Forget About The West-Catch Up With The East
By Shirzad Azad
21 July, 2009
Countercurrents.org
Within the past century in Iran, scores of words have been written and many lectures given on whether the nation should emulate the Western way of development.
The West was a source of inspiration when the government started sending students to Europe in the Qajar era (1794 to 1925) and more frequently during the rule of the Pahlavi Dynasty (1925-1979). From shaping a national army to a bureaucracy to educational institutions and the media, Western ideas have been a determining factor.
As more Western thought penetrated society, the more a clash of opinions erupted. Though Westernization sometimes dominated the public discourse and the way of getting things done by governments, its scope and instruments was a subject of serious disagreement.
The story has so far turned out to be only a vicious circle in which a staunch attitude of going fully Westernized has been branded as "Westoxication" and its arch-rival conviction as reactionary and radical.
It has been a great loss for Iran to fail to learn appropriate lessons from the West, according to the characteristics of its society and ambitions. But, the greater loss is its ignorance and failure to pay enough attention to those who have successfully imitated the West, both in acquiring a proper knowledge of it and in developing their own societies accordingly.
The East - and especially the three top countries of East Asia - is a case in point. In the early 1970s, the country's leader, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, proclaimed the creation of a second Japan, but he didn't bother to visit it to get an understanding of what was really happening in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Instead, he wore dark glasses and visited Western capitals many times a year, bearing his wishful thoughts that his nation would soon join the ranks of advanced countries and developed societies - if only through ignorance, indolence and squandering petrodollars on imported cosmetics and the like.
South Korea and Iran started their auto industries at roughly the same time, during the 1960s. Today, Korea's Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors have established their reputations as global brands, while Iranian cars can barely satisfy domestic customers, let alone capture a share in the world's markets. The same goes for other areas of the economy.
Not only has the East made spectacular progress and development, the Eastern way, in fields as diverse as education and finance, it is now frequently recommended by people in the West. In March, US President Barack Obama urged American students to study harder, like Korean students.
Eastern societies are ruthlessly marching toward superiority in almost all fields. Western children trail Asian school kids in math and science and their diplomats have to compete with Asian counterparts to head international organizations. With the Japanese, Koreans and Chinese making advances in technology, there are growing concerns that the US and Europe may sooner or later cede ground to Asian competitors.
Japan and China have come a long way to be the world's second- and third-largest economies. Not only is Japan's Toyota the world's biggest automaker, its new Prius hybrid car is going to become America's next top model. Fourteen Korean companies have made the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest corporations, with names like Samsung Electronics, the LG Group and Hyundai Motors all easily within the top 100. Chinese-woven carpets not only now sell much better than the Persian product, Korean kimchi is overtaking Iranian kebab as one of the most popular ethnic cuisines.
Today, Iranian officials may give themselves credit for making some progress in cloning a goat and a calf, but that means little when the country is overtaking Egypt to become the largest importer of wheat, the nation's staple. If the country had paid more attention to its agriculture sector and cultivated wheat rather than concern itself with cloning goats, it would now be an important crop exporter and could rely on its domestic products for its food security.
Indonesia is another Asian example. The predominantly Muslim Southeast Asian country succeeded last year in becoming self-sufficient in rice, thanks in part to the government paying more attention to the agriculture sector by providing seeds and fertilizer for farmers. Indonesia is predicted to produce some 38 million tonnes of milled rice in 2009, leaving an excess of about 2 to 3 million tonnes for export.
Based on any factor, Iran lags behind the East. Take oil: income from the fuel accounts for almost 80% of Iran's foreign exchange revenues. In the previous Iranian calendar year (to March 20, 2009), the country's oil revenues stood at US$70 billion, from which Iran has to pay to import the gasoline it consumes.
In 2008, South Korea exported $36.6 billion of oil products - the first time that they ranked first in the country's list of export items, overtaking vehicles and semiconductors. This is a remarkable achievement because, unlike Iran, Korea has no significant natural resources and had to spend $141.5 billion last year alone to import energy, accounting for 32.5% of the country's total imports of $435.3 billion.
In another comparison, Vietnam in 2008 attracted more foreign direct investment - $71.7 billion - than Iran made in oil revenues, even amid the global economic downturn.
Malaysia has become the first stop for Middle Eastern oil money interested in Asian markets. With a view to becoming a financial hub for the Islamic world, Malaysia's Islamic financial assets grew to $51.83 billion at the end of 2008. The country is now attractive to many Asian financial institutions and offers advantages over not only the US and European markets, but also the Asian financial hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore.
Besides its economic development, Malaysia was ranked among the world's top five medical tourism destinations in 2008 as the number of foreigners seeking treatment in that country increased to 374,063 last year from 39,114 patients in 1998.
Asian values of working and studying hard, and living within ones means, can be prescribed as a great tool to achieve development, not only in Iran but in many other underdeveloped societies. Asia is increasingly becoming the world's center of technology and tourism, fashion and food, creativity and culture. Iran should no longer be preoccupied with the West.
*This article first appeared on Asia Times Online.
