July 27, 2001

Genoa: Chaos or Opportunity

By Mark Ritchie

The killing of one protestor and wounding of more than a hundred others in Genoa is yet another sign that our systems of global relations and governance are not working. The chaos in Genoa was similar to what occurred in the streets of Seattle during the 1999 World Trade Organization Ministerial - huge protests outside and a refusal by the world's wealthiest nations to address serious issues inside. As in Seattle, the press focused on the violence, rather than on the alternative policy proposals brought by more than a hundred thousand peaceful protestors to Genoa.

We can continue down this path for quite a while. Police arsenals can be replenished and guns reloaded without end. On the other side, there are literally millions ready to protest layoffs due to capital's search for larger, quicker profits, cutbacks to basic public services, environmental assaults, and the denial of basic human rights. The protestors perceive these tragedies to be a direct result of the current system of global monopolies - both governmental and commercial.

Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said he plans to host the next G-8 meeting in a remote part of Canada to avoid a repeat of Genoa. Does Chrétien really believe that retreating to a bunker will result in greater public support for current globalization policies? When will elected leaders start to ask themselves why they have to hide from their constituencies?

We can wait for a catastrophe to force everybody's hand, or we can admit the obvious - the economic and governance systems so carefully constructed after the Second World War are outdated and broken. Seattle, Genoa and other recent global protests were symptoms of global institutional failures, but the leaders of the wealthiest countries seem determined to proceed with business as usual.

What are our options?

It is time for a new dialogue on global governance. Any forum for democratic exchange on global policies would be better than more violence. We can do nothing about the global tragedies of AIDS, poverty, hunger, public and private criminal behavior, and monopolies of power and wealth if our political leaders seek to run away.

Perhaps we could take a specific topic on which there is broad agreement "inside and outside" the system - such as the institutional crisis facing the WTO. This issue could be tackled as a confidence building measure towards other global policy dialogues. Recent proposals put forth by the Third World Network and the State of the World Forum could be a starting place for the discussions.

I helped to organize a series of conferences on the 50th anniversary of many of the major post-WW II global institutions such as the United Nations, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Bretton Woods trio of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the forerunner of the WTO - the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. We gathered the surviving founders to both honor their contribution and to explore what went right, what went wrong, and what changes are needed for the new post-Cold War period. One of the many important things I learned from the "old-timers" was their clear sense of the central role that ordinary citizens had played in preparing ideas and options for the creation of these institutions, building popular support, and then dragging their governments (often against their will) to the table.

We have to remember such important lessons as we go forward. Governments have a role in the renewal of these institutions, but it is not an exclusive role. Political leaders come and go, too often working on a short timeline. National politics often override possible global solutions based on cooperation.

The challenges today are as grave as those resulting from the destruction of a world war. If the G-8 leaders continue to ignore the policy proposals tabled by developing countries and civil society, their policy of containment may have explosive consequences. The environmental, social and economic problems arising from globalization cannot be solved from inside a fortress. The sooner G-8 governments meet with civil society on a regular basis to discuss solutions to these global problems, the sooner we can renew public commitment to democracy as the way to move us forward.

Mark Ritchie is President of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.