This is a question that is being frequently asked across the world. Every individual has a natural yarning for a better life. Everyone from every walk of life wants to live a better life. But if one has to trade-off between national sovereignty and higher life standard, in all likelihood almost everybody will chose the former.
Had it been 100 years ago, people would not have the least hesitation to vote for sovereignty. But with change of time, people's perception has also changed. Now the concept of sovereignty is eroding. Today's world is getting more connected, being dependent on each other by trade, tourism and especially by social media. The gap among citizens of Bangladesh, USA and Papua New Guinea is declining.
Twenty-eight states form the European Union (EU) that works on the principle: "EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital, enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries, and regional development." EU removed internal trade barriers among member states and works as a single market. The goods from Bucharest are sold at Berlin without any restriction on quantity traded. The BMW cars from Germany are exported to Paris and no tariff barrier is imposed there. As a result, each member state enjoys comparative advantage. Now the economy of EU as a whole has become stronger than that of USA. The GDP of EU is $16.63 trillion and that of the USA stands at $15.68 trillion. Euro is used by 19 member states as the common currency of EU and it becoming increasingly competitive with US dollar.
The North-Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a military alliance NATO that consists of 28 European and North American countries. Member states are bound by mutual defence pact in case one is attacked by a third country. Thus the national defence of a member country is handled by a non-national organisation.
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional alliance of eight south Asian countries. Although the alliance held out a lot of promises to turn the region into a mutually connected area, in reality SAARC became the least connected alliance. The intra-SAARC trade volume is around only 1.0 per cent of the total GDP (gross domestic product) of the member states, while it is 10 per cent in case of a similar alliance called ASEAN.
To attain higher economic prosperity SAARC has to be more interconnected. Trade barriers are to be removed. In this context European Union (EU) should be considered as a model that will consolidate the bond among the member countries. We should get over the mutual distrust that is pushing us further away from one another.
Sabbir Ahmed Jubaer
Student of Development Studies, University of Dhaka
[email protected]
- Friday, 22 November 2024 |
- Today's FE |
- e-Paper |
- Beta Website
