Politico Being

Beams of the sun gilded the surface of the water of the three canals coming out of Sukkur Barrage near the city point as I was trapped in, and trying to get out of, a traffic jam on the river span connecting the bypass highway to the downtown area of city Sukkur. Too hot a day increased perspiration and irritated rashes on my skin caused by the weather of a city that has nearly become a desert owing to the absence of trees. Upon enquiring about the reason for the traffic jam, I came to know that BPS 5-15 category tests were conducted by Sukkur IBA and the movement of a large exodus of candidates (indiscipline caused by the lack of road planning add fuel to the fire in such situations) had blocked the roads. In addition to the problem of traffic was the livestock market for Eid al Adha permitted by the government along the unpaved road in the middle of the three canals. The market itself was not the problem, but the vendors had come out on the road to escape the commission they paid in the market; and, to be the first to attract the buyers, thus causing a traffic jam.

After a couple of minutes, I managed to get out of the gridlock of traffic and reached the end of the bridge, a slightly downhill road that connects to the city’s relatively developed and mostly boasted “Military Road.” Here, the movement of hundreds of students from the test center caught my attention; then, I was surprised at the treatment that some of them received from the traffic police constables who, to get over the traffic jam, were using ill-civilized language against these students, shouting at them and asking them to move fast and clear the road and let the vehicles pass. It was surprising and unfortunate, indeed.

I changed the road and got to the military road that went all the way toward, once famous and, now doomed to dilapidation and ruin for over two years, lab-e-Mehran, a park alongside the Indus River, the construction for which, supposedly, millions of rupees have been allocated (though it may have been in the papers only) -and, millions of rupees for the Muhammad bin Qasim Park, being boasted about by the then-former (and now elected again) mayor in the recent election campaign. As I changed the road, a glimpse of the lofty and, supposedly, Pakistan’s second-largest flag, instantly caught my attention. I recalled a headline of a reputed paper that reported 500 Million rupees back in 2020 to be the cost of the flag (Sukkur’s Woes Dawn Feb 24, 2020). “This flag yields cash”, once a pal had satirically mocked. This recall was good enough to tell me the reason why I had just seen thousands of unemployed students taking tests in quest of jobs: our priorities. Shockingly, most of the graduates were taking intermediate tests to secure for themselves at least an intermediate level “sarkari nokri” which has always been a right and privilege of party workers and/or community members of the rulers. It showed two unfortunate pictures: our education system doesn’t instill in students an excellence that could make them succeed and our government has nothing to offer them but flags and anthems. ‘Wouldn’t the construction of a digital public library be a better alternative to this flag’, I thought.

Despite having natural beauty, as it is located on the western bank of the Indus River, Sukkur pictures a ruined image as there is no developed infrastructure or road construction. Adding to the injury is the fact that despite being at the river banks, the citizens lack basic facilities such as clean drinking water and sanitation. The drainage system is rotten and outdated as even minor precipitation is enough to leave water on the roads for days. In such a situation, one wonders what is the advantage of such a mighty flag that injected the public with an extravagant cost of 500 million rupees.

It’s surprisingly unfortunate for the people of Pakistan that even after having passed the threshold of the septuagenary -a period in which handsome integration amongst nearly all the people has been achieved- our ‘rulers’ policy to spread the ‘Pakistani’ identity and ‘Islamic’ ideology is pervasive. Rather than spending the funds on productive areas and building more capital, the administrators are extravagantly wasting public funds on frivolous and inefficient projects. Note this too: The defense Budget has gone up to 13pc in the financial year 2023-24 amid burgeoning debt and rapidly increasing inflation that has bent the backbone of people.

Had it been a case of ‘deliberative democracy’ where the public is included in policy-making and their feedback and opinions considered, such projects would have never been approved. Successful countries prioritize the welfare and comfort of their people; they build industries, thus creating employment and fulfilling the necessities of their people. I’m not against these projects as they are also important to give people time to spend their leisure time, but I’m talking about priorities. I will not visit the Muhammad bin Qasim Park or Pakistan’s second largest flag having an empty stomach, or when forced to choose between the bread/job/education or a tour to these sites.

It is undoubtedly well-settled that these parasitic projects are not useful for the gullible public: the administrators and the rulers are the ones to get more advantages from these. They are lured to build these projects because these projects offer them harbored and safe ways to embezzle public funds. Such projects are used as ways to offer their political workers and supporters patronage in the form of contracts to attract their support in elections. Patron-client politics then comes to play a part.

Pakistan is in strong need to be put on the path of development along the lines of developed countries. We are already under the fold of increasing debt and harsh conditions imposed by the IMF (which has become an abbreviation of the International ‘Mandatory’ Fund) which should remind us to strive for self-reliant economic policies. Loans are not meant for corruption and unproductive and inefficient constructions, but rather for building a self-reliant and sustainable economy that can produce more capital. We must obstruct the growing indifference of the rulers to public needs: patron-client politics and rotten feudalism must be abolished. If We keep getting loans and then keep wasting them, we are doomed to fail. If Pakistan is to prosper, we’ll need to change our priorities: let the welfare of the public be the priority.

Economic integration supported by the financial strength of the states within a region has emerged as a significant trend in international relations. The emergence of this new trend is but a transition from a world dictated by geopolitical confrontation to a world depicting economic integration. The cold war era, and its end, gave birth to a policy field, namely “geo-politics”, which is drawing little interest from the states in contemporary times. The old institutions and the geopolitics-based policies created and nourished under the auspices of the US are becoming less effective, with countries losing confidence and willingness to rely on them. In contrast, the nations of the world are looking toward regional integration; ways to increase trade and grow their economies by integrating with their neighbors, often with the assistance of regional powers, to resolve their collective issues.

The unexpected end of the cold war benefitted the US most as it emerged as an earthly might. Its influence and dominance over its allies and nearly all the countries increased, and so did its reliance on hard power to achieve its interests. Although the use of military strength was a common practice during the cold-war period, it needed to be thrown into the dustbin of history as soon as the cold war reached its end; the countries in other parts of the world did dispose of such practice, but the US did not do so. It continued the geo-political confrontations- and most proudly. No doubt, it helped the US in achieving its interests. The strategies of the US were based on the zero-sum game, implying that the one party’s win (the US in this case) was at the expense of others (Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, you name it). Thus, the US is leading the world dictated by geo-political confrontation-based politics.

Interestingly, China was not interested in embracing the geopolitical policy field at all, for two reasons: one, the lessons learned from the Cold War rivalries, and the other, the broad-mindedness and long-sighted vision of its leader Deng Xiaoping who prioritised and advised the strengthening of the economy. His successor followed the path given to them by Deng. So, while the US was engrossed in spending millions of dollars on military, wars and foreign invasions to project its geopolitical might onto the global stage, the countries like China were working to strengthen their economies.

Even today, the US has not quit its geopolitical policies. It is unsuccessfully trying to defeat China, which has emerged as its international challenge on the economic front, with the same old tactics of geopolitical confrontation. AUKUS and QUADS are manifestations of her outmoded strategies. By spreading propaganda and provoking the people of Taiwan against China, the US is constantly attempting to make China do against Taiwan exactly what the Russian president did against Ukraine. However, the Chinese are calculated and intelligent strategists who are less likely to fall into the American trap. China may not engage in any limited or full-fledged war any time soon. China focuses on boosting its economy, expanding it, and connecting its neighboring countries through fascinating projects like BRICS and the Silk Road. In other words, China’s focus is on economic integration. It would be justified to say that China is leading the world that depicting economic integration.

Besides China, numerous other countries, especially those on the developing path, have learned from the cold-war experience that the geopolitical confrontation-based policy field is detrimental to the national and public interests. In this way, efforts of regional integration to boost one’s economy and establish strong ties with neighbours to increase trade and connectivity has become a priority for almost every state. An immediate consequence of such a change in preferences is a massive increase in the number of Free trade agreements and regional organizations around the world.

Although the trend of integration is a post-world-war II phenomenon, the then version of it could not last for long and died out in the next two decades. A new trend of integration began in the 1990s owing to the loss of trust by the developing countries in the liberal economic models dictated by the developed countries. The countries of the developing world began to explore ways to grow their economies and compete with the developed part of the world. Onwithersheys is, of course, regional integration which allows the states to come under one umbrella and together compete with the economically powerful and imperialist nations. Because of its advantages, the trend fascinated all parts of the world, and ultimately the process of coming together and joining hands for economic interests has widened since last decade. Today regional integration is nearly ubiquitous with numerous regional organizations, such as ASEAN, SCO, SAARC, AU, GCC, etc, working in different regions. Although not all of them have been successful it shows, at least, the willingness of the states toward integration.

So attracting and powerful is the phenomena of economic integration is that it has the inherent capability to turn foes into allies. The best example is the improvement in the ties between China and Russia. Although both countries had been adversaries during the cold war and engaged in all those activities against each other that potential enemies can do. Yet, Sino-Russian ties improved, thanks to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation which played an important part in bringing both these states closer and increasing their bilateral trade. Later, they settled their territorial disputes peacefully in October 2004 through a comprehensive agreement. Not only has the bilateral relationship between the two become more substantial, but to such an extent that today both China and Russia are considered the twin engines of SCO. Both nations played, and continue to play, a significant role in making the SCO succeed by bringing the member states closer and promoting trade among them. If there is willingness, there is a strong possibility of Pakistan and India improving their ties through SAARC by making the organization effective and ultimately settling their disputes, as did Sino-Russia.

Based on mutual interests and win-win conditions, the trend of economic integration reflects the change in the strategic thinking that more and more countries are eager to adopt. Regional connectivity, trade and cooperation are going to rule the world. Economic integration is overshadowing the geopolitical confrontations.

Sukkur’s woes and government priorities.

From geopolitical confrontation to economic integration