Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
gam·bit noun \ˈgam-bət\
Definition of GAMBIT
1: a chess opening in which a player risks one or more pawns or a minor piece to gain an advantage in position
2 a (1) : a remark intended to start a conversation or make a telling point (2) : topic
b : a calculated move : stratagem
gam·bit noun \ˈgam-bət\
Definition of GAMBIT
1: a chess opening in which a player risks one or more pawns or a minor piece to gain an advantage in position
2 a (1) : a remark intended to start a conversation or make a telling point (2) : topic
b : a calculated move : stratagem
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| David Cameron Source: wikipedia.org |
British Prime Minister David Cameron seems to be the most discussed person in Ghana this week. In fact, Mr. Cameron appears to be in serious contention for a Ghanaian national award. The award being "Special citation for your ability to unite Ghanaians in hatred across diverse religious and political divides". The last recipient of this award being the Uruguayan footballer Luis Suarez whose World Cup 2010 antic is ingrained in the Ghanaian national consciousness.
It all seems to have started with Mr. Cameron’s appearance on the popular BBC Andrew Marr show where he stated:
In the end Mr. Cameron basically threatened to withhold UK aid from governments that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality.
The anti-Cameron backlash in Ghana has been huge. Aside from vitriol being spewed in the media by callers, serial callers, politicians and religious leaders, the Ghanaian president has come out to say unequivocally:
While many Ghanaians have been celebrating a defiant stance where advocating violence against gays has somehow been deemed acceptable, I've been contemplating this whole Cameron debacle. Is Mr. Cameron really interested in human rights for gay Africans? From his statements alone, I’m pretty sure life for gays in places like Ghana and Uganda just got a whole lot harder. Well, Mr. Cameron is a smart man. He did not get a first class in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University for nothing. There must be more to this all.
The fact of the matter is that these are hard and economically uncertain times for the United Kingdom. The past few years have seen massive cuts to all sectors of the UK government's spending. In this current budget cut climate, could this Cameron debacle be a carefully thought-through gambit to justify future aid cuts to African countries? I present to you...
The Cameron Gambit:
Stage 1. Call for reforms on an explosive and emotive issue that you know African countries will be outraged over and make sure you threaten to withhold aid over this emotive issue
Strage 2. Ensure the countries you are threatening are appropriately vexed over the suggestion of reforms on the emotive issue and hope one of two things happen:
- The country refuses all concessions and declares they can manage without aid. Future aid is rejected.
- The country refuses all concessions and remains defiant although future aid is not rejected
Stage 3. In face of refusals to reform, the UK government obtains the perfect justification to enact cuts to future foreign aid budgets
Stage 4. The UK is saved a truck load of money
That my friends, is 'The Cameron Gambit' in practice. Checkmate in 4 swift moves.
