The challenges of globalisation
By Dominique de Villepin, ministre des Affaires
étrangères
At the beginning of this new millennium, the
world is filled with opportunities and new experiences, but also weighed down by threats
and pitfalls.
Everyone, wherever he may be, can constantly
feel the pulse of the planet. A Chinese student can access the data banks of European
universities, compare ideas with his American colleagues. Products and services are moved
by this same logic of exchange which has no boundaries.
A source of creativity and wealth, this new
ferment is bringing about unprecedented dynamism. But it risks brushing aside those who
need it most: the least powerful and weakest. It is up to us to take up the major
challenge of equity, in a world that is now governed by two implacable laws: urgency and
interdependence.
Urgency in the face of crises that break out
one after the other, all over the world, from the Balkans to Afghanistan, from Iraq to
North Korea. Urgency in the face of the serious pandemics that are decimating whole
populations day after day. Urgency, finally, in the face of economic crises that can throw
countries and even whole continents into poverty, threatening world stability.
All regions of the world are now open to
crises and disturbances that spread from one country to another, from one continent to
another. From Bali to New York, from Tanzania to Kenya or Mombasa, from Karachi to Yemen,
terrorism can strike anywhere, and it raises the flag of death and hatred. The
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction fills mankind with fear and increases the
risks of self-destruction of humanity.
These are ramified and complex dangers. They
concern us all. Whether they affect the economy, the environment or security, all of which
are increasingly inseparable from one another, our world needs inclusive solidarity. No
one can claim to be indifferent to stock market turmoil that affects a region on the other
side of the world, to an ecological disaster that knows no frontiers, or to a regional
military crisis that threatens strategic balances.
To bring these risks under control, we must
reject three major temptations that currently grip our world.
The first temptation is fear. In the face of
the major challenges awaiting us, we must take on board our common destiny and work
together more, particularly in the fight against terrorism, which must be taken up with
determination, by every means at our disposal, military if necessary. This is what we did
in Afghanistan, as we do on our own soil. We must not however ignore the fact that an
approach based purely on the defence of our security interests is not going to solve the
problem in the long term. The fight against terrorism involves fighting together against
fanaticism and against the things that fuel it: widespread poverty, despair, humiliation,
the rejection of others.
Fear must never dictate the priorities and
principles of our action. The need for security must not cause us to forget the objective
of development, growth, the aim for a better distribution of wealth and for opening up to
the outside world.
The second temptation is force. Today, trying
to solve all our problems by force alone is neither desirable nor possible. No one can, by
the strength of his armies, ensure the stability of a world governed by complex laws and
haunted by global threats. The use of force cannot be the outcome of abandoning the
efforts for peace and dialogue.
The third temptation is scepticism or
indifference. We must be particularly vigilant with regard to people’s sense of
injustice, which today constitutes a real threat to the world. Turning a deaf ear to the
misfortunes of the most disadvantaged peoples carries the seeds of all conflicts and all
hatred. This is why we now have to invent a method of crisis management that is universal,
just and equitable.
In the face of the crises of proliferation,
the United Nations must strengthen and perfect its tool of inspections in order to enable
them to be organised peacefully. We cannot systematically resort to force in the face of
the many crises that are brewing. The action of the international community must be based
on a global vision and on concern for the general interest. It must be consistent. All
crises must be treated according to the same principles, whether they occur in the Middle
East, in Africa or in Asia, while not minimising their specific characteristics.
The three pillars of globalised
diplomacy: legitimacy, equity, justice
To meet these challenges of globalisation,
three principles are essential: legitimacy, equity and justice. Legitimacy of action is
based on the values of democracy and the constitutional State. This is what the new world
community aspires to. It requires a legitimacy that comes not from power but from
collective action, with clear rules and decision-making processes that are both efficient
and respectable, as well as adequate instruments of justice. The International Criminal
Court, which came into being on 1 July 2002, is a major asset which we must now stand up
for and strengthen.
The second principle is equity. It is more
essential than ever that each nation, each people, each culture is able to make its unique
and essential contribution to the building of tomorrow’s world. The world, with its
wealth of differences, is full of possibilities for exchange. Although homogeneity is
gaining ground, we must stand up for the plurality of cultures, and ensure that everyone
is able to fully express their difference.
It is by respecting others that we will be
able to go beyond what separates peoples and cultures and rediscover our wealth of
affinities and possible exchanges. One must not fall prey to prejudice nor assume that
division is inevitable, we must not judge any religion by the yardstick of its fanatics or
its zealots; we must open the way for dialogue between cultures. Our future depends on it.
Because all people share the same need for meaning, dignity and freedom.
This need for equity is at the heart of the
ambition of Europe and of France. For nearly fifty years, on our continent formerly
fraught with strife, we have determinedly created a united and strong community,
respectful of differences, aware that its diversity is its most precious asset. It is up
to us to succeed with the historic enlargement of the European Union and deepen the
European structure. With all our European partners and the future members of the Union,
France and Germany must take on their full responsibilities and demonstrate initiative, to
bring to the heart of the Convention on the future of Europe innovative and audacious
proposals for reform.
And the final principle: solidarity and
justice. Who does not see today that all our efforts to improve security will be vain if
we do not resolutely tackle the scourges of poverty, disease, damage to the environment or
regional crises? We are accountable for these tragedies, for this suffering which afflicts
entire populations and constitutes so many threats to world stability. Faithful to its
calling, shown by its commitment to serving the most deprived of our compatriots, a
pioneer in humanitarianism, France intends to double its development aid in five years,
and is setting an ambitious course for the future.
To make sure that these principles are
recognised, we must act in a collective, efficient and steadfast way. It is up to us to
make these commitments long term. The fight requires determination and tenacity, because
the ways of order are often long and demanding. It is also necessary to know how to map
out a plan, to take a long-term view, to plough a furrow patiently. We can see it today in
Afghanistan, where, after the action needed to remove the terrorist bases, it is now
necessary to rebuild, to support the work of the Afghan people, to help them on the road
to democracy and the constitutional State. We can see it still in the Balkans, where the
resolute and ongoing struggle for the constitutional State and against organised crime
remains one of the priority objectives to ensure stability in the region. We can see it
finally in the Ivory Coast, where a return to peace is still to be achieved in a
sustainable way.
Strong economic diplomacy
These challenges of globalisation require
ambitious political diplomacy, but also active economic diplomacy. Without the hope of
greater social equality among disadvantaged populations, our efforts will be vain and
short-lived. They will be blocked by the incomprehension of peoples, and a growing divide
between the regions of the world.
France intends to pursue a determined and
ambitious economic policy, one that can measure up to the opportunities and risks of
globalisation.
Let us campaign together for a global
economic approach against the temptations of unilateralism. Multilateralism represents the
rule of law and creates confidence between nations. France supports the multilateral
approach to trade negotiations embodied by the WTO. It supports a global cycle in which
the traditional challenges of trade negotiations – customs tariffs, agriculture,
services – would be completed by negotiations on a whole set of regulatory areas:
investment, competition, environment, social standards. It remains more than ever
concerned to develop rules where they are needed. This is why today it is proposing that a
preferential trading system be applied to Africa, whose economic difficulties are
well-known and which needs to be supported in its integration into the multilateral trade
system.
In the same spirit, France is advocating
economic liberalisation which is not the same as non-interventionism. It is not hostile to
free-market economics, as people sometimes would have us believe. But it is hostile to
dogmatism, to false beliefs or to prejudices in the guise of absolute truths. The free
play of the market is a source of wealth if it is subject to fair and transparent
regulations; without them, it can be blind and dangerous.
So France has spared no effort, notably since
September 1998, in trying to bring speculative behaviour on the capital markets under
greater control, and to prevent the worsening of inequalities between nations. It calls
daily for the imposition of transparent constraints on unregulated bodies such as
"hedge funds". It demands the establishment of international standards of
prudential regulation and to combat money laundering. The Intergovernmental Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) and the Financial Stability Forum are part of this campaign. It
is keen to see the emerging countries supported in their choice of exchange system.
France has also campaigned for the creation
of prudential or fiscal regulatory measures on inflow of capital, such as those used by
Chile, in emerging countries in the phase of progressive opening up to exchanges of goods
and capital. These measures are now accepted by the international community and by the
IMF. It is up to us to continue along a route that is designed to ensure that everyone has
a full place in the great circle of exchanges.
Finally, France continues to look for
solutions to the difficult problem of the excessive debt of developing countries. It is
behind the initiative for heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC), which was launched at
the Lyon G7 summit in 1996. It is pleading for special attention to be paid to the HIPC
countries that have been affected by a serious deterioration to their terms of trade. It
supports the proposals of the IMF aimed at creating a stable mechanism for handling the
debt of heavily indebted emerging countries.
(Courtesy: Label France, magazine N° 50
– April 2003, Embassy of France)
Where there is shade, there
is also light
By Otto Lampe, Germany
Opportunities for development and democracy:
some optimistic remarks on globalization
Globalization is more than global flows of
finance and the exchange of goods and services. Not only do we drive German cars made in
Mexico, listen to American music on Japanese hi-fi systems, eat Italian pasta at Swedish
kitchen tables, drink Colombian coffee, play with Chinese toys, and fly to the Maldives to
go diving; but Americans work for German carmakers, Germans for US investment banks,
English people for South Korean corporations; Asian experts support European software
start-ups, Pakistanis sell British vegetables, and Algerians bake French baguettes. In the
Internet age, legal, physical and cultural borders are losing their character as barriers
obstructing the exchange of goods, people, knowledge and ideas.
Globalization encourages the emergence of new
regional unions. NAFTA, APEC, Mercosur, ASEAN, the Gulf Cooperation Council and other
groups would like to emulate the successful model of European integration in their own
parts of the world. Many major world conferences are endeavouring, albeit with varying
degrees of success, to enforce environmental standards, protect human rights and reduce
poverty all over the world. Non-government organizations are becoming powerful instruments
of global civic society. The spread of the electronic media is leading to an unprecedented
transparency of political and social systems and is thus helping to enforce human rights
and build structures based on the rule of law. Never before in history have there been
more countries that not only uphold, but also implement the principle of democracy. Crisis
prevention and conflict settlement have become the joint concern of the entire
international community. Demanding respect for human rights is no longer rejected as an
improper interference in a country’s internal affairs.
Globalization thus affects all areas of life.
And precisely for this reason it also arouses fears. Fear of losing our national, regional
or cultural identity. Fear of losing our political, economic, social and cultural
independence. Fear in the north of competition from the low-wage countries of the south.
Fears of an undercutting race in taxes or in environmental and social standards. Fears
that the expansion of free trade will lead to exploitation or major economic crises with
negative effects for the poor in the developing countries. Fears of global
"McDonaldization," i.e. the destruction of traditional value systems. Ultimately
also the fear of losing the comforts of our postindustrial society.
The September 11, 2001 showed us in the most
shocking fashion that international terrorism and international organized crime are also
using the possibilities of globalization for their own inhuman ends. At the same time,
however, comprehensive multilateral, regional and global networks are emerging to
effectively fight these dark sides of globalization. Yet forces are still at work in the
industrialized world who make it more difficult for the more cheaply producing countries
of the south to access their markets – while at the same time subsidizing their own
exports. This protectionism is the opposite of globalization and makes developing
countries very angry.
But where there is shade, there is also
light. The latest UNDP Human Development Report comes to the conclusion that, despite
everything, globalization has had a generally beneficial effect with respect to the four
decisive criteria: economic justice, democracy and the rule of law, health and training,
and peace and security. Among other things the report says that, since 1980, 81 countries
have made substantial progress towards democracy, and 33 military regimes have been
replaced by civilian governments; that socalled "multi-party elections" have
been held in 140 of 200 countries; the number of non-governmental organizations has
increased worldwide by more than a fifth to 37,000 since 1990; 62 percent of the
world’s population now have access to a free press; the number of ratifications of
the main humanrights treaties has risen from 90 to 150 over the past ten years; the
percentage of the world’s population living in absolute poverty has fallen from 29 to
23 per cent since 1990; that in all developing and threshold countries except subSaharan
Africa average growth was about twice as high as in the industrialized countries; the
difference in the gross national product between the "Third World" and the
industrialized nations has narrowed since 1975 from 1 to 19 to 1 to 8; that since 1990,
800 million people have gained access to water and sanitary facilities; 57 countries have
already halved hunger and malnutrition; and that since 1990, 38 peace missions have
operated worldwide – more than twice as many as in the period between 1946 and 1990.
This list could be continued with a number of other achievements. On the other hand, all
this is still partially outweighed by many deficits and flaws, especially in southern
Africa.
The aim of a forward-looking policy must
therefore be to bundle the considerable forces released by globalization and channel them
into a constructive commitment to improving the living conditions of all people. For one
thing is certain: since our living conditions are subject to global interdependence, we
need a global regulatory framework with robust structures. The erosion of regional and
national power must be counterbalanced by building up a supra regional and global
regulatory policy. The initial elements of such global-governance structures are already
in place. The network of international agreements – including human-rights treaties,
the Kyoto Protocol, anti-terrorism conventions, disarmament and non-proliferation
treaties, anti-mine agreements, as well as the various UN resolutions and the OECD codes
of behaviour for transnational companies – this network must be tightened and made
more binding. The new round of world trade talks must take development policy and
ecological criteria into account. International law and the international courts must be
further strengthened, and the parliamentary, democratic control of international
organizations must be improved.
We face major global challenges, and we will
only succeed if we see globalization not only as a threat, but also as great opportunity
for the future of mankind – and then set out to shape it together. |
