Arab economic incapability (1-2) [Archives:2006/940/Opinion]
By: Prof. Abdulaziz Al-Tarb
Despite of all potentials that qualify the Arab world to be one of the most productive regions of the world, based on its available natural wealth, it does still constitute one of the most prominent areas of consumption and importation in the world. The main reason of this situation is that the Arab world capabilities are scattered rather than unified. The parts of the Arab world that are in possession of financial abundance are lacking in enough areas of land and availability water. On the other side of the equation, the Arab world countries which possess human cadre and expertise, suffer from shortages in capitals necessary for pushing forward the wheel of development.
This situation arouses a big question about what has happened that led to the Arab nation to this extent of disintegration and fragmentation. What is worse is that the situation infection has crept from politics and diplomacy fields to economy and development that directly impact the nation peoples' interests.
In my view there were many causes contributed to make this condition of dismantlement and division. In my point of view the most prominent of those causes is that all parties that are components of the Arab world are only mindful of their own individual concerns without looking further than that. An evidence of this assumption is that despite of many years of insistence on the imperativeness of establishing the Arab common market or to begin with the Greater Free Zone, it is regrettable that the Arab nation is still away from the proper start point for the establishment of this Arab economic entity.
The current Arab incapability, though outwardly appears as political inability, in essence it is an economic incapability embodied by conceding to that Arab markets remain a wide-open area to foreign goods and commodities imported from different countries of the world. This is associated with absence of integrated Arab strategy which should give priority to Arab goods and products even if they were of less quality and more cost.
Let's consider the food crisis in the Arab world as a proof on reality of Arab incapability and additional evidence on purposeful negligence of correct reading of the Arab reality. This situation is the production of the domination of the principle of “regional fallback” which squanders the huge capabilities of the policy of mutual benefits and consolidates the ever invasion of foreign countries. Those foreign countries usually link their loans, assistance and grants to political and economic terms serving their interests in the first place.
We may recall that the Arab world was many years ahead of the European Union countries in calling for establishment of the Arab Common Market. That call was launched at the time when Europe was still repairing its material and psychological structure in the wake of the World War II which exhausted Europe and destroyed it politically and economically.
Nevertheless, Europe managed to surmount its ordeal and to build an economic and political unity capable of being a competing counterpart of the American superpower. As for us, the Arabs, we have sufficed ourselves to launching slogans of unity and calls for integration and coordination without taking even one forward step. On the contrary, we have very much retreated backwardly.
It maybe necessary and useful to realize now that there is no better thing than recollection of some lessons from our history that emphasize that the Arabs had not been a proper figure of the international equation but when they were grouping in genuine solidarity and rallying behind goal at which they met and all their potentials and energies were mobilized for serving tat goal.
History mentions that situation as since the beginning of the Yarmouk battle under leadership of Saladin al-Ayoubi to liberate Jerusalem and leading to 1973 October war. That war conquered the legends of weakness and erased the illusions which were meant to dwell in the Arab minds and souls after their defeat in June 1967. Behind all these great political and military victories, there was always a firm base of the nation's economic potentials and energies unity. This maybe the motive behind putting forward an ever repeated question on causes of neglecting elements of the true solidarity, for which the Arabs are in need more than any time before, in the confrontation with challenges of a ferocious attack. The parties of this attack mistakenly think that all indications detected inside the Arab world reflect signs of weakness and incapability, though this is not true. Even if that impression was true at this stage, the Arab nation is capable of recovering its health id it succeeds in restoring the absent spirit of solidarity.
The more important question repeatedly asked by the Arab public opinion is: Is it not an eye-catching matter that enemies of the nation always endeavor to avoid dealing with the Arabs when they are in a state of solidarity and unity, and build their strategy on singling out each Arab party to deal with individually so that they could impose the iniquitous economic and political conditions?
As a matter of fact, when we talk about solidarity we mean the true solidarity not that propagated in the media. A solidarity that guarantees support and strengthening the Arab national security, politically, economically, security and socially. This solidarity the Arab nation aspires for does not tolerate repetition of the game of busying the public opinion by nominal meetings that result in conciliative formulas. Aimed at appeasing all tendencies at the expense of constants and sanctities.
There is no one demanding the impossible and insisting on decisions full of passions prevailing in the Arab street. What is required are decisions reflecting seriousness of dealing with an abominable dilemma whose danger reached the extent of a threat to possibility of providing bread in many of the Arab countries. There must be a stop of issuing traditional decisions and to turn to the core of challenge sending messages to the big powers that are holding the keys of world economy and international trade.
Prof. Abdulaziz Al-Tarb is an economist and a professor in Political Science. He is the head of a number of professional associations, such as the Arab Group for Investment and Development.
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[archive-e:940-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-04-24-p:opinion]
