December 09, 2017 12:54 AM UTC

More Than Just The Executive Branch Shapes America's Image Abroad

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• by: Phoner

Near the end of George W. Bush’s second term of office, a business couple arrived in Buenos Aires to meet with potential clients. Every single client they met was told that they were not supporters of George W. Bush’s policies, but that the future was probably bright for Argentina after he left office.

It didn’t strike the clients as being odd that a business group would choose to position their firm as being supportive of a specific type of politics- even when those politics ran counter to their country’s leadership.

Welcome to the 21st century:

The reason that it no longer matters is that there really isn’t a cold war or global freeze on communicating who or what you really are any longer. Developing your business and yourself are now something that is completely up to you. On the other hand, what is not up to you in some countries is the level of freedom that you will experience abroad trying to accomplish those goals.

It is very possible that you may face some rejection or curtailing of the work that you do due to local conditions. The goal, therefore, for many business people that are in countries that aren’t perfect from a rights standpoint is to find ways to move towards a better situation within the community that they find themselves in.

One answer supporting freedom:

As an American, fortunately, when you are abroad, there are plenty of options that allow you to put your business and yourself on a playing field that matches what you had intended. The National Endowment for Democracy, a NGO that works to promote better human rights and democracy in other countries, has put together programs to ensure that they are able to help promote further freedom in places that may or may not have the same level of historic freedom as inside the US. Of course the National Endowment for Democracy business strategy is to create better conditions by funding people that are able to affect change in areas that are listed in their current mandate.

In the Americas, that largely means taking a look at countries that have a lower standard of rights than others. Haiti and Cuba have been accentuated for years because their citizens may have restricted rights that are not exactly going to allow them to transact business or have a society where you can transact business like you normally do.

Mexico has recently popped up on the radar screen because they have gangs controlling urban areas that use satellite dishes contected to the Internet to track American business people and harass them, taking away their community’s ability to provide solid business opportunity.

Learning about interfacing with programs abroad:

One of the best ways to get involved with programs that strengthen the community that you do business in abroad and your own business by extension is to contact your local consulate or embassy so that you can find the program that is right for you.

It isn’t always that easy to transact business in a country that doesn’t allow the same freedoms as you are used to. When you find a program that works in conjunction with your embassy to help ameliorate the situation, getting involved can pay you immediate dividends.