‘Time to look for new allies’

‘Global politics changing fast’

“THE political and economic changes that have occurred at the global and regional level during the past seven years have reflected on the Gulf region,” columnist wrote for

daily. “During this period, the foes have become allies, and brothers have become enemies. In this context, we have been the focus of the world’s attention. We have become instruments that implement the agendas of the West in their new concerns. This new reality needs to reconsider our alliances and rearrange the list of friends.

“This new reality entails that we have to review our alliances and rearrange the list of our friends, particularly the friends who can be placed at the top of this list.

“The United States of America, for instance, since the liberation of Kuwait from the Iraqi invasion and occupation, was the first strategic ally of our country to such an extent that we always avoided building relations with the remaining countries of the world in general and with those which can be classified as opponents of Washington because we did not want to provoke the US.

“However, it is needless to say the US with which we have woven a strategic alliance during the reigns of both the Democrat Barack Obama and the Republican Donald Trump means it is necessary for us to redirect the compass of our international concerns and review the list of our friends and allies in order to keep abreast with the new global reality.

“But this doesn’t mean the US will be deleted from the list as a top ally, rather we should hasten to look for another global ally who has weight at international level equal to that of the US.

“This will contribute to creating a good balance that will enable us to continue our independent diplomatic policy, which will ensure our continued existence under our regional reality.

“In this connection, we would like hereby to make it clear without any introduction that the Peoples Republic of China shall represent the ally that we should invest its concern towards the Gulf region in general and towards the State of Kuwait in particular and this means we have to become Beijing’s first ally and friend economically in this part of the world.

“In this context, we would like to point out that the State of Kuwait represents the old and the new political friend of the Peoples Republic of China in the region. In this respect, we say the recent visit of the Chinese Vice-President to the State of Kuwait accompanied by a high level delegation gives cause for a clear cut agenda.

“Apart from the above, we cite the distinguished and persistent activities of the Chinese Ambassador to the State of Kuwait and all these factors we must take full advantage of these developments crowned by the visits paid by HH the Amir, HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad and HH Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak and Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad to China during the recent years.

“Politically, HH the Amir since coming to power more than ten years ago, the State of Kuwait had started building relations with many Eastern countries, but it is needless to say such a development should be transformed into a real partnership on long term basis with the relevant countries.

“Consequently, we suggest that the Kuwaiti efforts in this connection should be integrated with that of the Chinese Ambassador to the State of Kuwait Wang De in this connection who had during the past two years succeeded to direct the compass of the Chinese leadership towards the State of Kuwait.

“Speaking of the United States of America under the administration of Donald Trump and until the clarification of the salient features of the policy of this administration towards the Gulf region, we suggest the US cannot be the main global dimension for us.

“We must not make it our only choice until the picture becomes clear and therefore our strategic goal should be to develop our relationship with friends in China according to the principle of common interests and long economic partnership because of the extent to which China’s economic power has subdued the world by invading every home across the globe with its industries that are outperforming the West and East.

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Al-Shrai’an

“In her personal memoirs, the former US secretary of state and the presidential candidate Mrs. Hillary Clinton, has portrayed her impressions about China when she visited Beijing in her capacity as the US secretary of state,” columnist and former MP wrote for daily.

“In her memoirs, Clinton refers to 1972 when the then US president Richard Nixon paid a historical visit to China. She mentioned during that time she and her husband Bill Clinton (the former US president) were students of the Faculty of Law.

“She said during that time, she and her husband did not have a television set but they rented wireless equipment to follow Nixon’s historical visit to China and to see the country which before the visit were unseen by any of them.

“Commenting on the visit in question, Hillary repeated what was said by Richard Nixon that this visit shall help change the whole world.

“Ironically, those who had no television in 1972, one of them went on to become the president of the United States of America, while the other became secretary of state.

“Not just that, but Hillary was the first woman to compete in the presidential elections in the country of the ‘American Dream’ — the dream that has become a reality for many US citizens.

“Meanwhile, we remember how Hillary Clinton joked with the former US secretary of state Dr Henry Kissinger when she told him ‘you are unlike the current US secretary of state, very lucky indeed simply because neither the smart telephones nor the social media existed when you paid your first confidential visit to China’.

“Moreover, Hillary Clinton in her memoirs talked about her first official visit to Beijing in 1995. This visit actually was the big difference between the current and earlier methods of dealing with the various political issues and how the circumstances have changed because at the moment the media can follow each and every of the politicians in any part of the world.

“Apart from the above, Clinton said all of the nice dreams can be transformed into a reality in the United States of America by those who work seriously without any bar or restrictions.”

“Civilized dialogue amounts to venerating existing information based on proof and respect for other viewpoints such that concerned parties use their uniqueness to negotiate understanding,”

wrote for daily. “Today, we are in a dilemma as the majority of our elite and leaders do not understand the significance of documented information. For instance, Saddam Hussein was ignorant of what was happening around him and inaccurate information he was receiving, although he did not require extra logic to detect the falsehood. In spite of the situation, Saddam believed the deception and based his decisions on it.

“The real value of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is not hidden to us in Kuwait. The value becomes clear as we mark the anniversary of Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The existence of GCC was a major factor that chased away the catastrophe. For this reason, it may be necessary for us to be more committed to the council and improve on it.

“We hope all our brothers in the Arabian Gulf will detect the significance of GCC and promptly adopt the idea of dialogue for understanding. The GCC leaders and civil society organizations should also strive to end the crisis before it snowballs into a chronic disease difficult to treat.”

“The population structure remains a major impediment to GCC countries, especially in the era of oil boom. The state of affairs became worse by government’s mishandling of housing, fiscal resources, and excess crude funds files,” wrote for daily.

“The same error is being repeated in refusing to avail ourselves of lessons from the past. Here we are again, watching the issue of population structure resurface to become one of our current major problems — but in a more problematic and complicated way.

“The population composition, with reference to economic planning, is currently embedded in joblessness among the fresh Kuwaiti graduates. Therefore, educational output should be directly linked to the labor market amid steady growth of the Asian economies, which are close to GCC countries in many projects.”

“Every believer in human justice cannot remain silent about the campaign that has been waged against expatriates in Kuwait,” columnist

wrote for daily. “I do not want to hide my astonishment about the extent of abhorrent racism that has gripped the souls of some people. They have hidden the facts and killed their conscience. An expatriate is neither represented in the Parliament nor has any interests in politics that benefit the MPs.

“Moreover, expatriates do not have the right to respond, which will make them vulnerable to ‘deportation’ since they are being deported even for the most trivial issues such as a traffic violation or escaping from an employer.

“The demographic imbalance is obvious to all, with expatriates accounting for more than 70 percent of the total population. Most of them came to the country under the sponsorship of a Kuwaiti who can sponsor at least three persons to work for him under the sponsorship system.

“At the beginning of 2016, expatriates were deported for most trivial reasons and this put them at the mercy of sponsors who began to blackmail the buyers of residences. Last year alone the government deported nearly 15,000 people.

“In my opinion, it is impossible to separate the campaign against expatriates, which was initiated by some MPs during the discussion of the demographic simply because ‘when you fail, you do not want to recognize your failure’.

“After almost a year and three months we see the promises of the MPs collapsing before our eyes, slogans such as ‘Do not touch the citizen’s pockets’, ‘Youth are the nucleus of the homeland’, ‘amendment to the election law’, etc.

“The rise in the price of petrol and electricity is crime against the citizen and add to this the value added tax.

“People may forget about the ‘murder’ of their relatives but do not forget who stole their money, put the salaries of some expatriates under the microscope to tickle the emotions of the citizens and create a black hatred between us and our partners in building this homeland.”

“Despite the government work lacks transparency and public funds are managed in what seems to be surreptitious fashion, unveiling financial statements sometimes becomes a big surprise, not only to none specialists but to specialists as well,”

wrote for daily. “The proof of this is about financial statements published recently, because the method of unveiling it surprised everybody. The statements were related to inflation of obligation, which is known as ‘accounts without documents’— according to Al-Shall weekly economic report that affirmed the figure was huge reaching KD 3.833 billion, based on the final statement for fiscal year 2015/2016. It accounts for about 19.2 percent of the volume of massive approved budget for fiscal year 2017/2018.

“Now, it’s our right to ask questions. Where did the billions of dinars go at a time the government is talking about public budget deficit day and night? Who can guarantee in the absence of transparency in government work and bad administration of public funds that ambiguous financial transactions such as undocumented expenses or withdrawals made from general reserves isn’t repeated?”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb