Improving Oh I see! from its current stinking position is nothing but a pipe dream. Having oil resources is in no way helpful for a commanding role in the world. You can only win in one way: Follow the leader as best and as closely as possible. One day when the leader no longer wants to be at the top of the world, you simply become the leader.
Ottomans gave away the leadership to the Brits, and Brits gave away the leadership to Uncle Sam. Britain was the closest ally of Turks until the start of WWI. Same way, US was the closest ally of Brits and still is.
That means Pakistan getting away from the “Islamic” groups all together and getting in the game with true players such as US and EU. Dhoti-clad Muslim poor or the rag-headed rich ones have no value when it comes to the world leadership. These guys were born to be exploited and they will continue to be exploited for the ages to come. Look even Turkey was exploiting Arab areas, so it is not Muslim vs. non-Muslim thingy.
There is no need to challenge the world leader when his strength is at its peak. Just play along baboos, play along and one day you may win. Look at China and Bharat. They will not challenge US or EU, instead they will be their “best buddies” for a long time to come.
Best regards
VIEW: Breathing new life into the OIC —Shaukat Qadir
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2005\12\17\story_17-12-2005_pg3_5
The last decade has been particularly difficult for most international organisations. Their influence on international matters has kept decreasing. The UN is beset with internal problems, ranging from inquiries into the Iraq oil for food programme to the increasing view that the UN is a branch of the US administration. To compound it all, the US still hasn’t paid its dues to the UN. All these have resulted in the UN’s diminished influence.
Similarly, the European Union has run into troubled waters and is faced with the basic question of whether it retains any relevance in the future of world politics or economics. The only international organisation, apart from the Bretton Woods’ institutions which retain their relevance, is ASEAN. The latter continues to be relevant because its member states want it to succeed. They are conscious that, individually, none of them would be able to face the overwhelming challenges of globalisation.
Organisations like the SAARC never had much of a future. Its charter was designed to foil the very objective it should have sought. If SAARC wants a future, its charter should be amended. Organisations like the OIC have also rendered themselves irrelevant.
Both the UN and the EU will revive. However both need far more than the cosmetic reforms presently under consideration. No international forum can become functional and effective unless it is run democratically, without differentiating between its members, on account of their power potential — whether past, present, or future.
Organisations like the SAARC, I sincerely hope can be made more relevant in the future, since South Asia houses a vast majority of the poorest people of the world and none of its member states can face the challenges of globalisation, without pooling their resources.
In this environment, General Musharraf’s desire to breath new life into the OIC and perhaps, make it a force to be reckoned with might well appear to be a dream. Laudable but having little to do with reality. Before discarding it out of hand, some aspects merit consideration: first, there is little doubt that the West’s animosity towards Islam is growing. This ranges from being wary of the more radical fringe to open hatred of all that Islam stands for.
Second, no Muslim majority country has the potential to withstand the American might, whether military or economic. Finally it must be recognised that the Muslims of the world have allowed themselves to fall far behind in all matters that are of significance in the futuristic world. And in no other aspect is the disparity more glaring than in education.
Those Muslims who have acquired modern education find it more rewarding to offer their services abroad than at home. I have chosen to use the word ‘rewarding’ with great care. In some cases rewarding might merely mean remuneration, which some oil rich countries can match but in the vast majority of cases what attracts people to the West is the opportunity to remain abreast with modern developments.
There is, therefore, little doubt that the Muslim majority countries need a forum from which they can address their collective concerns more forcefully, backing it with the necessary collective power potential. So far the international community treats this forum with little more than contempt. It will have to prove itself of significance, which will take time. It can never face the challenges of the future if it fails to redress the educational and economic imbalance of its poorer members.
While increased trade is certainly going to assist the Muslim majority countries, they are going to get nowhere without quality education. Here the OIC can play a role by identifying the talent in member countries. If Pakistan can provide the best forum for excellence in physics, Bangladesh can provide the best for economics, Turkey for chemistry and medicine and so on.
Having identified the capabilities available within their member countries, including those available with citizens serving abroad, who can be persuaded to return for suitable ‘rewards’, each country should set up a centre of excellence in the discipline it is responsible for. Star students of each member country should be admitted to these centres. This perhaps is the most successful route to a secure future for the Muslims of the world and the OIC.
In the interim, it would be beneficial if a similar assessment of industrial and agricultural potential of member states were undertaken so that the OIC can work on them collectively. Coupled with increased trade, a current proposal, this could perhaps ensure the growth of the economic potential of each member state. This could result in a more unified OIC, a more significant economic potential, and a bloc that is educationally at par with the modern world. Then indeed the OIC could stand up and be counted tall.
The author is a retired brigadier. He is also former vice president and founder of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI)