The Japan Miracle: A much-adorned
example of rapid development under intensive human capital development is what
best describes Japan in the minds of those who jealously guard Japan’s position
as one of world’s rich and industrialised nation. A superlative assertion of
Japan of what it has achieved in the 1980s is its emergence as a country with
much strength, especially a high average level of education, formidable technology,
and great social coordination; experiencing one of the biggest asset booms in
world history. Glowing with triumph and with ostensibly costless wealth, the
nation’s economic powerhouses diverged uncontrollably – spelling the
disintegration of the economic boom and ensuing recession after 1990.
Not unexpectedly, The Economist asserts
that: “no nation in modern history has moved so swiftly from worldwide
adulation to dismissal or even contempt as did Japan, as the temple bells were
tolling in the new year of 1990. These were met with flaccid responses. One,
neither bureaucrats nor companies chose to admit what was really happening and
two; massive public-works spending and an expansionary monetary policy were
launched (anaesthetising the price mechanism that ought to have obligated
fiscal discipline). As a result, Japan mutated from being
the genesis of Total Quality Management to a recipient of economic lectures
from Western pundits; with offers of recipes for its reform and revival. Nonetheless, the time for homily is
over. Japan is springing back leading the elite nations’ pack under the able
leadership of PM Koizumi. The resilience of Japan started with the emergence of
a single imperial line in Japan probably dates from the 6th Century
AD, if not earlier.
In 1192, Minamoto Yoritomo became
shogun, and the shoguns were in effect Japan’s rulers until 1867. As Europe
began to seek colonies in Asia, the Tokugawa shoguns (1603-1867) tried to
preserve Japan’s culture by banning missionaries, expelling foreigners, ending
almost all trade and even forbidding Japanese to leave the islands. The Meiji
dynasty founded in 1868 transformed
Japan by abolishing feudalism and overseeing the creation of a modern
economy, defence, a meritorious civil service and an elected parliament --
reaping forte at home and astounding Europe and the US by conquering China
(1894-95), Russia (1904-05); besides Taiwan and Korea.
Japan and Ethiopia: J. Calvitt Clarke
III in a paper entitled Ethiopia’s Non-Western Model For Westernisation: a
paper presented to ISA South asserts that “Foreign Minister Heruy Welde
Sellasse’s (an accomplished writer and progressive thinker and one of
Ethiopia’s most influential ‘Japanisers’)
led a Mission To Japan in 1931. To the “exaggerated horror of many
western powers, during the 1920s, a series of Japanese merchants came to
Ethiopia with a view to expand trade between the two nations and later on,
Japanese representatives attended Emperor’s Coronation in 1930. A Treaty of
Friendship and Commerce was soon after signed and sealed. A year after this,
Ethiopia promulgated a constitution modelled on Japan’s Meiji Constitution of
1889.
Capping this rapprochement, Foreign
Minister Heruy, visited Japan, widely fêted. Heruy and his party examined many
of Japan’s most important industrial and military facilities. Many of Japan’s
most influential nationalist leaders eagerly greeted him hoping to find in
Ethiopia an important ally in the struggle of “colored peoples” against white
colonialism and imperialism. Heruy’s visit, however, signaled the high watermark
of cooperation. Speaking with the
French chargé d’affaires in Ethiopia at the time, Heruy praised Japan’s
transformation and asserted, ‘you will see even more extraordinary things here
than in Japan’.”
J. Calvitt Clarke III
submits that Araya, a member of the
Imperial Court, played an important part in Ethiopia’s relations with Japan and
soon to propose marriage to a Japanese Princesses, admired Japanese courtesy,
development, and modernisation; while to colonial power Europe, the threat of Japanese political, commercial,
and military intrusions into Ethiopia seemed sufficient to justify Italy’s military
preparations against Ethiopia. In 1933 and 1934, Araya’s proposed marriage vexingly
personified these intrusions.
'One hyperventilated account
argued that, plans have been made for effecting mixed marriages between the
eligible 2000 Japanese settlers and Abyssinian women. This declared policy
which is intended to produce a new race of leaders in the united revolt of the
coloured peoples against the white races, was to have been inaugurated by the
marriage of Princess Masako, a daughter of the Japanese prince Kurado [Kuroda],
to the Ethiopian prince Lij Ayalé [Araya]. Europeans saw this as lying in
Ethiopia’s wish to model its modernisation after Japan and in Japan’s romantic
vision of Ethiopia’.
How can Japan help
Ethiopia project itself into the 21st Century? Matrimony
and the hegemony of the coloured race aside, firstly, Japan can expedite in the
reform and development democratic rules and institutions in Ethiopia that have
been launched in the recent past. Much of the discussion in political good
governance has important economic dimensions as improvements in governance and
an increased capacity to deliver these reforms leads to increased investment.
Because investors respond to good governance, Japan can catalyse capacity for a
virtuous cycle to that end.
This augurs on the dialogue on
governability and founding an ‘intelligent state’ –
(1) security
agenda to place political governance and participatory politics at the
forefront of international diplomacy;
(2) Developed
economic agenda, rehabilitating and right-sizing the State in its core
regulatory functions within the remit of globalisation;
(3) Development
agenda linking sustainable human development, human security and participatory
democracy;
(4) Leadership
agenda – to shape dialogue and morality;
The convergence of agenda reflects an
emerging consensus on the mutually reinforcing role of governance and development, re-reemphasising the political context of development.
Secondly, Ethiopia needs to have a solid Private Sector Development
(PSD) agenda. Japan can assist Ethiopia in facilitating implementation of
(1) a PSD social governance agenda: to achieve the MDGs, democratic citizenships,
cultural democracy and the rise of the Arts, ethnic divergence and détente, graft and grand
corruption;
(2) Economic governance agenda: to develop state strategic and business
plans for the 21st Century, establish capacity for policy and
strategic harmonisation, establish sound knowledge management systems, privatising
and commercialising state activities, establishing credit and capital markets and
(3) a leadership
agenda: governance that promote business development through the founding of
independent private sector think tanks whose agenda is to develop businesses
concept of futuristic thinking, human security in a society in transformation,
Communities of Practice and integration and mainstreaming.
These two trajectories
of support to Ethiopia will invariably result in the creation of private sector
and social institutions that can
(1)
independently (both
human and material terms) set and pursue own goals and objectives;
(2)
effectively develop the
organisation’s capacity at achieving its stated objectives;
(3)
Develop Complexity: the
health corporate bureaucratisation of an organisation's internal structure and
(4)
Cohesion: the sharing of
common values, goals and organisational culture among an organisation's leaders
and members …
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