The importance of Commercial Diplomacy
06/05/2010
- Opinión
In essence, colonialism is an economic issue: to perpetuate an unequal trade. Independence is a political issue: it is to decide internally who governs. There are cases where the difference between them is clear, usually in civil wars, as in the Mexican Revolution in which both sides were furnished by the same supplier. Sovereignty is perhaps the word that best describes the situation when a government controls both, the political space and the economic space.
The seventeenth century brought a precursor of modern multinational corporations: the private colonial sovereign company. The most successful model was the English East India Company – whose flag inspired that of the United States - that by the end of the eighteenth century ruled what is now Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Burma.
The model has not changed, but for two more dangerous developments:
1. Multinational corporations are no any longer associated with their country of origin, but are stateless business cartels that rule countries - including their own original one – controlling their governments;
2. That unequal trade is being forged with a new Public International Law, negotiated into agreements at WTO and other international forums. The most dangerous thing is that it is necessary to know the technical issues, because one rule is that silence is consent. Not that it can be avoided, because the countries agreed to play by these rules and there are 153 of them involved.
The seventeenth century brought a precursor of modern multinational corporations: the private colonial sovereign company. The most successful model was the English East India Company – whose flag inspired that of the United States - that by the end of the eighteenth century ruled what is now Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Burma.
The model has not changed, but for two more dangerous developments:
1. Multinational corporations are no any longer associated with their country of origin, but are stateless business cartels that rule countries - including their own original one – controlling their governments;
2. That unequal trade is being forged with a new Public International Law, negotiated into agreements at WTO and other international forums. The most dangerous thing is that it is necessary to know the technical issues, because one rule is that silence is consent. Not that it can be avoided, because the countries agreed to play by these rules and there are 153 of them involved.
The bait was to promise to give more space in developed markets to the exports of the Developing World. That mask fell. The goal now is to reduce the space for independent economic policy to enrich cartels whose only motivation is universal greed.
Greed practiced as a religion for tribal benefit, monotheistic and universal. His God is the Market, invisible and vengeful, whose favour is manipulated. Its Mystery is to always seek monopoly under the dogma of free competition. It promises a paradise of infinite wealth for the elect and a hell of poverty for the rest. As the cultivated Emperor Giuliano (361 -363) said: "There are those who do rounded business with the stolid."[1]
Contrast between domestic and international.
Greed practiced as a religion for tribal benefit, monotheistic and universal. His God is the Market, invisible and vengeful, whose favour is manipulated. Its Mystery is to always seek monopoly under the dogma of free competition. It promises a paradise of infinite wealth for the elect and a hell of poverty for the rest. As the cultivated Emperor Giuliano (361 -363) said: "There are those who do rounded business with the stolid."[1]
Contrast between domestic and international.
A striking thing about the agreements and proposals on international trade is that they deal less with foreign trade exchange than with the reduction for domestic policy space. Precisely when the present crisis shows the need to preserve the freedom to make policies and regulations according to national needs. The results obvious.
The dismantling of laws and regulations in the financial sector agreed at the General Agreement on Trade in Services - GATS, and in the Free Trade Agreements FTAs-are the leading cause that allowed Wall Street poisonous financial products to circulate and reach the proportion of global fraud. This crisis – because it keeps going- is also evidence of how vulnerable are the countries that dismantled their protections and now depend on the global market for their basic needs, such as food.
It is therefore necessary, for countries that still have free economies or seek to get out of the tyranny of international cartels, to posses a knowledge about the international economy, its objectives, strategies, tactics, mechanics and tools. It's a scarce science in countries with a colonial past, because centuries of colonial monopolies and an emancipation under neo-colonial elites, have made it difficult to learn. Sovereignty is something referred to the international concert, where the economy and, more specifically, trade, are the engines from time immemorial.
Sovereignty is a word that is very much declaimed and exercised little. Its exercise is to design national economic and social policies that lead to a decent standard of living. What is sought in such international negotiations is to extend the culture of importing ideas, exporting commodities and protection as national industries the reuse of international industrial scrap. It is time to train people capable of researching and developing proposals appropriate to the national realities and different from the litanies at "Washington Consensus" Conclaves.
The dismantling of laws and regulations in the financial sector agreed at the General Agreement on Trade in Services - GATS, and in the Free Trade Agreements FTAs-are the leading cause that allowed Wall Street poisonous financial products to circulate and reach the proportion of global fraud. This crisis – because it keeps going- is also evidence of how vulnerable are the countries that dismantled their protections and now depend on the global market for their basic needs, such as food.
It is therefore necessary, for countries that still have free economies or seek to get out of the tyranny of international cartels, to posses a knowledge about the international economy, its objectives, strategies, tactics, mechanics and tools. It's a scarce science in countries with a colonial past, because centuries of colonial monopolies and an emancipation under neo-colonial elites, have made it difficult to learn. Sovereignty is something referred to the international concert, where the economy and, more specifically, trade, are the engines from time immemorial.
Sovereignty is a word that is very much declaimed and exercised little. Its exercise is to design national economic and social policies that lead to a decent standard of living. What is sought in such international negotiations is to extend the culture of importing ideas, exporting commodities and protection as national industries the reuse of international industrial scrap. It is time to train people capable of researching and developing proposals appropriate to the national realities and different from the litanies at "Washington Consensus" Conclaves.
Academy and Team Building
It is necessary to investigate, teach and disseminate knowledge about the actual conditions and the issues now being debated about the international economy. Thinkers with a social vision of the economy - Sismondi, Marx, List, Polanyi, Pareto, Schumpeter, Leontief, Sonbart, Hirshman, Georgescu, Goodwin, Reinert – are not mentioned in academic courses. What abound are abstractions by Adam Smith, David Ricardo, the Austrian School or the Chicago School. None of the latter suggests an avenue out of poverty – they do not even mention education - but recommend comfortable openings for concentrating wealth.
Universities in countries with progressive governments must update their programs, assuming the present realities and exploring so many good ideas that have been ignored. Let’s abandon academic laziness and stop copying foreign programs and employing the same illustrations for 10 consecutive years. It is urgent to prepare political scientists, economists, sociologists, journalists and other professionals in areas related directly to a vision of social development. It is urgent to train the staff responsible for international economic policy, for state enterprises that deal with international issues and to expand the international culture of the analysts.
It is urgent to acquire a commercial diplomacy with expertise on subscribed trade agreements and new proposals, that has initiative before the strategies and tactics deployed to impose economic concessions. It is essential to have a good command of English in order to influence and foster coalitions that reach farther than the language barrier and because discussions at the negotiating groups (G-20 G-33, etc.) are in English and in multilateral circles everything is decided before formal discussions, which are the only ones with simultaneous interpretation.
The multilateral world
Universities in countries with progressive governments must update their programs, assuming the present realities and exploring so many good ideas that have been ignored. Let’s abandon academic laziness and stop copying foreign programs and employing the same illustrations for 10 consecutive years. It is urgent to prepare political scientists, economists, sociologists, journalists and other professionals in areas related directly to a vision of social development. It is urgent to train the staff responsible for international economic policy, for state enterprises that deal with international issues and to expand the international culture of the analysts.
It is urgent to acquire a commercial diplomacy with expertise on subscribed trade agreements and new proposals, that has initiative before the strategies and tactics deployed to impose economic concessions. It is essential to have a good command of English in order to influence and foster coalitions that reach farther than the language barrier and because discussions at the negotiating groups (G-20 G-33, etc.) are in English and in multilateral circles everything is decided before formal discussions, which are the only ones with simultaneous interpretation.
The multilateral world
The multilateral world has two very different environments. The best known is the United Nations Organization, UN, whose General Assembly and Security Council are based in New York and most of its other agencies are in Geneva. The most popular in the press is the Human Rights Commission, where every year there is the grotesque spectacle of the U. S. – manager of "collateral" deaths, official torture, illegal invasions and blockades –pontificating and designating those guilty of violations of humanitarian law.
The UN is the most important international political body, but is powerless. It needs approval from the five permanent members of the Security Council to do anything. It is the best theatre to recite opinions and deploy traditional diplomacy. Sometimes it rises above its limitations, as when Michael Escoto, President of General Assembly, appointed a commission which has had its own approach - and a more realistic one than the G-20- to the economic crisis. Despite the political weight, convictions and decisions at the UN do not bite, only in very grave cases or of countries without sponsors are sanctions approved or blue-helmed peacekeepers sent.
The other multilateral environment, has less public resonance and deals with concrete things, such as the international economic relations. The most notorious and recent is the World Trade Organization - WTO. There are more low key agencies that also handle economic issues. WIPO manages Intellectual Property and there are plotted the measures to maintain scientific and technological exclusivity. Other important agencies are UNCTAD, the International Labour Organization - ILO or the World Health Organization -WHO, where the swine influenza (H1N1) case showed a complicity with Big Pharma drug manufacturers. It is noteworthy that all organizations with global economic impact have been based in Geneva ... and that is no accident.
The complex expertise required by international economic relations, pushes many countries to have independent permanent mission[2] to address these issues separately. In Latin America, only a few keep a single mission for everything: Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Argentina and Cuba prepare their staff in special courses and have highly qualified teams, which are rotated between their foreign ministries and their Geneva missions. Ecuador and Uruguay have very skilled people at home and keep in their missions veteran experts giving technical continuity to political changes. Bolivia, with limited resources, defends only key positions, but with great technical vehemence.
Importance of having training and research of its own
The UN is the most important international political body, but is powerless. It needs approval from the five permanent members of the Security Council to do anything. It is the best theatre to recite opinions and deploy traditional diplomacy. Sometimes it rises above its limitations, as when Michael Escoto, President of General Assembly, appointed a commission which has had its own approach - and a more realistic one than the G-20- to the economic crisis. Despite the political weight, convictions and decisions at the UN do not bite, only in very grave cases or of countries without sponsors are sanctions approved or blue-helmed peacekeepers sent.
The other multilateral environment, has less public resonance and deals with concrete things, such as the international economic relations. The most notorious and recent is the World Trade Organization - WTO. There are more low key agencies that also handle economic issues. WIPO manages Intellectual Property and there are plotted the measures to maintain scientific and technological exclusivity. Other important agencies are UNCTAD, the International Labour Organization - ILO or the World Health Organization -WHO, where the swine influenza (H1N1) case showed a complicity with Big Pharma drug manufacturers. It is noteworthy that all organizations with global economic impact have been based in Geneva ... and that is no accident.
The complex expertise required by international economic relations, pushes many countries to have independent permanent mission[2] to address these issues separately. In Latin America, only a few keep a single mission for everything: Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Argentina and Cuba prepare their staff in special courses and have highly qualified teams, which are rotated between their foreign ministries and their Geneva missions. Ecuador and Uruguay have very skilled people at home and keep in their missions veteran experts giving technical continuity to political changes. Bolivia, with limited resources, defends only key positions, but with great technical vehemence.
Importance of having training and research of its own
The game is among many small countries and the international corporations represented by fewer countries but with very powerful means. The advantage of the small ones is to be right, but you must know your reason well and handle it with skill. For that it is necessary to develop an own investigative unit and update teaching programs. The complex and rapid manoeuvring around issues requires following closely the negotiation centres in Geneva (WTO, UNCTAD, WIPO, etc..) where standards and interpretations are proposed. For those missions lacking or weak in specialised staff, a common unit for technical support, monitoring and training could be created in Geneva.
Actually, there are few specialists in Geneva not working for the international cartels and many non-governmental organizations -NGOs-are merely camouflage for those same interests. More genuine NGOs do not usually handle technical issues and there is no one dealing with those specific issues of Latin American or those of ALBA. The courses of international agencies to government officials serve the interest of those who pay for them. The technique is to teach certain aspects of the issues and ignore others.
One example is the issue of agriculture, a vital one for many developing countries. At WTO courses, trade tariffs, quantitative restrictions and safeguards are designated as barriers to agricultural trade. They are all transparent protection measures, used by Developing World countries to maintain good prices for domestic producers. There is never mention of Developed World agricultural subsidies that give a false competitiveness to its products and lower international prices, which brings ruin or poverty in peasants of both worlds, but lower cost for big agribusinesses. Negotiation simulations only deal with tariff reductions, never with reducing subsidies, which however is the much debated issue that blocks WTO’s negotiations.
An interesting initiative
Actually, there are few specialists in Geneva not working for the international cartels and many non-governmental organizations -NGOs-are merely camouflage for those same interests. More genuine NGOs do not usually handle technical issues and there is no one dealing with those specific issues of Latin American or those of ALBA. The courses of international agencies to government officials serve the interest of those who pay for them. The technique is to teach certain aspects of the issues and ignore others.
One example is the issue of agriculture, a vital one for many developing countries. At WTO courses, trade tariffs, quantitative restrictions and safeguards are designated as barriers to agricultural trade. They are all transparent protection measures, used by Developing World countries to maintain good prices for domestic producers. There is never mention of Developed World agricultural subsidies that give a false competitiveness to its products and lower international prices, which brings ruin or poverty in peasants of both worlds, but lower cost for big agribusinesses. Negotiation simulations only deal with tariff reductions, never with reducing subsidies, which however is the much debated issue that blocks WTO’s negotiations.
An interesting initiative
In March, during the XII Meeting of Economists on Globalization and Development in Havana, some Cuban, Spanish and Venezuelan speakers, meeting with people from the Venezuelan Embassy in Cuba, spoke about a Commercial Diplomacy course. The program is now ready and covers the international economy, multilateral trade negotiation issues and bilateral free trade agreements. The course length is 48 hours, in an intense week. The course is organized by the Centre for Research on International Economics, CRIE / CIEI, University of Havana, in collaboration with the University of Castilla-La Mancha. At the end they will issue a joint Commercial Diplomacy Specialist Diploma.
The first course will be held in Havana, but is intended as a roving course with a teaching staff that can travel to other countries, as with the Cuban medical assistance. This is a first step to cure the chronic lack of international business initiative, carried over from the colonial era, when the only option for international trade was to graduate as a smuggler.
The first course will be held in Havana, but is intended as a roving course with a teaching staff that can travel to other countries, as with the Cuban medical assistance. This is a first step to cure the chronic lack of international business initiative, carried over from the colonial era, when the only option for international trade was to graduate as a smuggler.
- Umberto Mazzei has a PhD in political science from the University of Florence. He has taught international economics at universities in Colombia, Venezuela and Guatemala. He is Director of the Institute of International Economic Relations in Geneva.
https://www.alainet.org/en/articulo/141252
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