The Wooden Horse of Merkel
The
prospect of Greece exiting the Euro becomes ever closer as the
country lurches from crisis to crisis. Greek politicians have
accused the EU of imposing onerous burdens on the counrty for the
release of much needed bail-out monies. The EU and monetary
institutions have said that they have no choice and that Greece can,
in effect, take it or leave it. Under such conditions we should not
be too surprised if the Greek government finally gives in to popular
public pressure and exits the monetary union.
If
Greece can persuade Russia and China to step in and fill the gap by
providing much needed credit it might not just survive outside the Euro but actually prosper as the Switzerland (or Monaco) of the
Mediterranean.
The
fascinating thing about China is that it is not tied to the 'old'
colonial (mercantilist) or European or U.S. models of trade-aid,
investment and business.
For
example, the business model in parts of Africa is to offer to develop
the entire infrastructure for a country rather than piecemeal
development tied to foreign NGOs and aid.
This
model is much more acceptable for a developing country than one
single project.
The
business model in the United States simply cannot adjust to this way
of doing business since the U.S. government cannot instruct the
private sector to operate according to it's vision for the United
States in Africa over the next 100 years. Such thinking is outside
the Anglo-Saxon (European) world financial parameters for the
conduct of international commerce by private and stock listed
conglomerates.
This is of course in return for guaranteed exclusive strategic resources, raw materials and mining rights for periods of 50-100 years.
This is of course in return for guaranteed exclusive strategic resources, raw materials and mining rights for periods of 50-100 years.
Then
there is the issue of politics. China is always reluctant to get involved
in the internal affairs of countries it is trading with. This is
for two immediate reasons. It does not at present have the
logistical capability to project it's considerable military power
globally. Secondly, for so long as the country it is trading with
is politically stable, it sees no reason to 'play internal politics'
so issues such as human rights are not as important as political
stability whether under a totalitarian regime or benevolent
dictatorship. There is no 'public pressure' to respond to within
China for the conduct of it's foreign relations. Indeed , with the
exception of Japan, the concept of public and media 'pressure'
determining foreign policy is non-existent – unless organised and
approved by the State itself.
Of
course it would like to 'export' its own development model – and
indeed Africa could be a very fertile continent for a 'new beginning'
having been left a patchwork of artificially created boundary nations
by the departing colonial powers. To give one example, until very
recently African citizens of Francophone countries sharing common
borders, beside one another, had to travel by air through Paris to get
to the country next door (!) Such absurdities are matched in the
Caribbean - another area where China is making considerable in-roads
for the simple reason that there are untapped or some might say
underdeveloped economic potentials which the colonial powers have
ignored in favor of a (now outdated) mercantilist system of bilateral
trade-aid. This master-servant relationship is now being challenged
by new players with very different development models.
Inter-trade
between Caribbean islands has been stunted in favor of the bilateral
relations with the former colonial powers. Again China has
understood that within this vacuum is a vast untapped potential for
inter-development and inter-trade amongst the islands of the
Caribbean to its own advantage whilst at the same time showing
Caribbean islands what their true potential could be as a 'bloc'.
Perhaps it takes an outside force of a non-military kind with the
resources to show what new possibilities could exist under different
parameters?
Not
everyone of course is happy with Chinese investment but, as with any
pioneers, you have to admire their spirit of adventure – being
prepared to risk all in foreign lands in the hope of future success.
It's a major trek from China to Africa or to The Caribbean.
No less a trek than it was for Christopher Columbus or the great
Arab explorers Ibn Battuta and Ibn Majid or Marco Polo or indeed the
great Chinese Treasure Fleet under Admiral Cheng Ho or Scylax
of Caryanda.
In terms of the mission, for
China, it is an even bigger trek today to Africa than the one to Greece.
At least in Greece systems of civic society are highly developed over
thousands of years. In Africa there are major challenges. In the
Caribbean, because of it's proximity to the major superpower -The
United States - and it's inheritance of Anglo-Saxon systems of
governance (in much the same way as Europe inherited Greco-Roman
civilization as it's foundation) systems are in place in civic
society which only require 'kick-starting' or 'rebooting' to realise
their fuller potentials as clusters of autonomous economic entities
or units in their own right whilst also trading with the rest of the
world. China has seen an underdeveloped potential and is rapidly
exploiting it in a way Western economies either have no desire to do
or are not configured to invest within.
So
when I hear or read media comments about the imminent 'collapse' of
Greece into bankruptcy, anarchy and chaos, I often wonder whether
any of the individuals writing such nonsense ever actually studied
the history of Greece from four thousand year ago or indeed have ever
cared to remember where their own European civilization developed out
of?
Because
if they had, they would not be so dismissive of the Greeks when their
backs are up against the wall and 'enemies' are at the gates or on the
beaches or raining fire and brimstone.
There
is a saying ''when the going gets tough, the tough get going.''
The
Wooden Horse of Merkel may well be in for a 'surprise' reception as
the troops disembark!
©Patrick
Emek, 2015
