By Abbati Bako
Global economic power and Liberal Democracy can be called “Liberal Democracy.
Representative Democracy, Constitutional Democracy or Electoral Democracy.”
Liberal Democracy is a political system created by enlightenment groups in Europe in 17century to replace mornachy system which dominated European Nations then.
Liberalism in European societies means political governance based on election, freedom, equality and justice in society. Also, to owned wealth and properties by individuals or groups of persons in society. That’s called Capitalism or Capitalist oriented society.
Liberal Democracy has dominated Europe and other continents of the world. It’s again, called presidential system of government that is being practices in USA, Nigeria and many nations of the world (both in Northern parts of the world or South South Nations).
On the other hand, social Democracy is another form of liberal Democracy or Electoral Democracy/representative Democracy that has been in practice in UK, India, Brazil, France, Japan and many more. Again, called Parliamentary Democracy.
Chinese form of governance (Communism, Socialism or called Direct Democracy) celebrated the practice of the system for the past 70 years. And again, the 40 years economic plan based on strategic calendar timeframe has been successfully achieved in the year 2018. China is (now) the second global largest economy in the world. America is the largest economy with 26%GDP and China is the second with 19.5% of global GDP and then Japan, Germany, France, UK and so on.
George Friedman observed that “Any discussion of the future has to begin with a discussion with China. One quarter of the world lives in China and there has been a great deal of discussion of China as a future global power. It’s economy has been surging dramatically in the past thirty years, and it is certainly a significant power. But thirty years of growth does not means unending growth. It means that the probability of China continuing to grow at this rate is diminishing.
And in the case of China, slower growth means substantial social and political problems. I don’t share the view that China is going to be a major world power. I don’t even believe it will hold together as a unified country. But I do agree that we can’t discuss the future without first discussing China”.
On the other hand the elected Malaysian Prime Minister Muhattir Muhammad brilliantly argued that “the world must follow China”. This means that China will soon be a global leader. Malaysia is among 30 global emerging democracies and economies in the world.
And again, “China’s geography makes it unlikely that it will become an active fault line. If it were to become an area of conflict, it will be less China striking out than China becoming the victim of others taking advantage of its weakness. China’s economy is not nearly as robust as it might seem, and its political stability,which depends heavily on continuing rapid growth, is even more precarious. China is important, however, because it appears to be the most likely global challenger in the near term-at least in the minds of others”. George Friedman USA, 2009.
But by the creation of BRICS’s in recent years and the G77+ the world economy may change direction by the year 2030 or there about.The world is not stagnant there maybe changes especially on economic interplay or political and military power.
World Politics/Economic/Social issues———
Since 2001 the world political temperature has been rising beyond the imagination of political scientists. In almost every continent, there is political, economic or social problem that afflicting the people. Middle-east is the area to watch, as it is there peace is measured by hours. The Iraq war, the Israeli – Palestinians conflicts, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Libyan crisis in north Africa especially the issue of flood which killed thousand of people. Yemen/Saudi Arabia (the negotiation and mediations is still ongoing, Syria’s internal crises and the Iran nuclear dispute with USA and Western World and different sanctions against Iran by the USA and the refusal of other Western Nations on the sanctions and the some year’s political and economic dispute between S/Arabia and Canada. Also, the dispute between Qatar/Saudi Arabia and Arabian nations mostly has been resolved. And again, the settlement between Israel and other Arabian peninsula nations is still on the way.
In the African continent, the crises in Sudan,
Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, the political (some years ago) turmoil in Algeria, the insurgency and coup d’etat in Niger Republic, Mali, Benin Republic, B/Faso, Nigeria, Chad, Cameron and the chronic poverty and diseases such as AIDS/ HIV, malaria and T. B. Ebola as well as corruption which dwarf the continent to moves forward in competitiveness among global nations. The bad governance, conflicts, trapped resources and Landlocked Continent of Africa. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and leaders in Nigeria and other African Nations must wake-up and play actively to lead Africa out of the wood. Otherwise, Africa may remain in doom.
In Asia, although the war in Srilanka with Tamil Tigers ended few years peace in the area is still uncertain. The Afghanistan war, the Pakistan and India’s peace negotiation is still fragile. Also tribal conflict in Indonesia remains unsolved. The North and South Korea and the North Korea’s nuclear dispute remain major political problems with USA and Western Nations, China/Taiwan issue and China/ Tibet not yet politically addressed. The current war between the Ukraine and Russia has tremendously affected the global economy. And it seems that the solution not yet on the way. Ukraine and Russia’s war have greatly affected food security in the world.
In Europe, the Balkan area is still under NATO’s care, the Georgia and Russia still at loggerhead and huge economic crunch afflicting the eastern European Nations; even the western ones such as Greece, Spain and Portugal were badly affected few years ago. The accession of Turkey into EU and the Turkey’s problems with Kurds and Cyprus are all political/economic cold war that needs to be tackled by the global leadership.
The just concluded G77+ meeting in Havana, Cuba is not worrying to the US but on the other hand economic point of view maybe suspicious to US’s future generations.
In Americas, the Cuba is no longer a threat to the USA (security wise) but the relationship with Venezuela is not cordial. And again, rampant poverty in South and Central America needs to be confronted vigorously. John Belis says “Poverty, hunger and disease remain widespread, and women and girls continue to comprise the majority of the world poorest peoples especially in global South.
Moreover, this general situation is not confined to that part of the world we have traditionally termed the “South South Nations” or the third world. Particularly since the 1980s and 1990s, the worldwide promotion of neo-liberal economic policies (like so-called Washington Consensus by global governance institutions has been accompanied by increasing inequalities within and between states”). This means that should be a threatening to the global peace in the near future.
A global leader supposes to response and act at any time and anywhere around the globe to protect the interest of the led in any country or region, especially when it matters democracy had 57 rules and principles. Hence, it’s absolutely imperative for the current President of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu and team ship to wake up and tackle the issue of security challenges and stagflation.
In conclusion let me quote what Chris Brown says “America possesses preponderant power, power which is increasingly regarded as illegitimate in many part of the world which is difficult to challenged”.
This writing argues that, the USA’s power is not difficult to challenge, only no one single nation can challenge at the moment. But an alliance of nations can challenge US global monopoly and China, Russia, India and other G77+ nations could do that considering the current trade war between China and USA especially or even in terms of military power.
But in term of economic power the only block that can collectively challenge US is 28 EU nations. Daniel Drezner says “If there is a recurring theme that runs through the literature on globalization and global governance, it is that economic globalization attenuates state power.
The inability of USA to solve many problems confronting human family; from wars, hunger, diseases, illiteracy, global security challenges, poverty, climate change, and human rights as well as nuclear threat, because of these reasons, US could not and should not be called a global leader in recent years. The world needs leadership that will solve the problems of human family. YOU THE PEOPLE!
“Governance first and last is about the exercise of power to achieve political, social, and other objectives. Every scheme to govern economy, therefore, must confront the fundamental question; Governance for what? The primary purpose to be served by the proposed mechanisms for governance of the global economy is the first issue that must be resolves” .
The probable solution to global leadership at this crucial time is when the EU becomes one nation (if its possible) and takes over the mantle of global leadership; Europeans had enough experience and know-how to tackle every problem through diplomatic means. Or China to be the global economic leader; that may change global political, economic and social issues of this planet.
Abbati Bako,psc, bsis,UK, International Political Strategy and Communication Consultant, IPRC, Nigeria
