Globalism

With the collapse of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) September summit, Cancun looks destined to join Waterloo, Stalingrad, and Seattle as a place name that becomes shorthand for an historic event. The second of the institution’s five summits to end in deadlock, this one will likely assume landmark status as the first time that the Global South (Asia-Pacific, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America) united to reject the economic aggression of wealthy Northern countries, specifically the United States, European Union (EU), and Japan. read more

The words and actions of the Bush administration have so often been labeled "Orwellian" that it’s become virtually a cliché. But one can’t resist adding to the list.

At a July 1 White House press briefing, a reporter asked spokesman Ari Fleischer: "The United States just declared about 50 countries, including Colombia and six prospective NATO members, ineligible for military aid because they won’t exempt Americans from the International Criminal Court. My question is, why is this priority more important than fighting the drug wars, integrating Eastern Europe?" read more

Ever since that statue of Saddam was pulled down in Baghdad, the chest thumping from Bush administration flak catchers and assorted talking heads has been deafening. They crow about defying skeptical military predictions and salivate at the prospect of turning the UN into a post-war doorman. According to R. James Woolsey, former CIA director and close friend of both Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and former Defense Policy Board honcho Richard Perle, the US has just won the first phase of “World War IV.” read more

It’s one of the twisted ironies of the war on drugs. While the US spends billions of dollars trying to interdict illegal drugs from abroad, the country’s banking system has been making it easy for drug lords to launder their profits. About half of the estimated trillion dollars in dirty money that comes in large part from drug trafficking – but also from criminal activities such as gambling, auto theft, and child prostitution – moves through the US financial system, according to government estimates. read more

In politics, a basic rule of incumbency is to ignore the opposition for as long as possible. Responding to a challenger’s criticisms, as practiced pols know, often tends to confer legitimacy and set the stage for a debate on equal terms. The same rule applies at the global level, in conflicts between elites and their local or regional opposition. Once those in power begin to directly address their critics, the stage is set for some form of accommodation, even if the tactics don’t immediately change or the response takes the form of a vicious counter-attack. read more

At first glance, arguments for privatization of public enterprises and services look reasonable enough. Since they have to compete, private companies supposedly deliver better and cheaper results. In many countries, government is too large and inefficient anyway, cheerleaders for globalized free enterprise endlessly charge. States are involved in industries and services that they have neither the time nor the resources to manage well. To make matters worse, government-run projects too often breed corruption and squander public funds. read more