IN THIS ISSUE
GENOA
AND THE MULTIPLE CRISES OF GLOBALISATION
By Walden Bello
WHY GENOA IS IMPORTANT, FOR ITALY AND FOR THE WORLD
By Christophe Aguiton
A ROUND BY ANY NAME
SPELL DISASTER FOR THE SOUTH
By Aileen Kwa
VIVA PORTO ALEGRE!
By Nicola Bullard
NEXT weekend, thousands of activists and a handful of politicians will gather in the Italian port city of Genoa for the annual G7/8 photo opportunity disguised as a meeting.
The politicians will be "protected" by 20,000 police and troops, who in turn will be backed up by 15 helicopters, four aircraft, and seven naval boats while the town itself will be cordoned off into no-go "red zones" and restricted areas. The protestors want to stop the meeting from going ahead, pledging to use all possible non-violent (and even amusing) means at their disposal. The world's media will also be there, outnumbering the officials if not the protestors, waiting for violence and hoping for a headline. But for the activists, there are few newsworthy headlines: "G7 cancels third world debt" would be one or perhaps "G7 calls moratorium on trade negotiations." Or what about "G7 deplores repression of demonstrators" or, fantastically, "G7 leaders announce end of elite politics."
Instead, what will happen is that the leaders of the seven richest countries in the world will lock themselves in a bunker, convince each other that the global economy is only going through a "temporary slowdown", that the market knows best and technology can conquer all. They will propose some cosmetic "reforms" to the World Bank, and probably make a big splash about the global AIDS fund. They will also agree that the globalisation 'nay-sayers' are either anarchist trouble-causers, rabid autarkists or misguided and na?ve do-gooders. They will see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear, and do nothing. No wonder people are being forced to think, see and act for themselves!
In this issue of Focus on Trade Walden Bello and Christophe Aguiton assess the significance of Genoa, Aileen Kwa sends out an urgent call for civil society to rally behind developing countries as they struggle to resist a new round in the WTO, and Nicola Bullard gives an update on plans for the 2002 World Social Forum in Porto Alegre.
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