Historically, trade was the fulcrum in the dialectical relationship of geography, history and politics – and ultimately the questions of war and peace. Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the Dutch East India Company’s Governor-General in the Indies, who observed that trade and war were inseparably linked is quoted to have said that, “we cannot make war without trade nor trade without war.”
Notwithstanding this point of view, the Trade-Peace Theory argues that an increase in trade leads to universal benefits (which expand to include peace). Around AD 100 Plutarch wrote about how sea trade allowed humans to cooperate and “redress defects” in their relationship with one another through mutual exchange.
In 1748, Charles de Montesquieu incisively made a fundamental conclusion that trade was an instrument of peace and gave rise to the idea that, “Peace is the natural effect of trade.” Adam Smith further popularized the idea of trade and peace and promoted concepts of interdependence. This, in turn enhanced the understanding around the economic benefits of peace and the economic costs of war.
In today’s interdependent world, the interrelationship between trade and peace is more acute and critical to human co-existence and the vision of a shared humanity. In his collection of essays in Small is Beautiful, E. F. Schumacher hones the view that it is not economics that is at stake, but culture, not the standard of living but the quality of life. This also translates to the economics of peace.
Given the land-linked geography, history, politics and culture of the Naga context, the viability of inter and intra-state trade is central to the economic stability. Because of our complex history the question of trade is embedded within a decolonization framework that requires understanding and defining inter-state trade primarily as one of inter-cultural and cross-cultural relations. The connections become clearer when we see them through the cultural lens which doesn’t limit them to finite geographic boundaries defined by others.
When we limit the understanding of inter-state trade within the existing paradigm as defined by the State, its dynamism is lost as it is regulated by rigid boundaries and legal norms where people are reduced to consumers and statistics.
By (re)defining inter-state trade as one of inter-cultural and cross-cultural relations, Nagas will realize that human aspirations assume the foundational stone in building common ground. In turn, our inter-dependent and inter-connected nature becomes our guiding principles.
This removes people from the status of being dependent subjects to being makers of their own destiny in which boundaries are no longer lines drawn on a map to separate and divide, but provide fluid and soft lines where tensions are creatively transformed as shared and respectful spaces.
The future of the Nagas and our neighbors are deeply intertwined, tied together. All Naga villages, towns and their neighboring communities rely on using trade linkages as a means to revitalize, re-establish relationships and build new links between. We need to share our stories, listen to each other and define our problems and solutions.
Nagas and our neighbors have the opportunity to form a cross-cultural framework that promotes values and principles of shared responsibility, mutual respect, shared benefits with the realization that our humanity is tied to one another. Such cooperation and alliances can build a peace economy through trusted relationships with trading partners.
