The foreign policy direction of a country goes a long way in charting her course in today’s largely befuddled international politics. It is important therefore that Ghana studies the implications of every move she takes in the comity of nations so that she remains in tune with, especially, the two international organizations-the UN and the AU- to which she belongs. Under the circumstances, that is the best option to take.
Above all we should not as a country take decisions which do not inure to our national interests. After all such interests, unlike our friends, are permanent.
It is for this sound reason that we in the DAILY GUIDE prefer neutrality in the matter of the forty year thorny subject of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and Morocco as opposed to pitching camp with one of the sides. After all, such attribute is in consonance with our foreign policy of non-intervention and non-alignment. We are restricted in taking a decision on whether SADR should be totally independent of Morocco or be offered limited freedom under the aegis of the latter.
Ours is not to compromise the UN’s peace and settlement efforts through rapprochement which side-taking would definitely bring about.
Our support for the UN to which we are a consistent provider of troops for peacekeeping operations across the globe and other commitments, could not have been better exhibited than such sincere show of neutrality. Anything to the contrary can only expose us as not being only hypocritical but a country which cannot be trusted to be supportive of the UN and AU efforts needed to restore normalcy in this restive part of the continent.
Open display of support to a faction in a conflict compromises a country’s integrity and denies her the diplomatic dividends and the attendant economic incentives which go with such an attribute.
King Mohammed VI of Morocco might have not visited Ghana as he did last year had our government flagrantly supported SADR. In such matters, adequate finesse tinctured with diplomacy is required to bestow upon a country the much needed reverence required in international politics.
We recall our rather worrying freezing of recognition of Western Sahara in 2001 and the restoration of same in 2011 under the NDC government gestures which compromised our neutrality in the conflict and robbing us of the moral right to delve into the issue at the UN and AU levels.
Twenty five agreements of unquantifiable economic importance were signed between Ghana and Morocco – the outcome of the King’s visit to Ghana. As we compose this commentary, the Senior Minister is exploring further mutually beneficial activities between the two countries as he undertakes a tour of the North African country. Such avenues would have been closed upon us had we taken sides glaringly.
We have observed the repercussions of the failure of President Donald Trump to exhibit neutrality in the Palestinian versus Israeli conflict. While the Palestinian President has denied the US the authority to play a mediatory role in the dispute, the latter has lost so much in terms of international respect. The wages of alignment in international politics under such circumstances are costly and, when they occur, difficult to reverse.
Two-state solutions, as in the matter of Palestine and Israel, can best be managed through neutrality which the UN has upheld – all in opposition to Donald Trump’s stance.
Regardless of what some of our compatriots think and even seeking to work upon clandestinely, ours is for neutrality.