Global issues need global solutions

PRIME Minister Gordon Brown has recently given a call to move away from the ‘unipolar’ diktat of the sole superpower. He said the direction of this movement must be towards mutually rewarding inter-dependence. His speech — delivered at the Kennedy Memorial lecture at the Kennedy Library in Boston on April 18 — was woven round JFK’s affirmation in his 4th of July speech to the American people in 1962, saying that “today American people must learn to think intercontinentally. “Acting alone by ourselves cannot establish justice throughout the world. “We cannot ensure America’s domestic tranquillity; provide for its common defence; or promote its general welfare; or secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. “But joined with other free nations we can do all this and more.” Moving on, Mr Brown said: “To recognise this is important. But simply to acknowledge that there is no ‘Britain only’ or ‘Europe only’ or ‘America only’ solutions to the global threats and challenges we face, or to say we are all internationalists now, will change nothing in itself. “Instead, we must go much further; acknowledge that our common self-interest as nation states can be realised only by practical cooperation; that responsible sovereignty means the acceptable or clear obligation as well as the assertion of rights, while forcefully emphasising that global problems need global solutions”. Mr Brown is advocating a clear move from a mindset of ‘New World Order’ to that of a ‘border transcending global society’. In this context he proceeds to say, “and in the 18th and19th centuries nation states looked to the concept of the ‘balance of power’ for their security — and in the latter half of the 20th century, briefly, put their faith in the concept of mutually assured destruction — we in the midst of the complexities of the 21st century must recognise afresh the power of John Kennedy’s declaration of inter-dependence, and must firmly root our international system in the values we hold in common — shaping more than a new world order, creating instead a truly global society: “ A global society no longer founded just on balancing competing interests but on building institutions that foster mutual interests because they are grounded in common values. “A global society no longer just based on the power of states delineated by borders but on the aspirations of the people that transcend borders.” While Mr Brown does — and broadly too — hint at the central role of the UN in the new architecture that he proposes, he should have — but unfortunately does not — shed light on the reasons of the United Nation having failed to fulfil the same promise when its charter is read with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 which was so eminently cast to do. Of course, the reasons for this failure were embedded, by and large, in the self-seeking agendas of the Big Five; and now expanded into the G-8 style of approaching things. Indeed it is this mentality which will need to be changed, for 80 per cent of Mr Brown’s vision will have to be translated to apply to ground realities, mostly involving the developing world.
M J Asad
Karachi

Time to act is now

REALISATION has dawned in the midst of warm handshakes, new outfits and beaming smiles by political leaders that Pakistan is in a state of war which must be won. The government must take the nation into confidence. The terrorist attack on Islamabad’s landmark Marriott Hotel was probably the most high-profile target after the parliament, presidency and the Prime Minister’s House. If government officials were the target of the terrorists and they could not be detected until they mistakenly or by plan attacked the Marriott Hotel speaks volumes of the intelligence agencies. The nation knows quite well about our investigations and reports on a multitude of assassinations of leaders and disasters in Pakistan all of which have left us clueless and hopeless. The latest attacks on the anti-terrorism police quarters and in an NWFP agency area confounds the issue even further. It seems unlikely that the US will stop its policy of aerial surveillance and attacks on suspected targets in the Fata areas or the right of hot pursuit while Pakistan anxiously waits for Congress to pass the democracy dividend aid bill introduced by the Democrats of which vice presidential candidate Joe Biden is a big supporter. This will mean $1.5bn for Pakistan each year for 10 years and may perhaps be our main hope for stability. So while democracy may be the best revenge against authoritarian rule, it is also likely to pay the best dividend like a blue chip share. The government, it seems, has come to the conclusion that there is no way out except to fight and control Taliban while keeping open the option of a negotiated settlement with peace as a priority, coupled with close cooperation with our immediate neighbours India, Iran and China. The government must take the nation into confidence and procure the support of the media and civil society to deal with the crisis. The PPP must make serious efforts to bridge the gap with the PML(N) and bring it into a national unity government. If this means an understanding with the legal fraternity and Nawaz Sharif on the judges’ issue, 90 per cent of which is now a fait accompli, this must be done expeditiously. Mr Sharif must also show a degree of flexibility on national issues and correct the image in which he has been cast as a person who is soft on Taliban. The government has not been able to address the all too important issues of finance, energy and food crisis facing the country. The looming water crisis is an addition to our problems. A full cabinet of ministers is still not in place and nation has still not had the benefit of hearing and understanding the government’s plans to deal with these issues.
Liaquat H. Merchant
Karachi