Debt, Despots and Domination

Chris Ngwodo writes "...we should realize that the current prominence of debt relief in international circles is driven by much more than altruism...debt relief is aimed at altering the social climates that support the spread of extremism and terror all over the third world without altering the global economic balance of power...ongoing campaign for debt relief must be articulated from the perspective of its moral economy. Much of those debts are odious because they were incurred by dictatorships which were unrepresentative of the masses now groaning under the debt burden...debt relief must be accompanied by the institution of justice in the global economic system. The pious hypocrisy of the west in championing free markets in Africa while maintaining subsidies and guarding its own markets strategically is obvious...The willingness of so many western countries and banks to receive stolen funds is as criminal as the original theft itself. The debt issue should be tied to the repatriation of Africa's stolen wealth that has been piling up in foreign vaults...African nations must look inward and tackle decisively the culture of graft that is destroying governance and impoverishing their people. It would be profound to see past leaders and government operatives being put on trial and convicted for economic crimes, theft and embezzlement..."
Via Pambazuka News