Friday, March 08, 2002
Regarding Textile protection, we all know that Pakistan was critical to the successful prosecution of the war in Afghanistan. They've asked that, in response to their efforts on our behalf, we open up our textile market to Pakistani product (which is Pakistan's biggest export, accounting for 2.2 billion to the US alone). We have yet to respond to that request, largely due to the fact that textiles are one of those "sensitive" areas of our economy (I've even heard some people try to claim that we need a domestic textile industry in order to make military uniforms. Can't have our soldiers going out to fight terrorists naked).
The more I think about it, the more I am of the conclusion that the BEST way to protect ourselves from terrorists is to remove the desperation that makes people more susceptible to recruitment by terrorist organizations. The best way to do that is to help those nations become economically developed. Pakistan is a nation where only 5% of the population, in a recent Gallup poll, spoke favorably of the United States. They are also the nation that provided the most support for the Taliban, as they were one of only two nations in the world that recognized them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Anything we can do to help change minds in Pakistan will help us, and trade seems the simplest way to change minds.
Trade results in cultural exchanges between nations. Nations who trade heavily with each other are much less likely to do anything that would harm their trading partner, as such harm would inevitably come back to harm them. If we truly want to change minds in the Arab world, we can start by showing that we care about their economic well being. We will help them to develop industries which provide sustainable employment by simply BUYING their products. Heck, we're good at buying stuff. We just bought ourselves out of a recession. How about letting the American people buy themselves out of the risk of terrorist attack?
For a good article on the subject, see this October article on the subject.
The more I think about it, the more I am of the conclusion that the BEST way to protect ourselves from terrorists is to remove the desperation that makes people more susceptible to recruitment by terrorist organizations. The best way to do that is to help those nations become economically developed. Pakistan is a nation where only 5% of the population, in a recent Gallup poll, spoke favorably of the United States. They are also the nation that provided the most support for the Taliban, as they were one of only two nations in the world that recognized them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Anything we can do to help change minds in Pakistan will help us, and trade seems the simplest way to change minds.
Trade results in cultural exchanges between nations. Nations who trade heavily with each other are much less likely to do anything that would harm their trading partner, as such harm would inevitably come back to harm them. If we truly want to change minds in the Arab world, we can start by showing that we care about their economic well being. We will help them to develop industries which provide sustainable employment by simply BUYING their products. Heck, we're good at buying stuff. We just bought ourselves out of a recession. How about letting the American people buy themselves out of the risk of terrorist attack?
For a good article on the subject, see this October article on the subject.
