The Lack of a Foreign Policy
The sectarian strife that has paralyzed almost every facet of Lebanese life has expectedly placed a toll on our government’s ability to have a cohesive and central foreign policy doctrine. By foreign policy doctrine, I am referring to an over-arching objective that characterizes the diplomatic relations a state has with other states. For example, the end of the Cold War gave rise to the doctrine of Containment in American foreign policy. This doctrine gave a direction for the United States in its relations with Europe, the Soviet Union, the Middle East, the Far East and Africa. It outlined a foreign policy with a core objective to contain Communism from spreading across the globe, in both Europe and decolonized nations.
Our domestic politics is indeed of undisputed importance. However, we are so fixated on our internal problems that sometimes it seems as though we forget how important foreign politics can be for our prosperity, or maybe, we are made to forget. As the world becomes more integrated by virtue of globalization, long term prosperity and sustainability may very well become necessarily linked to international relations. Looking at the list of bilateral agreements on the Ministry of Economy and Trade’s website, the latest bilateral trade agreement signed was in 2006. Lebanon has been dormant on the bilateral trade agreement front for almost ten years now. It is not certain how many people are aware of this fact. However, it is definitely something to be aware of. It sheds some light on how much economic analysis on international trade goes on in Lebanon, or lack thereof. There may be an array of benefits that could be accrued from bilateral trade agreements. However, to create them, they need time, effort and analysis.
As globalization becomes more pervasive, trading patterns are also changing. Lebanon could indeed benefit from a cohesive foreign policy that could focus on creating more bilateral trading agreements. Lebanon does not need to seek bilateral relations with economic superpowers; it can target emerging countries such as India, China, and Brazil. Our banking sector is relatively more developed and grounded than that of other countries in the Middle East. It is considered to have one of the largest gold reserves in the Middle East region and had the 19th highest reserve globally in 2013. Electricity and water shortages that plague this country may have a solution if we look beyond our borders.
Unfortunately, divergent political interests are probably one of many reasons why our foreign policy lacks any sort of direction; bilateral agreements frozen in the year of 2006 is one indication of this. Any benefits from trade agreements that may tip the political scale in favor of one sect over another will inevitably lead us into a political stalemate over signing trade treaties. Unfortunately, this zero sum game has taken dominance over the way we politics here in Lebanon. What’s worse is that zero sum games in domestic politics and cohesive foreign policy are often mutually exclusive.
Nour Chehabeddine
The sectarian strife that has paralyzed almost every facet of Lebanese life has expectedly placed a toll on our government’s ability to have a cohesive and central foreign policy doctrine. By foreign policy doctrine, I am referring to an over-arching objective that characterizes the diplomatic relations a state has with other states. For example, the end of the Cold War gave rise to the doctrine of Containment in American foreign policy. This doctrine gave a direction for the United States in its relations with Europe, the Soviet Union, the Middle East, the Far East and Africa. It outlined a foreign policy with a core objective to contain Communism from spreading across the globe, in both Europe and decolonized nations.
Our domestic politics is indeed of undisputed importance. However, we are so fixated on our internal problems that sometimes it seems as though we forget how important foreign politics can be for our prosperity, or maybe, we are made to forget. As the world becomes more integrated by virtue of globalization, long term prosperity and sustainability may very well become necessarily linked to international relations. Looking at the list of bilateral agreements on the Ministry of Economy and Trade’s website, the latest bilateral trade agreement signed was in 2006. Lebanon has been dormant on the bilateral trade agreement front for almost ten years now. It is not certain how many people are aware of this fact. However, it is definitely something to be aware of. It sheds some light on how much economic analysis on international trade goes on in Lebanon, or lack thereof. There may be an array of benefits that could be accrued from bilateral trade agreements. However, to create them, they need time, effort and analysis.
As globalization becomes more pervasive, trading patterns are also changing. Lebanon could indeed benefit from a cohesive foreign policy that could focus on creating more bilateral trading agreements. Lebanon does not need to seek bilateral relations with economic superpowers; it can target emerging countries such as India, China, and Brazil. Our banking sector is relatively more developed and grounded than that of other countries in the Middle East. It is considered to have one of the largest gold reserves in the Middle East region and had the 19th highest reserve globally in 2013. Electricity and water shortages that plague this country may have a solution if we look beyond our borders.
Unfortunately, divergent political interests are probably one of many reasons why our foreign policy lacks any sort of direction; bilateral agreements frozen in the year of 2006 is one indication of this. Any benefits from trade agreements that may tip the political scale in favor of one sect over another will inevitably lead us into a political stalemate over signing trade treaties. Unfortunately, this zero sum game has taken dominance over the way we politics here in Lebanon. What’s worse is that zero sum games in domestic politics and cohesive foreign policy are often mutually exclusive.
Nour Chehabeddine