“The Bottom Billion” Economies and Politics

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According to Collier (2008), there are several reasons why international support has not been of great help to poor countries. This is the reason why the author is quite categorical that impoverished countries will continue to languish in poverty if a different approach is not devised. In addition, the Bottom Billion issue is of great interest to the author because there seems to be growing list of countries that largely depend on foreign aid even though their residents are still experiencing downward growth in income.

In most of the mentioned Bottom Billion countries, residents are living in deplorable conditions even though they put so much effort towards uplifting their standards of living. For the few residents who have managed to secure formal employment, they are definitely underpaid and also work for long hours. Worse still, they have limited work benefits and allowances. As a result, they have been left with little chance to develop themselves economically.

The author is also emphatic on the Bottom Billion question due to the fact that poor leadership that is characterized with elements of dictatorship is also a common feature in most of these governments. The combination of these issues has compelled the author of the book to explore various issues that ail these economies and also provide possible solutions to the menace. It is imperative to note that Collier (2008) is addressing both the international community and the leadership of the Bottom Billion countries.

The author is attempting to inform the international community that irrespective of the amount of foreign aid advanced to these impoverished and failed states, the solution to their problems will never be obtained. To the failed and poor states, Collier (2008) is critically addressing what actually ails them. In fact, he is offering suggestions that may be put in place in order to cater for the myriads of challenges facing these weak economies.

The bottom Billion issue has also been brought out by the author as an international menace that should be addressed with speed if the world is to be safer place in future. Collier (2008) does not just highlight the causes of challenges facing the so-called developing countries. He relentlessly attempts to correlate the economic burden faced by the disadvantaged populations and the state of world peace.

Due to the wake of terrorism, the author is quite explicit that various circumstances that have been facing poor and failed states have been the main catalyst in wrecking international peace. Hence, this is a clear message to the international community and especially to the United Nations Security Council to change its peace initiative tactics that are currently being employed. One outstanding example that can be related to the host of challenges facing the Bottom Billion states is the perennial food shortage leading to hunger, famine and poor nutrition.

The author notes that a hungry state can easily be engaged into a state of war and anarchy. This is exactly what has happened in countries like Somalia and Sudan in the past two decades or so. On the same note, Collier (2008) is also trying to warn the developed world about the deplorable condition facing about one billion people in poor and failed states. The author warns that the end effect of the struggles being experienced in these Bottom Billion countries will eventually have a ripple effect to the well developed economies especially when the state of international peace and security will be jostled.

Q #2: According to Collier, what is the relationship between Civil War and Poverty? What are some of the arguments presented by the author? What is your own position on the relationship between the two factors? Give examples where applicable (2 pages maximum)

According to Collier (2008), civil wars and poverty accompany each other neck to neck because both of these two aspects are embroiled in the conflict and economic traps that are usually evident in poor and failed states. The author elucidates that over 64 billon US dollars is spent in both conflict resolution and waging wars in poor and underdeveloped countries. In other words, there is so much which is being spent by the poor leadership in getting into power.

Statesmanship and nationalistic spirit are no longer valued in these countries because the populations have been subdivided along ethnic lines. There are conglomerations of tribes that have formed distinct groups ready to attack each other. Consequently, the various tribes launch internal strife against each other leading to outbreak of civil war. Moreover, the various conglomerations of tribes are made poor by the poor leadership structures so that they can ever remain submissive to the will of politicians.

The analysis carried out among most of the poor economies laced with civil wars indicated that civil strife is a common ingredient among poor people. It is also definite that countries that embroil themselves in long term state of conflict often make their residents poor because the latter cannot invest or even afford decent standards of living. Needless to say, long term state of conflict creates a conducive environment for state looters of public coffers to do so. As the population is fully absorbed in civil war, there are few rich and influential individuals who take advantage of the situation and rob the taxpayer’s dollar. The latter scenario vividly explains what Collier (2008) describes as the conflict trap that ruins most of the Billion Dollar countries.

The author also keenly links the conflict trap with the development trap as far as poverty and civil wars are concerned. Collier (2008) speaks out against individuals who get wealthier at an unprecedented rate in poor countries that are still underdeveloped or developing. It is indeed a paradox to note that whereas the bulk of the five billion people are getting poorer by the day, there are a few personalities who amass extensive wealth at the detriment of the impoverished states.

In the long run, lack of contentment among the economically depressed population arises leading to a protest vote against the incumbent leadership. Since the protesting population is still not united as a bloc, they are again divided by politicians along ethnic and tribal lines. What follows later is a bloodbath of slain men, women and children fighting against each other in the name of defending their tribal chiefs.

Collier (2008) observes that this scenario is common in several central Asian states and African countries although there are isolated cases spread across the world. Hence, there is great need to channel development assistance in such countries because poverty is the major cause of civil wars. The author reiterates that development trap is one major setback that has worked against efforts towards reducing civil wars in affected countries.

From my own perspective, I suppose poverty and civil wars cannot be separated from each other in the sense that a poor population can be easily lured into hate speech and consequent attack against each other. Besides, poor people can be convinced with little tokens in order to attack other ethnic groups.

Q # 3 (A): Collier states that “Resource Surplus [can] mess up politics.” What does he mean by this? What are his reasons for making such a statement? (1-2 pages maximum)

The author discusses the negative impact of resource surplus under the natural resource trap that may easily engulf and blindfold a population. According to Collier (2008), it is quite paradoxical that countries which have limited natural resources may be much better than those that are rich resource-wise. The natural resource trap has been attributed to myriads of reasons. For instance, there is greater likelihood of conflicts to arise in areas where there are adequate and high value natural resources. This will happen because various leaderships will fight to control such resources. In the event that a consensus is not reached on how the resources should e shared out, a state of conflict will be inevitable.

Secondly, governments that are well endowed with natural resources are usually less obliged to impose heavy taxation to their citizens. Although it initially appears as a positive feature, it is imperative to note that citizens in such countries are usually less concerned on how their resources are being spent because they are operating within the comfort zone. When governments are not compelled to demonstrate their financial accountabilities, there are chances that the available resources will be misused.

Third, a Dutch disease can erupt in a case whereby natural resources are exploited optimally. This scenario is attributed to the fact that lack of viable competition is enhanced among the various industries operating within a country. The net negative effect of less rigorous competition is the resultant valuation of the currency because adequate revenue is accumulated from the available natural resources.

The reason why Collier (2008) links natural resources to messed politics can be well explained with the case of Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein. The justifications of the 2003 war on Iraq by the Bush Administration did not single out ‘oil interests’ as one of the reasons for the attack. Definitely, the American public and the world at large could not have expected such a rationale to be put forward. Nonetheless, critics of the Bush Administration reiterated that the latter had some underneath agenda on the oil resources found in Iraq.

An earlier blue print by the neo-conservative group known as the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) emphasized the dire need for the United States government to restore its 20^th century superpower image and global domination. Indeed, the acquisition of Iraq oil resources through indirect control was thought as one way of advancing the U.S foreign policy in Middle East and also a way of building a robust U.S economy through cheap or ‘near-free’ imports of crude oil from Iraq.

In addition, the U.S pre-eminence in global affairs in an attempt to derail efforts by upcoming superpowers like Japan and China was also evident in the PNAC document. This would best be achieved by remodeling the international security order to be in line with the United States foreign policies and domestic principles. Hence, it can be observed that oil factor was a major cause of concern in Iraq. In fact, surplus oil resources in Iraq messed up the country’s political landscape because the same wealth was used to suppress various watchdog groups that were agitating for the rights of ordinary Iraqis.

Q # 3 (B) (i) What are Collier’s main recommendations for escaping from the Bottom Billion? (1/2 – 1 page)

Collier (2008) offers several ways through which countries that belong in the Bottom Billion can liberate themselves. However, the author states that some of the recommendations given may prove to be institutionally difficult. However, the changes can be cheaply implemented because no significant monetary spending is needed.

To begin with, the worst environments with deplorable human conditions should be given more attention by aid agencies. It will be futile to concentrate in countries that are not worst hit when some states are in dire need of help to save the struggling populations. In other words, Collier (2008) posits that priority areas should be identified in advance before budgetary allocations are executed. In addition, the available aid agencies should be ready to accept more risk by expanding their areas of jurisdiction.

This has been necessitated by the fact that more countries in the under-developed and developing world are falling victims every decade. Moreover, the vociferous lobbies that are also poorly informed should be prevented from lobbying support from ordinary citizens. These lobbies have been found to be counterproductive towards the long term efforts that have been put in place to address emerging issues among the Bottom Billion countries.

Coup de tats should not be allowed to take centre stage especially in cases where there are democratically elected governments in place. Therefore, there is need to institute proper military interventions to avert such occurrences. A case example is the British troops who were once deployed in Sierra Leone to maintain law and order.

Provision of prototypes as well as enhancing good political governance should be taken seriously as priority areas. In order to achieve the latter, nationally elected democratic governments should be signatories to International Charters that govern peace and stability.

Finally, Collier (2008) recommends that there should be free trade policies especially among the Bottom Billion countries so that they can also benefit from the preferential access to global market. This will eventually boost their national revenues and consequently alleviate poverty.

Q # 3 (ii) From where you stand or sit, what, if any, can the UAE learn from Paul Collier’s views? Justify your response by giving concrete examples (1 page maximum)

The views and suggestions presented by Collier (2008) are indeed invaluable and can be applicable in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) economic bloc. For example, the future economic prosperity of UAE will largely depend on the peaceful co-existence of the member states within this union. It is wise to note that not all countries within UAE bloc have access to the coastline that they can use to access the international trade easily. As such, landlocked states with hostile members may greatly hamper the desire for some countries in UAE to enjoy the benefits of international trade. Unless regional Trade Charters are honored, it will be cumbersome to attain certain goals of UAE as an economic bloc.

Secondly, it is pertinent to mention that UAE should not accommodate any elements of bad governance among its member states. An economy can be rapidly destroyed if bad political leadership is allowed to flourish. Although poor leadership may largely interfere with the countries, the wellbeing of the entire union will be dependent on the political stability of individual member states within UAE. Moreover, it is also vital to observe that UAE is mostly comprised of small countries that are highly vulnerable towards various forms of instabilities.

For example, potential investors may shun investing in such countries mainly because of uncertainty on the labor investment requirements. Some investors may decide to invest in well known large markets such as India and China. Therefore, the small-sized countries within UAE should propagate peace, good political governance, and proper utilization of resources in order to attract investors in the region.

In summing up, the various perspectives presented by the author in the above analyses are indeed vital as a wakeup call to both the international communities and political leadership among the Bottom Billion countries. While foreign aid towards poor countries is highly applauded, priority areas in terms of need ought to be identified by aid agencies. Besides, the affected countries should strive to deliver themselves from the political mess that has been agitated by abundant natural resources. Better still; citizens should be discouraged from supporting certain lobby groups whose activities have been identified to be less productive.

Reference

Collier, P. (2008). The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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“The Bottom Billion” Economies and Politics

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