Chandra Muzaffar's People shouldn't beg Washington to rescue them refers.

Whilst there are despots and tyrants who would inevitably fall into a pit by their own follies, one could nonetheless suffer the same fate by circumstances from which one could not extricate oneself without the help of outside powers.

Inevitably, it would be the US who would come to the rescue, simply because the rest are either nonchalant or have not the economic and political wherewithal to do so. But this goodwill could be misconstrued.

Europe could not have emerged from recession without the Marshall Plan contrived by the US.

In the present context, the world depends very much on the US economy. If the US goes into recession, the world economy would contract. So the adage: When the US sneezes the world coughs.

The ethnic cleansing of the Muslims in Bosnia without the US and its allies intervention could have turned out to be one of the most, if not the most, deplorable event of the last century. The Organisation of Islamic Conference was significant only because of its impotence in the face of the tragedy.

Now the Darfur catastrophe in Sudan is exploding in the faces of OIC member countries. Millions of Blacks are being terrorised by the Arab militia. None of the members of this august body have lifted a finger to help the poor souls.

It takes the Americans to sound it out before the world bats its eyelids.

America is the sole superpower, and it is also a fact that the economy of America is intricately intertwined with world's.

Chandra's attempt to dissuade leaders of the world from being patronised by the US is less than practical because of the present reality. It might change in the years to come though.