BP Essay Issue

BROADER PERSPECTIVES /sGD$r'r.00

2009 / MtcA (.P321/49/2004)

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DOES THE PRESENCE OF A FOREIGN POWER EVER HELP A COUNTRY WITH PROBLEMS?

BYELIZABETH KON

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inlringenent of a couniry's sovcrcignry or rppreciated Npport f.om alli€s in a bad siLualion? Therein lies the crux of a coDtcntious issue that still eDgende.s nuch heated debate toda!.'. \\'o d war lI mcmoia]s forcgroNld the sisrificant and rvelcomed role of foreign soldiers nr lib€ratins Europc ftom

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Yet the deeplyunpopular and unsuccesslu I Vietnam War and

tlie continued bitterness over the legacy ofAsenc-v Oransc and lcft behfid landnines ni \rietnan shoir tlie distirct polarities iD process and oullrome $'|en global polrcrs tNto deal with the iDterDal problens ofoiher counhies. At tines like this, {oreign presence in the form ofdircct action. aid or inlluence caD be thc DrakiDg or breakitrg poiDt of whether the host countrt is able to successtullydcal with problems like political insiabilit"v and cconomic neltdoMs, ethnic and civil strile or hLrmanitariaD oiscs. uhilc thc Dlotives and agendas ofsuchforeign assistancc maysometines conplicate the proble r,lhe naturc ofthe challeDges most countries hce todayissLrc.h that foreig. hclp is actlally crucjri ard Dec€ssit.y, especialil whcn canied out iD the spirit ofcooperaLio a d altruism. Most tbreign intcNcntion in the $uld tends to be backed p or ondertakeD by establishcd Daiions and the UN and its attendant agcncics. HeDce when counties have problenN, help f.om these global flar-'crs are alwaF definite!, needed because theyhav. thc nost resources and tlie best expertise to aclieve the most direct and beneficiaL effect. lroreign investment fiorn thc ichcst and most developed nations ofthe world caD eponertially affect the developmenl olpoor nations str\rggling to raise the stardard of living oftheir peoplc or briDg their ecoDomies ni line with ih€ i ernaLionalflow ofiradc aDd financ.. ForeigD powers ha\€ the most crlcnsivc finarcial reach and i luence, hence iheir abiliry to b ng into cffcct free

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trade agrccmcnts aD.l devebpnrent frojccts can strbstaDtially raise r|e GDP of needy Daiions. Such wealth of technolosy, money and expertise h particularly crucial in limes ofhumaDitaian need an{i disaster, preventing death tolls from rising and extending the nec cssary ciamage contr'ol. Recolery frorn Lhe 2oo4 tsuDann was quicke. because foreisn powers were inaited intohelP raisebillionsof coDtiDge r ol rcliefworkcrs, cDsineers and doctors to send in lo aid recovery and construction wo* do ars of aid and had a "hole Contrast the success ofrhis ctrorl to the sp.ead oideath and sickDess in Myanma. after a devastating tj"hoon wher the local govern-

mentrctused irternational hch, in pafticularthat oltheWesrern po$€N. that counkies onlycomcinto theirownwhen they have the leeway and independence io deal with their oM prob lcns. It.rrfever, as Kofi Alnan, the former Scoctart GeDer ofthe UN, o.ce stressed, the challeDges countries face today arc problens without passports. The nahre ofrhese problcrns is incrcasinsly and unavoidablyofa global scale and conpldity as theworld becomcs more iDrerconnccrcd. ,\s such, the abilirr. to pull tosethe. differenr levels of help and knowhow is elen more crucial Onli rhrcugh ihe iDvolvemenr of forcign porvels can ire then coordinate tlie Decessary responses and actionsi to heh nations that have civil wars rhai too easily spill over into reishbouring counhies, tackle clinate change that rccognises no borders and conmunicable iliseases thar nc.d irte.national organisati{rn to stage health inteNcntions and to give out life-saving vaccnies and medicines lhe

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proliferation oltennrist cells aDd nerworks has necessitated.ioirr n)ilitary ofcrations between global powers and local states to tmin arnics and police forccs,like ni the Philjppincs. PakistaD and Yenen. The intractability ofthese probiems mcans that no onelocal sn.atesy is ele. the besh'ay to fishtAids, presen'ebiodiversilv, combat drousht and fanine and ihc retusee problem. No local agency can subsriiute for the scale ofofcMtional expefise and dcpth ofengagement that foreign powers can pull across naiions and races. The mosr commoD grievance against thc presence oflbreign powe$ is the conceflr that it woutd violate the notion ofnational sover cjgntJ and hence causc more con1plicarions tiran real help. BLrt foreigD involvement, ev€n ofa !r^rF r.hnqt nnh,re seNes the needs aDd squandered iheir own legitjnacy people fron international norms ofgood ghts and deviate the and freedons ofiis regimcs cu$ aDd abose Lo mte. \\hen oppressi\'e get get Repressive nations likc North Korea people hopc to rcliel can gove rancc, foreigD interventioD is the oDly .oure by rlhich these and tran tend to flasraDtl) disresard the well-being and dcsn€s oftheir citizens and it is only rhe cornbined pressure put on them by foreign powers ihai can keep the nr chcckand ludge then totakcstepsto resol$e ihe issue. The argument of the sanctiry and indepcndcDce oflocal bordcrs pales in regard ro ihc horror engend€red by the atrocities that ihe Rwandan and Sudanese genocides can

oflocal populations $'|en it is the local golemmcnt theniselves thai are causins tlie problens

sparqr oD its o\!n people. Thc lesitimacy ol such inicrfereDce by foreign poweN olt trump ihc suppos€d right of local governments to deat with ttreir orvr inrernal frcblems ofsrrife and conflict. W]len governments fail their own people, foreign powers are needed to step in to build democracies. pLrnish war c ninals, enforcc and prcnote intemal reconciliarion and aDswer queslions about how to goverr. Sucn rccogDised noral authoritr and fifluence $orks especially for failjng or nascent states, pulling different parti€s togetlier as the counrry rccove$ froni civil shife or transitioD from subjection to nidependencc. East Timor, Cambodia, Bosnia and Kosovo havc been abte ro pi.k up the pieces wilh the hclp of fo.eign powers- Oriy advanced nations can generate ihc necessary trust and patiencc in tlie embq,onic process ofnarion buildins, btrikling Lrp govcrDmental and state apparatls and legal andfituncial institu

cranted, foreisn DoweN are nor ahrays a one-sidecL mirac.le cure ard may exacelbatc existing detrirnenis. The vested interests and moiives ofsuch tbreisn p.Ne$ cnn someiimcs sive local leaders a disficentive to chanse for the better, buildins uP a too reliant co deFndcnt retationship nrstcad. other rimes, qnical acts ofreal politickand a calculated cost beDelit analysis ofbesi outcomes nay cause forcigD poweru Lo prop up local despors or rum ablind eye to certajD unsavoury aspects of local governments- This only creates avicious cy.lc ofmjstnrsr ard suspicion, hampering tuture efforts ofother F$€rs to lix the problen. PJl