When it comes to successful nations, small ones often climb to the top of the league. Here are some examples.
In the game of nations, size matters. Big countries tend to have big populations, economies, militaries, resources and ambitions. From time immemorial, big countries have tended to dominate small countries. Even in the contemporary world, important institutions such as the United Nations Security Council, Group of Seven and Group of 20 are dominated by big countries.
It would, however, be a mistake to equate size with success. Some of the most successful countries in the world, in different fields of endeavour, are small countries. This fact is seldom highlighted. What I would like to do in this essay is to restore some balance to our perception of small countries.
I will give examples of small countries which have overcome the disadvantage of size and achieved extraordinary success.
RICHEST NATIONS: 14 OUT OF TOP 20
Since we live in a world which worships money, let me begin by asking which are the richest countries in the world. I will use GDP per capita as the criterion and define a small country as one with a population of less than 10 million. The 20 richest countries of the world are listed in the table on the left.
The astonishing fact is that, of the 20 richest countries, a majority of them, 14, are small countries.
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX: 12 OUT OF TOP 20
I acknowledge the validity of the view that GDP per capita may not be the best criterion of human welfare. Many prefer the UN’s Human Development Index, which also looks at a country’s achievements in education, health, housing, and so on.
Which are the top 20 countries in the Human Development Index (2014)? They are: Norway, Australia, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Liechtenstein, Sweden, UK, Iceland, South Korea, Israel, Luxembourg, Japan and Belgium. Of the 20, 12 are small countries.
As a matter of interest, I would mention that China is ranked at No. 90, Indonesia at No. 110 and India at No. 130.
LEAST CORRUPT COUNTRIES: 13 OUT OF 20
Corruption is a universal evil. It is the aspiration of citizens everywhere to live in a society which is free of corruption. The non-governmental organisation, Transparency International, publishes the highly respected Corruption Perceptions Index annually.
Which are the 20 least corrupt countries in the 2015 index? They are: Denmark, Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, UK, Australia, Iceland, Belgium, Austria, the US, Ireland, Japan and Uruguay. Thirteen of the 20 are small countries. India, China and Indonesia are ranked at 76, 83 and 88 respectively.
BEST EDUCATED COUNTRIES: 8 OUT OF 11
In this new world, human resource is a country’s most important resource. Countries do well when they educate and train their people well. The World Economic Forum has just published the list of the 11 best educated countries in the world. The countries are ranked in the following order: (1) Singapore (2) Finland (3) the Netherlands (4) Switzerland (5) Belgium (6) Denmark (7) Norway (8) the US (9) Australia (10) New Zealand (11) Iceland. Eight of the 11 are small countries.
A HYPOTHESIS
A pattern seems to be emerging from these facts and figures. Some small countries are extremely successful because they are well governed (non-corrupt), and pro-inclusive growth (high score on Human Development Index). I would add two more factors to account for their success. The first is that they have educated and trained their population well. The second is that they are open economies, with an outward orientation.
The Curious Case of Somalia
Somalia a country of an estimated population of about 15-20 million perfectly fits the bill to take it’s rightful place amongs this successful nations. For one Somalia has the largest coast in continental Africa and its strategic geographical positioning on the world map makes it even more of an extraordinary country. Adorning two of the most famous rivers in the world, The Shabelle and the Jubba, Certainly Somalia is naturally more resourceful than most of these successful nations.
But unfortunately Somalia lacks good governance for more than two decades. The country has recently been rated as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. A recent report by fartaag consulting has revealed corruption on mammoth scale and more than 1 billion of public funds unaccounted for in the last four years since Hassan Sheikh mohamud’s government was elected in to office. Unless Somalia can adopt good governance culture and stamp out corruption, This rich nation will remain one of the poorest in the world and will continue to economicly depend on the international aid architecture and remittances flow from the diaspora.
But Somalia has a window of opportunity in the 2016 national elections, to elect a leadership that is true to the nations historical good governance and relive the legacy of the best government that the continent Africa has ever seen, The government of Aden Abdulle and Abdirazaq Haji Somalia’s post colonial government Dubbed by the rest of the world as the “Africa’s first democrats”. With all due respect to the Somali revolution government that succeeded them and the extraordinary legacy of pan somalism, Nationalism, and the display of Somali militarism Superiority it had cemented in the history books, which can be said is the reason so many countries have reservatons about the restoration of the Somali national army today.
Regardless of the revolution’s good governance and it’s shortcomings it’s a topic for another day. But one thing is for sure in today’s global political realities, Somalia needs to elect leaders that can follow the foot steps of Aden Abdulle and Abdirazaq Haji For peace, stability, unity, and economic development.
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