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Text/Editor/Dayu said Begonia
In Chinese culture, there is an old proverb: "Rise to the top, fight the enemy", which means that people tend to become dependent on long-term gratuitous aid and take it for granted. When this aid is reduced slightly, they can quickly become resentful and even hostile. This concept, while it may sound ironic, does reflect a realistic side of human nature. People may lose their gratitude for their value after receiving help for a long time, and they may feel lost or betrayed when that help is no longer available.
Extending this perspective to the realm of international relations, we can see a similar pattern. While "righteousness" may sometimes override "profit" in individual interactions, at the national level, interests are almost always at the center. This is not to say that there cannot be sincere friendship between countries, but such friendship is often based on mutual interests. As another saying goes: "There are no eternal friends or enemies in international politics, only eternal interests." This sentence highlights the realist character of state behavior, which is based primarily on national interests, rather than morality or emotion.
There is a significant difference between the realism of state behavior and the idealism of individual behavior. A person can make decisions on the basis of ethics and principles, but the decisions of the State must take into account their impact on the national interest. In other words, a person can choose to be a "gentleman", but the state is often unable to maintain the nobility of a gentleman when pursuing its interests.
In recent years, the international community has shown significant attention to Albania's economic challenges. The Balkan country, which is located in the Balkans, has received aid from the Soviet Union for 15 years and China for 20 years, respectively, over the past few decades. Despite such international support, Albania's economic development has faltered, and its deep-seated poverty problem has always seemed difficult to address. On the surface, the country's economic woes may seem to be caused by external factors, but in reality the deeper causes may stem from deficiencies in domestic policies and management issues.
When analyzing the causes of Albania's economic predicament, it is impossible to ignore its historical background and political changes. Albania's close ties with the Soviet Union and China supported its economy during the Cold War, but this support gradually diminished as the Cold War ended and the political landscape changed. Albania faced major challenges in the transition of its economy and the establishment of a market system, and the instability of its internal policies and the lack of effective economic reform measures were the main reasons for its economic difficulties.
Although international aid has alleviated economic difficulties to some extent, long-term dependence on external aid may also lead to increased dependence and inautonomy of domestic industries. This over-reliance on foreign aid may have somewhat weakened Albania's ability to solve its own problems, leading to greater economic challenges in the face of reduced international aid.
Some argue that Albania's economic predicament is a "self-inflicted" consequence of a "white-eyed wolf" in international relations. This view may be an oversimplification of Albania's economic and political realities. Albania's economic problems are the result of a combination of factors, including international political changes, internal policy failures, and the lack of an effective economic reform and industrialization strategy.
From the beginning of the 20th century to the 70s, the mainland was in the early stage of industrialization, with a weak industrial base and an economy dominated by the natural economy. During this period, the standard of living in China was generally not high, and many people faced many difficulties in their daily lives, and even basic dietary needs were difficult to guarantee. Despite this, the mainland government has provided large-scale assistance to many developing countries during such difficult times. This seemingly paradoxical decision has left some wondering, "Isn't this using scarce domestic resources to help foreign countries?"
This decision of the mainland government was based on the international political environment and long-term diplomatic strategic considerations at that time. In the context of the Cold War, foreign aid is not only an economic act, but also an important foreign policy tool. Through assistance, the mainland has established friendly relations in the international arena, enhanced its international status, and influenced the pattern of international politics to a certain extent.
Taking Albania as an example, this small country located in the Balkan Peninsula, although it is small in size, sparsely populated, and relatively backward in economic conditions, played a non-negligible role in international politics at that time. Albania is part of the red camp and for the continent it is not only a strategic partner, but also a bridgehead for expanding its influence in Europe. Although the mainland's assistance to Albania may seem like a diversion of resources in the short term, in the long run, it will help to enhance the mainland's status and influence in the international community.
Although the aid decision at that time caused some controversy in China, from a historical point of view, it was a well-thought-out chess game.
Aid relations between the USSR and Albania began in the late 40s of the 20th century and gradually unfolded under the leadership of the Albanian Communist Party. This period saw extensive economic aid and technical support from the Soviet Union to Albania, especially in the process of industrialization and modernization.
Soviet assistance focused on promoting Albania's industrial development and agricultural modernization. A large amount of money has been invested in infrastructure construction and social welfare projects, with the aim of accelerating economic growth and improving living standards in Albania. The Soviet Union also provided critical technical assistance to help Albania build a more modern and efficient industrial system.
Despite the large-scale and long-term economic support of Albania from the USSR, the overall development of Albania did not reach the expected level. An important reason for this was that the Soviet Union's aid strategy focused too much on the development of heavy industry, while ignoring the equilibrium of agricultural production and the overall progress of rural areas. Agriculture, as an important part of the Albanian economy, has not received enough attention and investment, limiting the development of rural areas and the improvement of farmers' lives.
In addition, Albania's own economic system and management problems have had a negative impact on the effectiveness of aid. To some extent, corruption and mismanagement have hindered the rational use of aid funds and resources, resulting in a significant reduction in the effectiveness of aid. The combination of these factors prevented Soviet aid from contributing to Albania's economic prosperity and social development as expected.
Soviet aid was undoubtedly a huge support for such a small country as Albania. Especially in terms of industrialization, the Soviet Union not only provided funds, but also helped to build a number of factories, which were supposed to contribute to the modernization process of Albania.
Albania, while enjoying Soviet assistance, had reservations about changes in the international political situation. When Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev began to criticize Stalin, Albania was dissatisfied and eventually opted out of the Warsaw Pact. This act indicated the deterioration of relations between Albania and the Soviet Union, and at the same time exposed Albania's dependence on international aid.
Khrushchev's reaction to Albania was to sever support for it. This decision has had a significant economic impact on Albania, forcing the small country to find new sources of aid.
At this critical juncture, China intervened in the situation. China was seeking to expand its international influence and had always been friendly to countries in distress. Seeing the poverty situation in Albania, China decided to provide assistance to it. In the following 20 years, China provided Albania with a large amount of material assistance and gave a number of proposals to promote the country's development.
Regrettably, however, Albania seems to have adapted to the way of life dependent on other countries and lacks the will to develop independently. This dependence has led to excessive expectations of Albania's foreign aid and its reluctance to improve the country's situation through its own efforts. This dependence and reluctance to be self-reliant has become a major obstacle to Albania's development.
In the 1970s, with the gradual détente in relations between China and the United States, Albania began to have a negative view of China's policy shift. Albania believes that China has deviated from the principles of communism in the process of improving relations with the United States, and Albania, which insists on taking ideology as its diplomatic orientation, has expressed strong dissatisfaction with this. This dissatisfaction eventually led to the deterioration of Sino-Arab relations.
Over time, Chinese aid to Albania has gradually decreased, and there has been a noticeable rift in the relationship between the two countries as a result. The deterioration of this relationship reflects to a certain extent the conflict of interests and ideologies in international politics.
Looking at Albania's own development, it can be seen that the country has not made substantial economic progress after 35 years of Sino-Soviet aid. It is even more regrettable that these years of assistance do not seem to have inspired the Albanian people to develop themselves. On the contrary, this long-term dependence has made the Albanian people lose the motivation to be self-reliant, and their attitude towards the aid country is full of dissatisfaction and complaints.
To this day, Albania is still facing economic difficulties, the country's development is slow, and the standard of living of the people is not high. To a certain extent, the country's current situation has become a symbol of the "unsupportable Adou", reflecting the difficulty of international aid in achieving the desired development effects in the absence of effective domestic policies and active participation of the population. The example of Albania also reminds other countries that relying solely on external assistance is not enough to achieve sustainable development, and that it is necessary to stimulate internal development momentum in the light of their own realities.