ISS is the international Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam
Post-war International Development Diplomacy
(from the 1940s to the present)
Delivered at
The Graduate School of international and Area Studies
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
26 September 2013
Shigehisa Kasahara
International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) (the Hague)
Erasmus University (the Netherlands)
Initial Regime Setting
(i)
Key Conferences and Institutions
The San Francisco Conference (1945)
– UN (SC, GA, ECOSOC, Trusteeship C.)
The Bretton Woods Conference (1944)
– IMF and WB
The Havana Conference (1947/48)
– GATT (accidental creation)
Initial Regime Setting
(ii)
Characteristics of
the regime’s operation and principles
Monetary System
• Stable exchange rate (with the US$ as the key currency with gold convertibility)
• Short-term financing system (for BoP adjustment purposes) by using the “Drawing
Rights” at the IMF
• Long-term financing system (for reconstruction and development purposes)
through the WB intermediation
Major Trade Principles
• MFN (non-discrimination)
• Reciprocity
• National treatment
Shift of concerns and perspectives
in foreign relations in the early post-war period
(i)
US position
• From European Reconstruction to Global Development (late 1940s)
• (NATO/Marshall Plan to Point 4) (late 1940s)
• From US-LA alliance to Global anti-East alliance (late 1950s)
European (US allies) position
• National Reconstruction to Regional Integration/Development (mid 1950s)
• Less to More Conciliatory Posture toward anti-colonialism (more UK than
France, Belgium, Dutch, Portugal, etc.) (late 1950s)
Asian Position
• Nationalism to regionalism (alliance against China)
Shift of concerns and perspectives
in foreign relations in the early post-war period
(ii)
USSR Position
• From National Reconstruction/Eastern Bloc formation to wider alliance
beyond the immediate bloc boundary (early 1950s)
• Less to more sympathetic posture towards the Global South (mid 1950s)
LA Position
• Further rise of popular anti-Yankeeism despite the “Alliance for Progress”
campaign
Others
• China: Propagation of communism beyond its border (after 1949).
• Nothing else significant to note(?)
Rise of the Global South
Bandong Conference (1955)
One of earliest Asian Initiatives for forging alliance among Asian
and African countries
Non-aligned Movement (NAM) (1961)
Political alliance of the Global South in the context of the Cold War
UNCTAD (1964)
Southern alliance for collective bargaining against the North
(West) with the East’s support from the sidelines
NIEO (1974)
Culmination of Southern diplomatic demands for reform of norms
and practices of international economic relations
Counter-insurgence in the Global North/West
against the Global South
Rise of Conservatism in the Global North/West (1970s-)
Counter-current against popular reformist movements from the late 1960s
Resurgent trend of lesser tolerance towards social changes
Anti-Keynesianism (market fundamentalism)
Refusal of dealing with collective dialogue at the global level (late 1970s)
Stronger perception of zero-sum game in global N-S bargaining
Emergence of G-7 consultations (together with rise of the OECD/DAC)
Against global Keynesianism
Challenges to the Global South
(1970s - 1990s)
Instability of Foreign exchange rate (particularly after the breakdown of the
BW system)(1970s)
The (rapid) rise of external debt (1970s)
Rise of interest rates (reacting to cost-push inflation) (early 1980s)
Surfacing of the debt Crisis (1982-)
Resurgence of the BW institutions (with SAPs) (1970s, particularly 1980s-)
Collapse of Commodity Prices (early 1980s)
Rise of protectionism in the North (the 1980s)
Rise of diversity in economic performance within the Global South (late
1970s-)
Lost decade for development (1980s) (for LA and Africa)
Another lost decade for development (1990s) (Africa)
Process toward
the End of the Cold War
(1980s)
Hard-line US (UK) position in foreign policy (Reagan,
Thatcher administrations) (the 1980s)
Soft-line USSR position in foreign policy (Gorbachev
Administration) (the 1980s)
The End of the Cold War:
(1990s-)
Geopolitical consequences
Disintegration of the Eastern bloc and of some of its
member countries (Czechoslovakia, E. Germany, Soviet
Union)
Internal armed conflicts within countries in transition
Greater autonomy of Europe vis-a-vis the US
Lesser animosity of Europe vis-a-vis the USSR (now
Russia)
Enlargement and deepening of European integration
The End of the Cold War:
(1990s-)
Consequences beyond traditional geopolitics
Market-oriented transition in the East (privatization, FDI)
Rapid joining of transition countries in Western institutions
(IMF/WB/GATT/WTO/EU/EUROZONE), making negotiations more
complex
Disappearance of the Eastern support toward the Global South
Proliferation of conditionality elements
Multi-dementionality of the concept of development
Decline of aid to the Global South as a whole (unrealized “Peace
Dividend”)
Development Diplomacy
(mid-1990s-)
Renewal of Global Campaign
Conference Diplomacy of Social (plus Environmental)
Development (1990s)
UN Millennium Conference (2000) with MDGs (much reflecting
the perspectives of donors) with the target period (of 2015)
Greater Emphasis on Equity (poverty reduction, gender equality,
etc.) rather than Growth
Development Diplomacy
(Contemporary situation)
Major Concerns from Southern Perspective
Increasing difficulty of identifying the Global South as such.
Proliferation of world-wide forums of Social (plus Environmental)
Development (1990s) with greater emphasis, among others, on Equity
(particularly, poverty reduction) than Growth
Multiplication of diplomatic forums with different degrees of
membership/participation, issue coverage and effectiveness.
Shrinking Policy Space (sovereign autonomy) of individual diplomatic
participants (particularly weak countries)
Millennium Conference (2000) with MDGs (much reflecting the interests of
donors)(2015)
Thank you