Berjamion’s simplistic view of the concept of development/economic development cannot be achieved by selling crude oil
Yusuf Azizi, in a conversation with the economic reporter of Fars news agency, in response to a question that the agreement with the United States in the form of the JCPOA is a security agreement that harms the country’s security or promotes the country’s development? He said: In my opinion, this type of dualization is fundamentally wrong. In recent years, especially in Mr. Rouhani’s government, we have had a lot of these dichotomies regarding the justification of JCPOA, war or JCPOA, development or resistance, and we had many such false dichotomies, which unfortunately, I might say, are only done more in Iran’s political environment.
He said: The issue of development in the countries that we consider as developed countries has, for example, 10 important indicators. Among these important indicators, the most important and main ones are related to internal governance, and in this good internal governance, discussions such as transparency, rule of law, accountability, and responsibility are discussed. In the country, we are far behind in the areas of bureaucracy, law enforcement and monitoring of law enforcement.
This public policy researcher from Virginia Tech University of Washington added: Issues such as banks, taxes, insurance, and customs, and many other issues that exist in the country and hinder development, have nothing to do with the JCPOA. Therefore, the JCPOA issue has nothing to do with the development of a country. Look at the history, for example, the Egyptians during the time of Anwar Sadat sign big arms contracts with the US and change their approach from the East to the West, or their relations with the US become positive, but is Egypt a developed country?
The senior international relations expert continued: Therefore, it is not necessary to say that a political, security, or economic relationship with superpowers will lead to the development of a country, but it is not so. Sustainable, comprehensive, slow and continuous development must be crystallized from within a society. The people and officials of that society must want.
* A single product oil economy not only does not lead to development, but also creates a thousand and one problems
He emphasized: There was a wrong and extreme view during Pahlavi’s time, and it exists in some oil-rich and oil-exporting countries, and unfortunately, in the Islamic Republic, it has also existed in the bodies of the country’s officials and those who give theories on development. If we sell oil, we will develop. As I said, Pahlavi was very insistent on this area.
Azizi said: People like Mr. Zanganeh also had this extreme view. That is, Mr. Zanganeh said in his last interviews with Shana news agency, which was made in the form of an advertisement report and a poster: “My dream was to be able to produce more than 6 million barrels of oil. export more than 4 million barrels and then he multiplied and divided that this much money will come, this much currency will come and the country can develop”.
The senior international relations expert said: See, this view does not understand that political economy studies and social development studies are of the opinion that countries that rely on oil exports and single-product exports of raw materials and raw natural resources are creating a rentier government, the Dutch disease. They create, that we had the discussion of Dutch disease and inflationary shocks in the Pahlavi government, we also had it in different governments of the Islamic Republic. We also had the time of Mr. Ahmadinejad.
He said: In the discussion of the rentier government, which is the bane of most North African countries, oil-exporting countries, Middle Eastern countries and ourselves, many studies have been conducted on how these governments are not accountable, what about democracy, transparency, and democracy. And many of these issues do not grow, how strange and in fact structural and systemic corruption penetrates in these countries, not in the sense that the people in charge want it or, for example, are corrupt people, but this corruption and the corruption and rentierization of the system are the consequences of this. Selling crude oil and relying solely on selling crude minerals.
* Berjamion’s simplistic view of the concept of development
Azizi said: Unfortunately, this extreme view has existed in Mr. Rouhani’s government. In fact, the theory of some of these friends has been that the development of a country depends on the growth of the wealth cake of that society and only GDP, which means gross domestic product per capita, which if it grows, this growth means development.
The senior international relations expert said: These theories have been rejected in new studies of political economy and development, especially after the Arab Spring. Because the Arab Spring happened in countries that happened to have 3-4% GDP growth for many years and were considered as countries with sustainable development. But suddenly the Arab Spring happened in them.
He explained: In Iran, it is often said that the economic cake of the society should grow. One of the most important reasons for the growth of this economic cake of the society and the wealth of the society is the attraction of foreign investment. In order to attract foreign investment, we must be digested in the global economy and global financial relations, and we must have extensive communication with them.
This public policy researcher from Virginia Tech University of Washington emphasized: Therefore, one of the goals of the JCPOA has been to be able to open foreign investment and through foreign investment and connecting to the global economy, the society’s wealth cake will grow and the society will develop. This view was a simplistic view of this field.
* The risks of attracting foreign investment by multinational companies
The senior international relations expert said: We have to check the risks of attracting foreign investment for that country. There is a critical view even in the West itself that the attraction of foreign investment by multinational companies, very large companies, first of all, endangers the independence and security of the target country.
He added: Secondly, in the end, technology is not transferred to the target country and these countries will always be dependent, and that the target country is viewed as a mere producer, an agricultural farm, a producer of raw products, and these countries are always in the last chain. Production relations are kept as the weakest.
Azizi stated: Many debates are raised here, the attraction of foreign investment by international companies, multinational companies, western technology companies and reputable and large companies actually takes away from them the right to self-determination, political economy, regional economy, regional independence and political independence of countries.
* The previous government did not even use the JCPOA capacity for economic development
The senior international relations expert said: But a more important point is that in the discussion of development, the main question is not whether the society’s wealth cake will grow or not, how this cake grows is also important. Because how this society’s wealth cake grows, it definitely plays a role in continuing to work sustainably in the all-round development of that country.
He added: “If the wealth cake of a society grows, it does not necessarily mean that all people benefited from it equally, or at least injustice has decreased.” No, it is possible that a small percentage of the society has been able to acquire that very high wealth, and practically the rest of the society may even have their living conditions, their income conditions, and their purchasing power conditions lowered, which is what happened in Iran.
Azizi explained: Despite all the criticisms of the JCPOA, if this tool was used to balance relations with the West and the East, the situation would be better. That is, we should have used the opportunity of the JCPOA to develop relations with China, Russia, India and Asian countries, but unfortunately, this was not the view that existed in Mr. Rouhani’s government. In the last report he presented to the Parliament, Mr. Zarif admits that if we did not disappoint our old friends Russia and China during the time of happiness or comfort, we would not disrespect them, they would definitely be with us in the difficult time when Trump’s sanctions were meant. They cooperated more.
The senior expert in international relations said: So I said all this to get to the point that unfortunately, the capacity of the JCPOA, which by the way has received many criticisms, was not properly used in the matter of sustainable and comprehensive development, and again, all of this goes back to that wrong worldview that Mr. Rouhani and his cabinet, especially Mr. Zarif, Zanganeh and Akhundi had a view on the development and our relations with the East and West and the region.
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