Amicus Republicae- The United States Exports Liberty & Capitalism, Why
Not Conservation?
Good natural resource management and the stewardship of natural
resources should be integrated into aspects of U.S. foreign policy.
President Theodore Roosevelt, an avid conservationist and the
grandfather of the United States National Park system, not only had an
appreciation for nature's great beauty and significance in the
'American Way' of life but also understood how natural resources
were the cornerstone of America's economic well being.
From the beginning, the United States has been blessed with an abundant
natural resource base from which it has harvested much food, timber,
minerals, and energy. Its plentiful natural resource base allowed for
the development of its wealth, infrastructure, and population.
The United States should encourage other countries around the globe
especially in the Third World to manage their natural resources in a
way that will allow their populations and economies similar
opportunities to develop and compete. How a country decides to manage
its natural resource base has an enormous impact on its future. The
two-nation island of Hispaniola exemplifies this notion: Haiti is a
barren landscape, nothing can be grown, therefore the people cannot be
fed, and believe me no tourists want to visit a wasteland. On the other
side of the same island lies the Dominican Republic, a nation that
although admittedly burdened with its share of problems can at least
feed its people and generate an inflow of foreign currency.
Good natural resource management leads to poverty alleviation,
development, and conflict avoidance. The recent conflicts in Rwanda,
Somalia, and now in The Sudan largely stem from populations clashing
over the last remaining vestiges of natural resources... resources that
were poorly managed by corrupt governments more interested in short
term gain then the long term sustainability of their nation's economy
and survival of their nation's people. U.S. and International aid to
Africa should be based in sustainable development and natural resource
management not poverty alleviation. Good natural resource management
will lead to conflict avoidance and future security in areas where
over-exploitation of the natural resource base will lead to suffering,
bloodshed and ultimately impoverishment, as individuals, groups, and
cultures vie against each other for vanishing resources essential for
their survival. This is the case in The Sudan now ... Zimbabwe, Niger,
and Chad in the months to come.
Conflicts in Africa cost the U.S. and other industrialized nations
billions of dollars a year as they pick up the tab for restoring order,
feeding and housing refugees, and rebuilding infrastructure. Instead of
financing programs that seek only to put a band aid on the problem, why
not address the root of the problem at a far lesser cost?
Tying aid to natural resource management and investing in public
private partnerships like the Bush Administration's Congo Basin
Forest Partnership is one of the keys to stabilizing Africa and many
other parts of the developing world.
Exporting natural resource management is as important as exporting
liberty and capitalism.
- John Gantt
http://www.amicusrepublicae.com/
.
|
