What is common between Abdullah Bin Mua’amar, the minister of agriculture, and Diauddeen Dawood, the general secretary of the Arab National Conference? None.

The latter still lives in the emptiness of the past which can provide neither bread nor milk. The former looks to the future and keeps abreast of the latest ways of thinking. The minister of agriculture has stated that his ministry will not intervene in the price war between Saudi dairy giants. The war naturally benefits consumers; it does not, however, benefit the smaller dairies, which are unable to push their prices to what they claimed were levels a little above production costs.

As for the consumers, it would benefit them far better if the minister of agriculture considered another step. His ministry along with the Ministry of Commerce or the Ministry of Justice should prevent the dairies from negotiating price agreements among themselves. Such agreements are in fact an imposition of arbitrary prices on consumers and run counter to the principles of a free-market economy.

What Diauddeen is trying to accomplish is to activate the Arab National Conference, which he heads, and the Arab masses to scuttle the WTO summit scheduled to be held in Qatar in November. The WTO meeting, he alleges, is an “American conspiracy” aimed at world domination. Diauddeen’s stand is based on recommendations made by his organization at its last conclave held in Baghdad. These recommendations are outdated and were taken in a capital city that finds itself in a time warp because of the policies of its leaders. This is in sharp contrast to the days when Baghdad was a major player in the unfolding drama of human history and civilization.

I advise Dawood to take a close look at the latest statistics concerning per capita annual incomes in the Arab world. Should he trouble himself to do so, he will see that we find ourselves at the bottom of the league. The purchasing power per capita, as indicated by the World Bank, shows that half the Arab world is well down on a list of 207 nations. Annual income ranges from $4,410 for a Lebanese to $270 for a Yemeni.

This is no happy news for the Lebanese since the annual per capita income in Luxembourg, which occupies first place on the list, is $41,000.

Some might object to taking Luxembourg as an example since it is a small country that has been always wealthy. In that case, let us look at the camp of the enemy and its supporter. The purchasing power of an American has risen to $32,000 a year and that of an Israeli to $18,000. But people like Diauddeen would choose to ignore facts. They belong to a system that has failed economically, politically and militarily.

This is bad. Worse still, there are people who listen to and believe such baseless pronouncements. Diauddeen represents an old Arab practice: to take the wrong option even when many better alternatives are available.

It goes without saying that the WTO is not our project — but it is the only way forward open to us. If there were an alternative, China, given its military might and economic potential, would not have tried to become a member. China’s accession to the WTO will be the big event of the Doha meeting and proves that there is no other way for the future except the WTO. Those who see it from another, less realistic but more gloomy, point of view, can ally themselves with North Korea or other unfortunate Arab countries which have chosen to turn their back on the world and expect the world to ignore them as well.

Back to the Saudi minister of agriculture. Only very recently he took a different stance, when price wars broke out between dairies last summer. His ministry stepped in and oversaw an agreement between producers in order to stabilize prices. Not surprisingly, the ministry later denied that it had any role in reaching that agreement. It is apparent that these changes of heart are a result of Crown Prince Abdullah’s orders and repeated affirmations of the Kingdom’s desire to join the WTO. Regardless of all the reservations and misgivings we have, this is the reality and accepting it is half the battle won.