A WATERSHED IN NORTH-SOUTH RELATIONS

By Omary Mjenga and - - Reprint | | Print |

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DAR ES SALAAM, Apr 1 2004 (IPS) - There are a host of disturbing signs that North-South relations require immediate attention, writes Omary Mjenga, secretary of the Tanzanian Secretariat of the Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy, an initiative launched by Finnish and Tanzanian governments. In this article, the author writes that increasing numbers of people in the South view the current process of globalisation as no less than a modern imperialism, which uses every mechanism possible to shape the global order to suit the preferences and needs of the major advanced industrial nations. Moreover, this new imperialism is largely unhindered, indeed is even aided and abetted, by the multilateral mechanisms developed over the past five decades. If ever there was a time for the collective voice of the South to make itself heard, it is now, when the multilateral institutions to the United Nations still retain some legitimacy. If developing countries are to exert some influence over international or global relations and to affect the shape of global and national governance of economic policy, they need to summon the political will to improve rapidly their intellectual and technical capacity to take up the challenge.

There are a host of disturbing signs that North-South relations require immediate attention. The benefits of the unprecedented growth and development of the end of the last century have not been evenly shared nor have their costs been evenly distributed, even as the economic and technological forces of globalisation have worked to transform the world into a single shared social space. Deep imbalances and disparities have been created between the North, which reaps the majority of the benefits of globalisation, and most of the South. It is not that the South does not want to take advantage of the unfolding economic opportunities but rather that it is being excluded and marginalised.

For decades, humanity has been searching for social and economic policy framework and arrangements that would engender fast economic growth among nations and peoples while, at the same time, ensuring sustainable global development. The ultimate goal would be to eradicate poverty and underdevelopment and ultimately remove the division between rich and poor nations and the imbalances that persist between North and South. This is precisely the focus of the Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy.

Globalisation is indifferent to equity: recognition of this fact is essential if the current situation is to be improved.

International trade rules and arrangements, past and present, are a case in point. Sub-Saharan Africa, whose 640 million people constitute ten percent of the world’s population, has a growing manufacturing sector and a rich endowment of mineral, agricultural, and other natural resources. Yet amazingly it accounts for only two percent of world trade. The cause is the manipulation of commodity prices and protectionism by the North.

The events of autumn 2001 provided a clear rebuttal of the argument that, in this age of globalisation, the differences between North and South are no longer of great import — an argument largely premised on the belief that globalisation itself would dissolve the major economic and power disparities.

Now the situation is much clearer for all to see. Increasing numbers of people in the South view the current process of globalisation as no less than a modern imperialism which uses every instrument possible to shape the global order to suit the preferences and needs of the major advanced industrial nations. Moreover, this new imperialism is largely unhindered, indeed is even aided and abetted, by the multilateral mechanisms developed over the past five decades.

There is growing resentment and frustration in the South with the sense of powerlessness in the face of Northern arrogance and impunity. This hardly provides fertile ground for development or peace or for building an international community. Today the fear of speaking up in defence of one’s own interests has been intensified by the new dictum: “You are either with us or against us.”

In this age of increased globalisation, the global structures and institutions have everywhere assumed a critical role in all spheres of life and society, providing countries of the North with powerful leverage to pursue their interests. Thus, in various forms and to different degrees, all developing countries are experiencing a massive and multifaceted intrusion in virtually all domains of national policy, sovereignty, and governance. The North has arrogated to itself the right to interfere at will, in complete disregard of the basic premises of the United Nations Charter. The North views this as natural and legitimate in view of its superior power. Development has been demoted from its previous position at the top of the international agenda, which has been revised to fit northern interests and preferences.

The policies that developing countries have been constrained to pursue have often proven ineffective or damaging. They are resented and widely rejected by masses of people in these countries and have generated to social, political, and economic turmoil. Further weakened, developing countries are even more exposed to external interference, particularly in national politics and governance. Their policy autonomy has virtually disappeared and under the North-inspired and North-driven global regime. Developing countries are not allowed to fend for themselves in the highly competitive and unequal global environment. The overall result in many parts of the South is economic and international marginalisation.

If ever there was a time for the collective voice of the South to make itself heard, it is now, when the multilateral institutions to the United Nations still retain some legitimacy. If developing countries are to exert some influence over international or global relations and to affect the shape of global and national governance of economic policy, they need to summon the political will to rapidly improve their intellectual and technical capacity to take up the challenge. The Helsinki Process has an important role to play in helping them to do so.

“A new world is possible, let us all play our part.” (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)