyond welcome speeches, citations and trophies.

It is time for the corporate sector and the Government to give a helping hand to them. Commercial production of some of these inventions and their application in different sectors of the economy would go a long way not only to guarantee an income to the inventors but also a saving for the country.

The inventors should also be helped get patent rights for their inventions.