Between change and tradition
By Atef Abdel-Malek Hafez
Egypt's national development policies have often relied extensively on support from the world's powerful nations. Policy-makers placed a priority on the survival of the ruling body, domestic policy stability, close cooperation with regional and international organisations and improvement of the Egyptians' standard of living. Given these objectives, a salient proposition explains Egypt's chronic undulating characteristics: exogenous agents consistently exerted a greater influence on national policies than domestic concerns did.
The relocation of some industries to developing countries, although based on economic grounds, including the availability of cheap labour and natural resources, can also be based on health considerations. As an example, many of the pesticides that US corporations export are banned, heavily restricted, or have never been registered for use in the manufacturers' land of origin. Most end up in fields where workers are not provided protective clothing and where safety precautions are the last concern of landowners. The result is high mortality rates and exorbitant healthcare costs.
It is common knowledge that every country's external aid is a tool of foreign policy. Whether that benefits the host country is determined by the motives and goals of that policy; that is to say, by how donor governments and corporate officials define their own national interest. Funds allocated to poorer regions are seen as long-term investments with high costs, and are considered risky. The political consequences of continuing to ignore poorer areas are less severe than neglecting those of the rich and politically powerful.
Desperately poor and weakened people may seem no threat to a system. So long as the government controls food subsidies, it may assume a certain degree of mitigating self-satisfaction in "easing people's hardships". Government culture provides the norm that unites people across generations, and this continuity is essential to the cohesiveness and stability of any society. Yet, to the extent that culture is innovative and change comes rapidly, tension and even conflict may arise between government traditions on the one hand and change on the other.
This week's Soapbox speaker is an environment researcher.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/776/op7.htm