| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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The concern over the inclusion of education in the GATS is unique in that it caused more debates than did any of the other service sectors. The response of the African scholars in Accra suggests that although there seems to be no hope in stopping the GATS, there is hope in informing policy makers and governments toward making prudent decisions on behalf of their constituencies. To some extent, this position suggests an ironic sentiment of hope in the midst of hopelessness, in that escape from the GATS should not be the most desired form of freedom; yet, even if it were, it would be impossible for developing nations to attain it, given the phenomena of globalization, a favorable conduit for the GATS. The AAU (2004) stated:
The subtleties of the dilemma behind the ironic sentiment and the complex nature of power dynamics between global international regimes (GIRs) and regional international regimes (RIRs) was also revealed as a challenge in the interviews that I conducted for this study. Part of the problem derives from the fact that local governments (LGs) do not understand the intricate nature of the organizations with which they establish agreements and thus become trapped in a web of bindings that may at times jeopardize their autonomy in certain areas. These intentional and unintentional trappings exist at subtle levels of culturally driven conceptual constructions and theories, such as those informing the GATS.