Should we recoil from progress?
Dr. Shibli Ahmed Khan :
The twenty-first century is purported to be the century of Asia. We see the signs of transformation in every direction. Almost all the countries in Asia are seeing a new revival of economies, formation of new ties, investment in technologies, and public infrastructure. From Vietnam to the Middle East, the rapid change is visible. Even a Westerner was caught observing that compared to Europe (and the developed world in general), Asian landscapes look fresh as if the cities and towns are built with new zeal and optimism. Indeed, the hurly-burly of development is hard to miss.
Beneath the facade of glittering buildings, what Westerners often ignore to mention is the commensurate progress in social structure – the trade ties, openness in outlook, and the like. A society prospers when trade and knowledge are free to flow between borders. This fact has been utilized for over a thousand years by the countries we call prosperous today – for instance, most European and Middle Eastern countries. Among the rising Asian countries, we see how a small country like Vietnam benefited from opening its door to foreign countries like Japan, which brought capital and the technology necessary for modernizing industries.
Western nations, with more than two thousand years of social experiments, have figured out the social structure to facilitate trade and concomitant prosperity. Not lost is the fact that internal political stability is a precondition for prosperity. Democracy has evolved to reflect the opinion of the masses, providing the solid foundation upon which the stability of society can be built. When pondering on prosperity, one must not lose sight of the importance of good governance. It is true that democracy might not be the best form of government, but it is, by far, the least worse form of governing. Not that democracy would cure all evils in society, but democracy with proper enlightenment would propel society forward. While we, the emerging nations, adopt Western ways of governing, we must not lose sight of the up gradation of our social structure and outlook to bolster modernization. This caveat is often overlooked both by the Asian native people as well as Westerners.
The benefits of openness in trade with the largest economy in the world could not be emphasized enough. The US is at the center of financial dominance – a cornucopia of innovation and an exemplar of openness – could do more good than harm for a smaller economy like Bangladesh. Post Second World War Japan modernized its economy with the help of the US, the Philippines prospered with close ties with the US, and Middle Eastern countries reaped mutual benefits from links in trade with the US. Commonsense would dictate bolstering ties with the world leader to form a relationship bestowing mutual benefits. For Bangladesh, the US could open international trade and financial networks, smoothen the frontier on international diplomacy (we need solid support regarding Rohingya issues and the like), and bestow West European knowledge on governance, which the US is modeled after. One cannot help noticing the infinite benefits of having an intimate liaison with the world’s most incredible power.
(The author teaches communication and history at a local university).
