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| Make National Interest Paramount - K.B. Asante |
1/9/2007 |
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1/9/2007)
K.B. Asante
A Former diplomat, Mr K. B. Asante, has stated that much as Ghana should maintain a posture which will enable it to benefit from foreign assistance, it should not be subservient to any foreign power or group.
He said Ghana could not be subservient or become a client state, otherwise real development would elude it and it would not have much influence in international affairs.
“Foreign friends should be cultivated but there are no permanent friends in international relations. It is national interests which are permanent,” he said.
Mr Asante made the suggestion yesterday when he delivered a lecture on the topic, “Fifty years of Ghana’s involvement in international affairs”, at the 58th Annual New Year School at the University of Ghana, Legon.
According to him, the country’s economy was weak and relied a great deal on donors but indicated that “we have to maintain that posture which will enable us to obtain assistance, while we try to stand on our own quickly by adopting the appropriate policies”.
Mr Asante recounted the positive impact Ghana had made in international affairs through diplomacy, politics, conflict resolution, sports and dressing which gave it a unique identity.
He said Ghana’s involvement in international affairs at independence was immediate, purposeful and determined, adding that a year after independence, Ghana burst into the international diplomatic and power arena with the hosting of the Conference of Independent African States in 1958.
Mr Asante said Ghana attracted the attention of the world, some of whose leaders visited the country. He said the nation could have been overawed by the wealth and might of the great world powers, which would have made it become an apology of a sovereign state with a flag and a national anthem, but “it rejected this path and thrust its own personality onto the international scene”.
Mr Asante said despite Ghana’s involvement in African affairs, to the discomfiture and annoyance of some African leaders, it was greatly respected by others who sought its support.
He said the policy of liberating and uniting Africa led to the formation of the Ghana-Guinea Union, a novel concept which had the Ambassador of Guinea sitting in Ghana’s Cabinet and also an agreement to progressively unify the policies of the two countries.
Mr Asante said successive governments, since the First Republic, had promoted African unity, which they regarded as a cardinal aspect of the country’s foreign policy.
“The conflicts in the ECOWAS sub-region were brought under control with the invaluable assistance of Ghana and with Ghana playing a pivotal role at many crisis points,” he submitted.
Mr Asante said the country’s active involvement on the African scene was expensive but the cost was often exaggerated, contending that the cost should be offset against what was gained and the indirect protection and influence that the country gained.
He noted that considering Ghana’s role in international affairs over the past 50 years, the part played by the people should not be ignored.
According to Mr Asante, in discussing foreign policies and execution, there was the tendency to think only of action by governments and politicians but pointed out that officials, experts and even the ordinary people played important roles.
“As a postscript, it may be added that the understanding of the people is indispensable to successful involvement in international politics,” he said, stressing that Ghanaians should also understand what was happening in the global village so that they could appreciate national foreign policy.
Mr Asante advised future governments not to depart from current policies which promoted good governance, sustainable development and democratic values, since such practices affected the image and influence of the country in international affairs.
He indicated that domestic interests influenced the nature of a nation’s involvement in international affairs.
“The past beckons us to be faithful to the fundamental essence of the policies which have sustained us for the past 50 years. We have on the whole pursued a national all-party foreign policy and we should continue to do so,” he advised.
The Director of the Legon Centre for International Affairs (LECIA), Prof Kofi Kumado, who chaired the function, said the formulation of foreign policies should not be the preserve of some specialists but should include ordinary people as well.
He stressed the need for the Foreign Minister to go round the country to explain foreign policies to the people and learn about their views, adding that it was in the interest of the Foreign Minister to listen to the people.
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