Terrorism
Impact On Economic Diplomacy

By C D Bhatta

Diplomacy has always been an important factor to foster foreign policy in the international arena since time immemorial. There has been natural and substantial changes in the way diplomacy is being conducted. For example, during the Cold War era ‘discrete diplomacy’ was at its height while after the Cold War ‘open diplomacy’ has dominated the international affairs. During the ‘open diplomacy’ era or in the 1990s the international relations has been influenced by the economic factor.

Testimony

Most of those regional organisations of the Cold War era have shifted their agendas from the traditional one, that is, most of them were formed to ward off the threats emanating from the Cold War rivalries, to economic one. The formation of EEC, ASEAN, NAFTA, APEC and other regional organisations into the economic powerhouse is a testimony to this end. Economic diplomacy has been practised widely around the world because it was felt that only the new diplomacy can respond to the new realities being faced by the world, promote continued economic liberalisation market and free international trade. Economic diplomacy will not only help in creating new opportunities but it will also enhance our pursuit of our more traditional foreign policy objectives. This was the foreign policy vision jointly enunciated by the international leaders in the 21st century.

The end of the Cold War paved the way for new notion of diplomacy. During the Cold War era, the world diplomacy was focussed more on secure regional stability and managing the balance of power between to super states and two competing models of governance. The fall of the Berlin war gave an impetus to accelerate international relations in more harmonised way. It provided a sense of easiness in the world.

After the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the prior to 9/11, we have been living in a world without any clear common enemy. There existed competition among nations only in the economic front. The fierce economic competition among countries that have been aligned with each other militarily is a reality of the post-Cold War world. The change in global position from post-World War II economic dominance to economic interdependence of today has brought a shift towards an increasingly aggressive trade posture. Every important economy is similarly engaged in expanding overseas market.

In order to tune with international spirit, Nepal, also, followed up the same suit with the formation of economic wing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate economic activities at home and foster economic activities at the international level.

The Nepalese government has embraced the worldwide concept of economic liberalisation, free market economy and trade in order to invite Foreign Direct Investment into the country, as FDI has been a major ‘mantra’ of development in the world. Policies were shaped up and there has been tangible effects seen on the Nepalese economy, albeit, the foreign policy mandarins were less effective. The surge Nepal witnessed early 1990s was mainly due to the growing spill over impact of ‘globalisation’ factor in the world. At the regional level, an attempt was made to revitalise the SAARC and the concept of free market area within SAARC was born. For South Asia, it was a good start.
The arrival of the new millennium was celebrated by the world with great fanfare. Renewed commitment to combat with famine, economic backwardness and poverty was made. Concept of ‘global brotherhood’ was developed. There was no threat that could jeopardise the conducive environment to forge any necessary alliance for this cause. Nevertheless, ‘all was not going well’ in the international affairs. The new jackals have already planted their roots in the world and were trying to destabilise the world order. They did it by blowing up the twin tower of World Trade Centre in New York. The series of terrorists’ attacks of late 1990s and 9/11 have entirely changed the face of the world.

he fierce effect of 9/11 lies mostly on economic front. As the world was hit by the acts of terrorists in the very beginning of the 21st century, there has been a major shift in conducting the foreign economic policy in the world. The spate of ‘terrorism’ has hit hard on the western world. The recent attack in Bali, Indonesia, the spread of concept of Pan-Islamic state in the region and the increased religiously motivated fanatic views have further dominated the world affairs, which have further jeopardised the economic activities.

The terrorism has resulted in major slump in the economic development. These acts have forcefully changed the basic notion of the economic diplomacy that was popularised in the 1990s. The developed countries are virtually closing doors of economic diplomacy due to perceived threat coming out of terrorist which are mainly seen in the Third World.

While discussing the case of future of economic diplomacy in Nepal, it is gloomy.‘Political terrorism’ spread by the Maoists guerrillas has hit Nepal. Nepalese economy has been hit by the series of incidents over the years. The unimaginable incident in Royal Palace and the series of events in the political spectrum have hit the country very badly from every aspect thereby tarnishing the image of the nation at the international level. Its repercussions have seen heavily on the economic arena. The tourism industry is virtually dead and others are on the path of tourism industry. The system of governance has completely collapsed. The commitment towards democracy and governance are the key points for the prosperity of any society and so is the point to receive foreign direct investment into the country. The already unresolved foreign policy agendas have been superseeded by the new one and the layer of unresolved issues keeps on rocketing.

Demand

The political turmoil in the country has ruined everything. Nepal has been on the CNN and BBC almost everyday where country’s sorry state has been projected repeatedly. Kathmandu based diplomatic community and other international organisations are worried about their security. The regional economic or political cooperation in South Asia is either already dead or on the verge of collapse. The most stunning demand of today is to invest on political stability in the country, for that reason, peace from every aspect.

France Says Goodbye To “Mobylette”

By John Leicester

ONCE, it epitomized teenage cool. Now fickle modern tastes and tough new European legislation spell its doom. The Mobylette, France’s little moped that could, is joining the Citroen 2CV, the beret and Yves Saint Laurent, the fashion designer who retired this year, as the latest French icon to fade into history.

First unveiled in 1949, and recently immortalized in the hit movie “Amelie,” the last French-built Mobylette rolled off production lines this week at the MBK factory in St. Quentin, northeast France.

Demise

Even without the beloved putt-putting mopeds, France will remain France. But the demise of the trusty two-wheelers, whose distinctive high-pitched squeal has long echoed down French streets, comes as France is fighting to preserve its identity in a world of falling economic, cultural and linguistic barriers.
Berets were once almost a national symbol; today, young people mostly prefer hip-hop style woolly hats. French, once de vigour in diplomacy, has long been losing ground to English, the language of globalization. So anxious is France to stem the tide that the law requires radio stations to broadcast quotas of French music.

New European anti-pollution legislation coming into force next year spelled the end for the Mobylette. Their two-stroke, 49.9 cc engines are too dirty to pass the new vehicle emissions standards, said Pedro Alvarez, head of the now Japanese-owned MBK factory thatmade the trusty bike.

“For us, it was the turning of a very important page,” he said in a telephone interview. “It pains the heart a little.”

MBK will now only manufacture more modern scooters and motorbikes, Alvarez said. But Peugeot, another big manufacturer, says it will still produce small-engine mopeds - known here as “cyclomoteurs” - that conform to the new emissions standards.

Beauties, Mobylettes were not. The typical model is little more than a reinforced bicycle, with a light up front and a motor where the pedals should be. But they were sturdy, reliable, cheap, easy to maintain and, as arguably the most famous moped brand, sold like hot cakes.

An estimated 30 million Mobylettes were produced since 1949, Alvarez said. Around half were a model nicknamed “la bleu” - “the blue”- so called because they first sold in one color: blue.
Production of that model stopped in mid-November, Alvarez said.

Mobylettes carried young lovers on first dates. Farmers rode them to market. Postmen used them to deliver mail and teen-agers - allowed by law to ride them without a license from age 14 - souped-up the engines to race, which perhaps helps explain why so many grown-up French drivers love to speed.
“In the 1970s, ‘les bleues’ were really something. Every young person dreamed of having one,” said Maurice Bernot, a 50-year-old computer engineer who started saving at age 10 to buy his first Mobylette four years later. “This Mobylette is mythic.”

He recently bought another one, a 1957 model he reconditioned to ride to work and skirt traffic jams in his southern town of Toulon.

It does just 40 kilometers (25 miles) an hour, but “it reminds me of when I was 14,” Bernot said.
“You rediscover sensations you realize you’d never forgotten,” he said. “The real pleasure is when you have a 2-kilometer (more than 1 mile) jam of cars before you and it takes two minutes to get past them.”

The Mobylette had recently enjoyed a revival of sorts. Nino Quincampoix, the quirky male lead of the hit film “Amelie,” rode one in his cross-Paris hunts for Amelie Poulain, the dotty waitress with a heart of gold.

In a measure of France’s fondness for them, the Mobylette also featured on a set of stamps released by the national post office in March, along with the Concorde, TGV high-speed trains, the France ocean liner and the 2CV, the beetle-shaped car Citroen stopped producing in 1990. Some 400,000 people voted to include the Mobylette in the series.

But despite its long pedigree, few self-respecting French teen-agers would go to school on one now. “Their friends would laugh at them,” said Alvarez, the factory director.

The demand today is for flashier scooters, he said.

MBK expects to sell just 11,000 Mobylettes in France this year, down from a high of 750,000 manufactured in 1974. But production will continue in Tunisia and Morocco, where environmental rules are not so strict, Alvarez said. In France, Mobylettes sell for about 1,190 euros (dollars), he said.

Proud

“We are very proud of our little blue, but we have to face economic reality,” he said. But he insisted the end does not mean France is losing its identity.

“I think its identity is evolving,” Alvarez said. “We can’t stay stuck with same image for ever.”

AP