PAKISTAN came into being in 1947- two years after the Second World War ended in 1945, when the world was still reeling after the devastating war which affected European countries the most. The entire world was trying to recover economically, politically and the shock of massive killings and bloodshed. Every country felt the need to prevent the recurrence of such catastrophic events and every country – big or small, rich or poor, developed or undeveloped wanted to adopt and shape their foreign policy based on mutual friendship, peace and negotiations to solve disputes, if any, rather than take the arms to settle it.
It was difficult to confine international relations and foreign policy issues within narrow parameters owing to the independence of many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America and fast changing tech-World which eventually made the entire world into a global village. Usually, foreign policy is defined as a formal strategy of a country to protect its national interests. But often these national interests become irritants for other states that perceive such policies as hostile to their interests and hence starts the conflict of interests followed by confrontation and often resulting in wars and bloody showdown. In addition, the economic policy of a country is shaped by its geo-strategic location, industrial and/or agricultural base, the skills of its working class, and the quality as well as the quantity of its export base.
After the devastating two World Wars within a short span of 20 years in Europe in which, according to official estimates, 15 million civilians and 38 million military personnel died. But according to independent sources the number is much higher, nearly 50 to 85 million fatalities. World War-II was the deadliest conflict in human history. Weary of the long bloody conflict, the leaders of the allied powers and the defeated countries decided to come to table for talks to restore peace in the world. Thus started the need and importance to make and devise policies to maintain International Relations with all the countries in a cordial manner and create an environment of peace and tranquillity among neighbours in particular and other global countries in general – whether in Asia, Africa, Middle East, Australia or America.
Andrew Roberts Book, “Churchill: Walking with Destiny”, {2018}, “Inside the Centre”-The Life of Robert Oppenheimer, “The Second World War” by Antony Beever, “Hitler” by Ian Kershaw and “International Relations between the Two World Wars” by E.H.Carr provide not only a deep insight into the real causes of the global conflict but also describe the chain of events and happenings before the war ensued. Many writers, thinkers and scholars are of the opinion that The Treaty of Versailles, signed after the First World War, was the reason for the Second World War as Germany was coerced to sign the Treaty, its people disgraced and humiliated and was made to pay war reparations too. The Germans felt that decisions were made about them and not for them in the Treaty.
However, the end of the Second World War marked a temporary cessation of major bloody conflicts and wars, although this was short-lived as the Korean War began in the early 1950s and the Vietnam War followed in the 1960s. But, notably, the battle ground chosen this time by Neo-imperialists was thousands of miles away from their soil. The purpose was creating and carving and then consolidating spheres of influence and making new allies in different continents to perpetuate hold on smaller, poorer and under-developed countries. Thus foreign policies were made and tailored by big powers with this goal and agenda. Needless to say, it not only worked well for big powers but they acquired a perfect excuse for their physical and military presence in all the continents under the garb of “Protecting” them from hostile powers by signing Defence Pacts/ Treaties, like NATO, SEATO and CENTO. Presently, the focus is on Asia, which has assumed an extremely important position due to its economic might (led by China) and maritime security due to tension in the South China Sea. The foreign policies of the Western powers thus seem to be aimed at containing Asia.
The West is worried about the spectacular rise of China within a short span of 30-35 as the economic juggernaut of the entire world. Its GDP is set to surpass that of the USA in the next ten years (some even say 5 to 6 years). The SCO and BRICKS are posing significant challenges to American Economic Imperialism by agreeing to deal in local currencies and dumping the mighty Dollar which has hitherto ruled the global financial markets and import/exports payments. While the Chinese economy has been continuously and constantly growing in double digit in the last 20 years {except the brief Covid-19 period for 2/3 years} but it proved much resilient than other major economies and never went down below 7% while the western economies went in to negative growth, for quite some time.
The years ahead do not bode well for Western economies. The GDP growth in major European countries and in the USA has not even touched 4% whereas the Asian economies led by China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam and India are touching 7% to 8%. No wonder the top economists have predicted that the future lies in Asia and it seems to be perfectly justified and true, based on the empirical data. Unfortunately, when assessing Pakistan we do not have any reason to smile and be happy. We cannot rejoice as we hardly have any reason to do so. The value of our currency is persistently falling, our exports are not showing any significant rise, we have a large portion of our population which is young and ready to work but unfortunately sitting idle as they can’t find any work. Soaring unemployment and inflation has made the life of a major segment of society miserable as they are going down in absolute poverty. Reckless borrowing from international banks and agencies pose an insurmountable challenge for the country and bring us on the brink of “Economic Default”. Only a miracle can save us (but miracles do not happen in these times).
—The writer is Former Civil Servant and Consultant (ILO) & International Organisation for Migration.
