A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
(Full Story)
Search This Blog
Back to 500BC.
==========================
Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Saturday, June 3, 2017
Thank you, Mr. President
Excellent those measures were – but the context in which they were applied has changed. What was instrumental 70 years ago and designed to help rebuild from destruction no longer holds true since decades.
( June 2, 2017, Washington DC, Sri Lanka Guardian) Here
we go again: The U.S president is attacked on a global scale for his
thinking on trade and investments. Mrs. Merkel, chancellor of Germany
even announced a “new chapter in U.S. European relations” and stated
that “Europe must take our fate into our own hands’’. Similar
accusations had been raised in 1980 after the election of President
Reagan. He was labelled a B class actor, a cowboy and an inexperienced
but lucky vote gainer. The accusers were wrong then and they are wrong
now!
President Trump lived up to his convictions during the tense G-7
political summit just as he had already done during and after the U.S.
presidential campaign. No surprises there when he reflected on the need
for more balanced trade relations and the requirement for all nations to
pay a fair contribution for the benefits they obtained from the United
States.
U.S. support to the European countries harks back 1947 to New Hampshire.
The Bretton Woods negotiations were guided by generosity, kindness and
by the threat of Soviet expansion. The U.S. created rules for trade in
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Also emerged new
support of currencies with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). A new
approach to alleviate poverty and support reconstruction came from the
World Bank. What generosity of spirit after years of mortal conflict!
Excellent those measures were – but the context in which they were
applied has changed. What was instrumental 70 years ago and designed to
help rebuild from destruction no longer holds true since decades. U.S.
global rules consisted of giving other countries and firms constantly a
little nudge to do better. At the same time U.S. international economic
needs were ignored, since North American firms were expected to take
care of themselves.
At any given year, this approach was acceptable and demonstrated that in
the U.S. it’s not just profit that matters, but that we have a soul.
Yet even if such support for allies abroad was only half of one percent
per year, after 7 decades the numbers add up. Just check with the
British economy and see its former world currency, the pound. Small but
consistent degradations over time have wreaked havoc with its former
pride of leadership.
President Trump reflected U.S. leadership when raising the need for
greater circumspection in trade, investment and defense. No longer
should there be continuous special flows of funds and privileges from
the U.S. to Europe. Times have changed and Europe can stand on its own.
But Europeans won’t do it by themselves. Changes could have come based
on the gigantic peace dividend which came onto Europe after 1985. But
instead of investing the newfound funds into private expenditures, new
R&D and greater global participation, the dividend was squandered
inefficiently. Now there are substantial trade imbalances, insufficient
budgets for necessities, and high deprivations of personal incomes. It
makes sense to aim for a balanced and future oriented relationship both
within Europe itself and between Europe and the U.S.
President Trump has given Europe a necessary nudge which may help
nations to get on the right track and to garner speed of progress. In
past times such activity was labelled as that of a ‘patron’. Those who
helped rectify shortfalls were called ‘friends’. Today change is held up
by European leaders and media as example of imprudence since it will
require change. Of course it will and that is good and long overdue.
Relationships that are rigidly frozen in place cannot last. Dynamism and
mutual adjustment are the fuel of progress. It is time for new bonds
and new trust bridges. Europe, you are welcome !
Professor
Michael Czinkota (czinkotm@georgetown.edu) teaches international
marketing at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business in
Washington D.C. and the University of Kent at Canterbury, U.K. His key
book (with Ilkka Ronkainen) is International Marketing, 10th ed.,
CENGAGE