“The New, Global Deal of the Century” - An open message to the Arab nation
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh
I could not stop myself from giving my point of view on the G7 show that is being played out on the UK stage.
The G7
The actors on the G7 stage in Cornwall, UK are known as the great seven nations of the World; masquerading as purveyors of egalitarianism in a self-styled club. These countries are seen at the flagships of modern democracy and includes America, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy. Maybe they should prefix the word ‘western’ or ‘anglo saxon’ to their names, as I do not see among them any nation that is not an ally of America.
They only account for 10% of the world’s population yet claim to be representing the interests of the world at large, just because they make up 40% of the world’s GDP? How can this be and where are countries such as China and Russia in such important negotiations? It seems the G7 is a selective, occidental hegemony of states with no room for those with a divergent opinion.
Democracy, it seems, is just a mantra played to exclude those with governance systems of a different genre.
Talks of vaccination against COVID have been rife during this summit, yet those that have been vaccinated in poor countries is less than the population of the town of Cornwall where the summit was held! How ironic!
American-British partnership and partnership with the private sector
We saw how act one of this political satire started with a meeting between Biden and Johnson, who reiterated what I have always said; that the only special relationship America has is with the UK (the same as the Russian-Chinese relationship). Biden stood alongside the CEO of Pfizer, hailing the company as the savior of the world, praising American technology and its people’s spirit of generosity and sacrifice to deliver the vaccine in record time to save the world from COVID doom. Biden added that the US in partnership with Pfizer, would buy half a billion doses and donate them to the world's poorer countries. This world, where the vaccination rate is currently 85% in rich countries and a mere 3% in poor ones.
It is all about the economy
It is all about the economy, ladies and gentlemen, not the coronavirus nor humanity. Don’t let the tumultuous rhetoric fool you. The compassionate US will lead you all, without discrimination or conditions, and knows what is best for you! It is the trillions of dollars that US companies have made which is of course the real agenda here. The US along with its G7 allies will continue to milk the COVID cash cow well into the future under a humanitarian narrative. This has already lead to a growth rate in the US economy of more than 6% and will certainly grow as time goes on.
When I said from the beginning that it was necessary to vaccinate all humans, I asked that this task be entrusted to the World Health Organization. Why did Biden decide that it should be a donation from him to the poor countries? Out of tenderness and love for the G7 summit? Is there an agenda to divide the world into two camps; the givers and the needy? Is this really the future of the world? Moreover, how do the Chinese and Russian vaccines fit into all of this?!
The coronavirus will be around until at least 2022
Biden finally announced, in the name of United States, that the coronavirus would not end unless all humans were vaccinated, and set a deadline for this by 2022. He announced at the summit that he wants to vaccinate every human being on the planet. This will see the US coffers overflow at the expense of you all!
Those who follow my articles would remember that in the first few months of the epidemic, I said that we would have to live with the coronavirus for at least four years. I was then accused, among other things, of being pessimistic.
Preventive research
The summit pledged about $30 billion to preventive research for epidemics and produce vaccines for them within 100 days. It is well known that medications usually need years of laboratory work to be produced, which then undergo strict rounds of safety testing. Is this pledge for new viruses or variants of the current one, or is it to counteract the negative effects of the current vaccine? I ask you President Biden, to whom and for what was this pledge made?
We need eleven billion doses, not one billion
Why remain silent until now and not announce what international scholars having been saying for some time? Why did Biden not announce that if we want to vaccinate all humans we would need eleven billion doses, not the one billion the summit pledged? President Biden surprised me as he kept repeating the one billion number, which represents a small fraction of the world's population. Why did President Biden not address how much money these doses would generate for US economy? He also didn’t say who would foot the bill for these doses. While we are still waiting for the outcomes of the summit, I believe we will become more confused and will never understand the financials of this opaque arrangement.
Where are China, Russia, India, and other countries in all this?
With the world ‘greatest’ seven democratic countries meeting at the summit, it is ironic they forgot to include the world’s oldest democracy which is India, whose population is close to the sum of the citizens of these seven nations. The attendees of the summit also forgot the non-western, Chinese and Russian economies, but that is another story!
America is back
We will see more of Biden’s US leadership in the implementation of his slogan "America is back", rather than Trump's "America First" slogan. I say this because I can see that the purpose of this summit is to strengthen the ranks of the Western alliance led by America, in the face of China and Russia, specifically the “Belt and Road” initiative.
It is a tough job because of historical American-European differences. This is an important story that we need to return to, as the leadership of the world is the business of the entire world.
The humanitarian vaccination project will lead to the prosperity of the Western economy
The G7 countries led by America and Britain, have devised a plan to get out of the stifling economic crisis they are experiencing through the vaccine deal. They will see their economies boom at the expense of the whole world and will have no option but to accept and be spectators in this game of global profiteering. There will be winners and losers in this plan by the time it achieves its goals, even if it is wrapped with the coating of humanity.
It will be interesting to see how this story unfolds on the world stage.
‘See you in 2022’, as President Biden has promised us.