Article Type

Article

Description

We in Pakistan seem to be so preoccupied with trivial issues ranging from what the exact measurement of the growth rate is this year to the quantum of the fiscal deficit that we seem to be oblivious to the shocks that are going to affect our future prospects. The decision of the UK public to exit the European Union (EU) is not an isolated event but part of a larger growing trend against globalisation and integration in the West. It is highly paradoxical that Western countries attained their present prosperity by taking full advantage of trade liberalisation (remember GATT and WTO), free movement of capital flows, assimilation of technology and skilled talent from wherever it was available but when it came to the turn of the developing countries to follow the same path and improve the lot of their citizens, there is a palpable backlash against globalisation, integration and migration in Western countries. The UK Independence Party, France’s National Front, Germany’s AFD, Netherlands’ Freedom Party and many other similar parties even in the Nordic countries are gaining popularity for their anti-immigration, anti-EU and inward looking policy stances. The mainstream parties are therefore forced to move towards the right as was obvious from the championship of the Leave campaign by Conservative Party stalwarts Boris Johnson (likely the new prime minister of the UK) and Michael Gove.

Publication Source

The Express tribune

Publication Date

6-28-2016

Pages

1-4

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