Sri lanka Muslims Web Portal Diversity and Inclusiveness
After ruling and plundering Asian, African and Latin American countries for almost five centuries the European colonial powers started withdrawing from their colonies in the aftermath of World War 11. Millions of oppressed people who suffered for centuries under colonial rule in all these countries were happy that they were ultimately free to decide their destiny.
However little more than six decades later today these are countries are waking up to the reality that the European colonial powers, led by United States, the most powerful super power in human history, peacefully and deceptively entered their countries under the guise of Globalization and Free Market Economy.
History repeated itself and willingly or willingly economies of most of these developing or what is commonly described as Third World countries have once again been directly and indirectly controlled by multinational companies under the globalised economic environment dominated by capitalist US and Europe.
In fact before leaving their colonies European colonial powers such as Britain, France, Belgium, Holland and other small time players carefully and cleverly prepared the political and economic structures in their colonies to serve their interest even after they granted independence and left the scene. For example they educated and trained an elite in all these countries to whom they handed over political power so that they continue to serve their former colonial masters. They also made their economies dependent to their benefit.
As a result even though the colonial powers left their colonies their interests remained intact .This enabled them to blackmail newly independent countries every time they tried to challenge colonial masters’ interests.
Throughout the Cold war, from the aftermath of World War 11 to the collapse of Soviet Union in 1989- third world countries were divided into either socialist camp led by Soviet Union or the US led capitalist camp which also included UK and the Western Europe.
Those third world leaders who obediently served their colonial masters were protected and promoted while others who tried to serve their own people were over thrown. The violent overthrow of President Dr Ahmed Sukarno of Indonesia, President Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Prime Minister Sir Abu bakr Tafawa Balewa of Nigeria and Prime Minister Dr Muhammad Mosaddegh of Iran were some of the best examples of how colonial powers destabilized third world countries to plunder their resources.
Iranian Prime Minister Dr Mohammad Mosaddeq, from 1951 to 1953, introduced wide range of social reforms especially the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry, which had been under British control since 1913 through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC/AIOC) (later British Petroleum or BP). Mosaddegh was removed from power on 19 August 1953, in a coup organized and carried out by the United States CIA at the request of the British MI6 which installed a stooge in power.
Aligning with the socialist bloc Dr Ahmed Sukarno defied US and thus was overthrown in a coup that killed around 500,000 mainly intellectuals in Indonesia. In his place US placed in power tyrant Dr Ahmed Suharto and continued to loot the natural resources of Indonesia while the Indonesians remain poor and deprived.
Sir Abu-Bakr Tafawa Balewa ,first Prime Minister of Nigeria- from 1957 to 1967, was very critical of South African racial policies and of French plans to test atomic devices in the Sahara. His last public act was to convene a Commonwealth Conference in Lagos to discuss action against the white supremacist unilateral declaration of independence by Rhodesia. In January 1966 in an army coup d’état Sir Abu Bakr was kidnapped and killed.
Patrice Lumumba, the first legally elected prime minister of the Central African country of Congo was assassinated 50 years ago on 17 January, 1961. This heinous crime was a culmination of two inter-related assassination plots by American and Belgian governments which used Congolese accomplices and a Belgian execution squad to carry out the crime.
Thus mercilessly massacring third world leaders has been an integral part of US and Europe- self declared champions of democracy, freedom and human rights. The Western media which has always been integral part of US –European war machines justified these imperialist plots against newly independent countries.
The US and Europe also created opposition groups, financed , trained and supplied them with weapons to instigate armed struggle and turned many third world countries which tried to assert their independence into killing fields.
Sir Abu-Bakr Tafawa Balewa
Thus colonial powers, led by United States, never allowed newly independent countries to settle down to follow an independent policy and program to uplift their downtrodden and illiterate people. As a result post colonial era was marked by armed conflicts, coups, economic crisis manipulated by World Bank and IMF prevented developing countries from raising their heads. Political freedom meant nothing for people who remain poor and illiterate while their precious natural resources were plundered by US and European multinational corporations.
This situation continued until the 1989 collapse of Soviet Union which paid the price for invading and destroying Afghanistan besides killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Afghan men, women and children. Afghans got Russians to bleed and collapse -something no one expected almost a decade ago when the Soviet super power dispatched troops into poverty stricken Afghanistan.
However after the collapse of Soviet Empire those third world countries allied with Soviet socialist bloc were left in lurch with no alternative other than to turn to the capitalist camp led by US which was busy pursuing its goal of “Global Political, Economic and Military Dominance” ..
In fact with the US emerging as the sole super power, people worldwide expected winds of freedom and democracy will blow all over and the US would turn the planet into a battle free, conflict free, exploitation free place where all could live in peace and harmony.
Instead to the shock and dismay of all, the US whose economy has been based on wars, destruction and exploitation has prepared its agenda for global domination with a globalization program combined with ruthless and senseless military invasions to plunder the resources of third world countries such as Iraq, Libya, Somalia and Afghanistan.
The globalization provided open license for corporate conglomerates to enter developing countries freely and establish their domination wiping out small time local players throwing thousands of people out of jobs causing poverty and misery. These multinational companies included oil, weapons, banking and finance, pharmaceutical and almost every possible conceivable economic sector.
Explaining this program of the American ruling class as the extension of the Monroe Doctrine to the rest of the world, well known world class economist Samir Amin had said;
“The project that the US ruling class has cherished since 1945 now has five objectives;1-to neutralize and subjugate other triad partners ( Europe and Japan) to minimize their capacity to act outside the American fold ,2- to establish military control over NATO and to Latin Americanize the former parts of the Soviet world,3-to assert undivided control over the Middle East and its oil resources,4-to break up China to ensure the subordination of the major states (India,Brazil) and to prevent the constitution of any regional blocs that might renegotiate the terms of globalization; and 5- to marginalize regions in the South that are of no strategic interest.
The project which was devised after Potsdam and grounded on the American nuclear monopoly, has always assigned a key role to its military dimensions. In a very short time US put in place a global military strategy, divided the globe into number of regions, and created several” Military Commands” to take responsibility for each. The aim was to make Washington the worldwide master of last resort-in other words extent to the whole planet the Monroe doctrine that had already staked its claims to run the New World in accordance with its own ”national interest”.
The project implies that the US sovereign national interest should hold sway over all other principles defining what is regarded as legitimate political behavior; it leads to systematic distrust of all international law. The US ruling class freely proclaims that it will not tolerate the reconstitution of any economic or military power capable of challenging its global domination.To this end, it has given itself the right to wage wars,” said Samir Amin in 2006.
However some analysts believe that this US military power is only tip of the iceberg, prolonging its economic, political and cultural superiority. The hegemonic strategy of US which operates within the framework of the new collective imperialism, seeks nothing less than to establish Washington’s military control over the entire planet .This is the means to ensure privileged access to all of the world’s natural resources and to compel the entire third world to swallow their status as vassals. Military control of the planet is the means to impose, as a last resort, the draining of tribute through political violence- as a substitute for the” spontaneous” flow of capital that offsets the American deficits, the Achilles heel of the US hegemony. The aim of this strategy is neither to ensure open markets for all (which exist only in the propaganda of neoliberal sycophants) nor, of course, to make democracy prevail throughout the world.
Little more than two decades later today free market economy has become the international economic order involving almost every country in the world .Today the Western colonial masters, now led by America, have reentered their colonies with big bang and judging from the current trend, developing world was swept away by globalization.
Today Globalization has devastating impact in the developing countries where most economic sectors ranging from education, health, agriculture, trade, industries and almost every other sector was taken over or under the influence of US – European multinational corporations. Centuries old traditional local industries based on indigenous raw material began to disappear. Nation states started to collapse. Of course the globalization though brought countries and people worldwide together with numerous benefits, also brought in waves of bribery and corruption with devastating effects on people of all walks of life and the established order.
The introduction of American gangster culture resulted in the inevitable erosion of centuries old customs, traditions and family values in the developing world. Internet facilities, though a great blessing, has opened floodgates of sexual carnage with negative impact on the moral values especially of the younger generation.
The engines of prosperity reshaping global markets dented the Middle class worldwide. In the whirlpool of these changes people, in their drive to make quick money for survival sacrificed cherished human qualities such as honesty and integrity. Teaming up of politicians and corporate conglomerates made the situation worse.
As pointed out by Kenichi Ohmae, a well known Japanese business guru, in his book “The End of the Nation State-The rise of Regional Powers that” among the powerful forces shaping the current global economy is the irreversible effects of technology. Indeed, so powerful are these affect that, the genie of global information flow is out of the bottle and there can be no turning back. Against this kind of current, no traditional strategy, no familiar line of policy, and no entrenched form of organization can stand untouched or unchanged.
With the large majority of poor becoming poor and the small minority of rich becoming extremely richer the ever widening gap started leading to unrest. There is widespread discontent worldwide among the poor. Ever increasing unemployment, poverty and ever rising cost of living play havoc in the lives of millions worldwide. For example women who led peaceful life under the state controlled economies, especially those in the former East Bloc countries, have taken to the oldest profession, prostitution, as the only latest profession for survival. In fact this has become an industry itself in many countries resulting in sexual anarchy. Meanwhile farmers committing suicide in India and other countries have become common occurrence.
Under the circumstance many predict a global uprising, against the rich, which could radically change the world economic, social and political scenes. Already IMF chief Christine Lagarde, speaking of a crisis of confidence with high employment and slowing global growth; said last week in Nigeria that the world economy is in a very dangerous juncture.
Demonstrating the bitterness of the poor against the rich three Ukrainian women went topless in subzero weather in the Swiss ski resort of Davos last week protesting against the annual World Economic Forum which they described as “gangster party” which made them poor. They wanted to draw attention to sexual exploitation.
Already poor started rising up against the rich in America, Britain and all over Europe. The question is whether this will become a worldwide movement and threaten the established so called economic order which served the rich against the poor.
