There is a price tag on everything, that is something that should never be overlooked when it comes to the realities of foreign aid and economic agreements. While we are able to point to the world’s richest nations as being the most prolific when it comes to humanitarian aid, including the bolstering of medical initiatives to help fight, for example, the AIDS epidemic in Africa, such practices do not, nor have they ever, come without a price.
One of the best examples of how Western powers manipulate the developing and third worlds is by way of the World Bank/IMF. It is, in no small way, a mechanism with which to manipulate those in need of financial assistance, for whatever reason, to comply with the foreign policy objectives of others, primarily the United States. In truth, the same can be said of UN programs that are funded by such powers as well.
Economic manipulation is one of the most powerful tools in the world, employing a vast arsenal of methods to accomplish its goals, from psychological operations such as media manipulation to the support of governments that, in exchange for their cooperation and, in many cases, access to arms, willfully promote domestic disinformation and allow free access to their markets and resources to international interests.
No matter what you read, or, for that matter, chose to believe, there is no such thing as free goodwill. Even in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, billions were invested by foreign interests after numerous governments, such as that of Thailand, used the decimation of property long inhabited by generations of fisherman as an excuse to deprive them of their land, entering into lucrative agreements with foreign companies for the future development of resort properties.
Following September 11th Matters Only Became Worse
Now in exchange for assistance, many nations are made to comply with global US security initiatives before a dime crosses the table. In some instances, such as in the case of Ethiopia, lucrative arms agreements are also commonly included, as is support for their regional objectives if there happens to be others in that region that do not conform to US global ideology. Because of events in Somalia, the Ethiopians have received military training assistance from the United States, not to mention direct military support in actions involving the Ethiopian incursion into Somalia (the US deployed special forces in Somalia during the confrontation of the ICU and also conducted air strikes on Somali targets, some of which resulted in civilian deaths). With regards to the ubiquitous ‘War On Terror’, the United States has also used Ethiopian prisons renowned for their abuse to hold and interrogate detainees that have been rendered to the country, all of them, as has been the case in such situations, forbidden access to the International Red Cross/Crescent.
Interestingly, the President of the United States can stand at the United Nations and lecture the world about human rights and how others are guilty of their denial. Of course, Mr. Bush failed to single out those nations with abhorrent human rights records that are friendly to his government, primarily the Saudis. And that should, of course, come as absolutely no surprise to anyone.
Politics is power, nothing more. To believe otherwise is to believe that within the confines of our present political reality that things can be changed. That is, unfortunately, not the case, nor realistic whatsoever. But that is also not to say that the foundations of our societies are wasted because of the corruption that has befallen them. Only that they have been abused to such an extent that to alter the political landscape will require sacrifices that many are not willing to make to ensure that such fundamental principles once again become predominant.
My mention of this particular subject stems from a recent Agence France Presse article about the run up to the invasion of Iraq…
“US President George W. Bush threatened nations with retaliation if they did not vote for a UN resolution backing the Iraq war, according to a transcript published Wednesday of a conversation he had with former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar.
In the transcript of a meeting on February 22, 2003 — a month before the US-led invasion of Iraq — published in the El Pais daily, Bush tells Aznar that nations like Mexico, Angola, Chile and Cameroon must know that the security of the United States is at stake.
He says during the meeting on his ranch in Texas that Angola stood to lose financial aid while Chile could see a free trade agreement held up in the US Senate if they did not back the resolution…”
Nothing comes without a price tag attached to it, even the unwillingness to betray your beliefs in favour of the desires of those that have the power to threaten you with repercussions.