What IR means to me

IR, to me, is one of the different tools I use in my personal quest to get to know more about people who live in different places. It’s a bit simplistic, but I’ve always believed simple goals in life to be the best. I want to know more about people living in Pakistan, Lithuania, Spain, Chile, South Africa, Cuba, Crete, you name it. Whether I’m learning about Bassa archery in northern Nigeria from reading The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible or about Argentinean farmers burning fields in protest through the BBC or the role of the World Bank in helping to develop countries like Uganda and which school of IR thought that fits into through IR, the main point is that I’m learning about people and cultures that interest me. What IR has done is given me some help in looking below the surface of some events that I see in the news around the world and thinking about why they’re happening and how they’ll affect other things or places. I’ll be continuing with IR as a major so perhaps my view of it will change with time, but for now IR is a stepping stone to higher levels of learning about something I’m interested in. I hope the path will be interesting.

- John

Pakistan and International Financial Institutions

On June 7, 2007 The World Bank approved a package of assistance woth US $451 million to help the Pakistani Government. Most of this money will be used to improve education, enhance immigration, implement reforms in healthcare and eradicate polio in Pakistan.

“Pakistan has in recent years made good progress towards improving human development indicators and reducing poverty and vulnerability,” said Yusupha Crookes, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. “But there can be no room for complacency. Only half of Pakistan’s adult population is literate and over 40 percent of 5-9 year olds are not in school, and poor health outcomes and high fertility will remain an obstacle to economic growth and poverty alleviation. Through improved schools, health facilities, and water provision, these projects will help the country make progress towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals and underpin prospects for high and sustained growth into the future.”

The World Bank is looking to change the lives of the poor of Pakistan. Even if the government has money and people in higher places, it is the poor (the people who need it) that will never see it. To assist, The World Bank funded the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund Project. They plan on helping the poor through this program by building institutions and then supplying them with micro-credit loans.

The World Bank hopes to place a higher importance on education by assisting the Government at both the national and provinicial levels. They hope to increase the focus of strong primary and secondary education reforms. They hope to continue assisting the poor by encouraging children of poverty stricken families to attend school.

With each problem that The World Bank sees in Pakistan, they create a program to alleviate that problem : Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, Pakistan Poverty Allevition Fund Project, Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Authority, Rural Housing and Reconstruction Program, National Education Assessment System, etc. Pakistan must accept these programs and reforms if the state wishes to receive any money from The World Bank. Pakistan then must give continuous updates to The World Bank to prove that they are following the reform programs and meeting each goal that has been set. The World Bank believes that this sort of cookie cutter relief program is applicable to any state in need and that by a state meeting a goal, it means that the state will be able to continue to thrive once The World Bank stops giving assistance. However, only time will tell if the reform programs actually help the people and the government, or if the programs will cease to exist one The World Bank determines that Pakistan can take care of her people on her own.

click here for more information on The World Bank’s reforms in Pakistan

Ends-Based vs. Rules-Based Decisions in Pakistan

The Republic of Pakistan is the state that has contributed most to UN Peacekeeping Missions, having participated in 28 missions since 1962. Pakistan also received assistance from Peacekeeping missions following the Indo-Pakistan war.

Pakistan’s decision to participate in peacekeeping missions can be seen as both ends-based and rules-based. It is rules-based because when seeing a country in need of assistance, Pakistan is usually the first one to step up and provide assistance. However, the majority of Pakistan’s decisions to become involved in these missions have been ends-based. It is the military-operational benefits that come in participating in a UN Peacekeeping Mission that ultimately drives Pakistan to continue to fight for the moral issues of other states.

With 8544 personnel having been deployed in various states, Pakistan ranks highest as a participator. The other top five contributors are Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ghana, and India. All five of these states are considered developing nations, which causes one to ask, why do developing nations help more in peacekeeping in other countries? However, by participating in these operations, the states that contribute most also gain the most. Looking at the situation from a present view, it would seem as if the state participating loses. As developing nations, these states need to maintain their operational armies, and by deploying the amount of troops that they do, they lessen their own defence within their state. But in the end, the state prospers because of their involvement. This is why it is a ends-based decision. At the time, Pakistan may suffer with so many of their troops abroad, but while abroad they “learn new techniques of planning; logistics and communications skills; command and control structures; methods of coordination and use state of the art weaponry and machinery. This military training and exposure has proved to be invaluable to the Pakistan Army. President General Pervez Musharraf in an interview said; ‘we would like to contribute as many troops as possible anywhere in the world.’” (http://www.issi.org.pk/journal/2004_files/no_3/article/3a.htm).