The impact of economic diplomacy on foreign policy making autonomy in Tanzania

This study attempts to assess the impact of the global changes, particularly the aftermath of the end of the Cold War which actualized economic diplomacy as a new mode of international negotiations, on foreign policy making autonomy in Tanzania. Generally the study scrutinizes the World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Financial Institutions (IFI) rules as the engine of economic diplomacy and their implications on Tanzania's quest for autonomy in international issues. More specifically, such rules related to trade, aid acquisition and management have been re examined to find out whether their speculated benefits have added leverage to negotiation or are continuing to marginalize the less developed countries in the international economic system. The question is: Are international trade rules and procurement and aid management rules giving opportunities for less developed countries like Tanzania to choose their own destination in their foreign relations? The qualitative study has employed two approaches in studying economic diplomacy and its impact on Tanzania’s foreign policy making autonomy. Both interview and documentary data collection methods were used to reveal the implication of international aid and free trade rules on Tanzania’s ownership of her destination in foreign relations. The findings show that WTO rules which set in motion economic diplomacy embracing trade, aid management and acquisition, with market economy as the rule of the game, put autonomy in Tanzania’s international negotiation at stake. Tanzania has become subject to the imposed rules and objectives that mostly do not coincide with its material existence and the real needs of the public as the main determinant of any national interest. The economic diplomacy operating within the framework of WTO rules continues to marginalize Tanzania’s position in international trade by making international markets inaccessible due to protectionist international standards. In international fora, Tanzania finds itself implementing the foreign policy priorities set by the powerful states through aid management and acquisition conditionality. The study concludes by saying that, in contrast with the political diplomacy that had its own institutional mechanisms for negotiation that enhanced foreign policy making autonomy of the less developed countries, economic diplomacy has come with its new negotiation framework within the WTO and IFIs. That is responding to the market signal thorough which only the powerful states can resist its force. As a result, less developed countries’ destinies in foreign policy making are determined by the foreign policy priorities of the powerful states who own capital and control the international system.