Wednesday 14 September 2016

Independent foreign policy?

We, the Philippines, have an independent foreign policy, that is based on our constitution. Big words again form the Duterte government. But what do those words really mean?

Every country has an independent foreign policy in the sense that countries themselves determine what their political, economic, military and cultural relationship to other countries is, should or could be.

Our world however is interconnected and interdependent. Almost everything that happens in one place has its influence on other places. Independence is no more than a theoretical proposition and part of an old, outlived paradigm in foreign policy. It's part of the (secret) 'games' our politicians out of narrow minded self-interest, influenced by the big businesses and so called national security agencies, still play. It's why they have led us from one unnecessary war to the next and lost the trust of so many people.It's why in so many countries democracy is under severe pressure.

The time of colonialism indeed lays long behind us, although some people (like President Duterte) haven't forgot it and there is nothing wrong with not forgetting even when the memory sometimes seems to be selective.

Although there might be no hard, open pressure, there surely is soft and hard unseen pressure on countries foreign policies. We are not likely to hear harsh words of Duterte against Russia, Saudi-Arabia, the United Arabic Emirates, Qatar or Malaysia. Why not? Because for more than 90% the Philippines is depending on their oil. Even the forced repatriation of 11,000 OFW's, who lost their jobs in Saudi-Arabia didn't provoke any hard words from the President. No, he simply allocated 249 million pesos to bring them home, because the government of The Philippines doesn't want them to become a burden to the host nation, one of the richest countries in the world.

President Duterte is not only fighting a' war' against illegal drugs, but also his own mini-'war' against the United States of America, a country that he apparently doesn't like very much. So what we are witnessing is a change in the foreign policy course of the Philippines. Duterte is looking for new close friends in Asia and especially wants a closer relationship to China and Russia. That is what independent foreign policy really means. That's why the South-Chinese Sea issue will be settled between The Philippines and China, much to the discomfort of the United States, whose foreign policy is mainly aimed at encircling Russia and China with the help of numerous allies.

The new paradigm for foreign policy however should acknowledge that we all are interdependent on this earth and that we have a shared responsibility to preserve and share this planet we live on for our children and grandchildren, a responsibility to keep it livable, safe, secure and peaceful for all. We cannot on the one hand condemn a nation or nations for not interfering when a dictator slays his own people and at the same time defend the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of a country. Everything that happens at any place on this earth is of our business. Narrow minded self-interest is not a good compass to sail by.