Understanding change

Change is a universal law that applies to nature, society and thought. It is something that cannot be stopped. However, if its direction is known one could direct it for human benefit.

The world is also changing. In fact, it has been changing since its origin. What interest us here, however, are the economic and political changes that had taken place in the world recently and the process of change that is going on at present.

At the time Sri Lanka gained Independence the world was divided into two hostile camps with the US and USSR leading them. A wave of powerful liberation revolutions swept across the Afro-Asian region heralding the birth of several dozen new independent states. Sri Lanka, despite independence continued to follow the economic and political prescriptions of the colonizer until 1956 when the masses brought about a visible change in the country's foreign policy which from then on took an independent and non-aligned character.

The world was bi-polar then. The third quarter of that century saw the demise of the USSR and the birth of a unipolar world dominated by the United States. However, even this unipolar world that seemed invincible and perennial had now lost its potency. A new multi-polar world is emerging. In this new scenario the centre of gravity of world production has shifted east - to Asia. India and China two nascent giants are increasingly calling the shots in the world political stage.

Understanding this dynamic of the change in world reality is an essential prerequisite for any country to charter its foreign policy. The second factor to be kept in mind is the extreme interlinked nature of international relations on account of technological change and the onset of the new globalization phase in world history.

Unfortunately these factors are hardly understood by many who advocate still the return to a foreign policy that is basically oriented towards the west. Nor do they understand the national interest of the country. Foreign policy is only an extension of the domestic policy. Sri Lanka which defeated LTTE terrorism needs to consolidate victory, achieve national reconciliation and develop the country to assure a better deal for its citizens. It is the imperatives of this interest that should guide the country's foreign policy. That is why the West, which is annoyed at the loss of its pre-eminent and hegemonic role, is attempting to brand Sri Lanka as a failed or a pariah state.

The denial of GSP plus and other unfriendly acts are a result of their determination to regain lost hegemony. Sri Lanka has earned the displeasure of major western powers. It could do so only because of the change of the balance of forces in the world.

However, Sri Lanka needs the west as a friend and partner though not as an elder brother. It has to mend fences with the west for the economic links with them have to be maintained and improved in the interests of economic development. Just as our relations with the west should not be at the cost of our relations with the east, the converse is also true. What is required is mature diplomacy. The new Government that would be formed on the results of the General Election on April 8 should identify the personnel that could conduct such mature diplomacy and rein in the multiple unauthorized spokesmen that engaged in megaphone diplomacy which only complicated our external relations.

As stated in this column earlier the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has more relevance today as the direction of change in the world is towards a more vigourous role for it in world affairs. Sri Lanka, a founding member of NAM, therefore has a special role to play in the movement. Belittling its role or misinterpreting it as some scribes are attempting to do would not benefit Sri Lanka.

Contrary to the opinion of the detractors Sri Lanka's standing in the international community has risen during the past four years. It now chairs SAARC and ACD (Asian Cooperation Dialogue) and is scheduled to takeover the Chair of the G 15. It is a member of many regional blocs such as BIMSTEC and IOR - ARC (Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation).