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| The Turning of the Tide |
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However, it is unclear how far or how fast humanity will progress towards a true world polity or what form world consciousness will take in the future. None of these matters are to be taken as givens nor are they inevitable. It is clear however that a form of global governance is being sought by many that does not rely on exclusiveness, that does not merely perpetuate the power and privileges of a few. An order based on such exclusiveness can not deliver lasting peace and justice or meet the deep desire for unity. We are in danger of repeating the mistakes of the past and of lapsing or sleep walking into nightmare repetition scenarios whereby great power politics pursues domination rather than integration, and fosters violent fragmentation and mutual enmities rather than the experience of unity and concord.
Collective fear is again reverberating and with it the danger of rising hatred and suspicion between peoples and their rival political, ideological or religious belief systems. The so-called ‘clash of civilizations’ is not a new phenomenon, but rather an example of the re-emergence and persistence of historical divisions that threaten to destabilize our chances of a peaceful world order. It is also another name for ‘business as usual’, signifying the changes brought by the on set of a new age of chaos, barbarism, and human suffering as the old order slowly disintegrates and the centre cannot hold. We cannot meet these challenges by resort to conservatism, a return to tradition, a selective manipulation of historical memories that rekindle old enmities, or by an attempt to reinforce the reigning exclusiveness of the dominant powers and interests. Only by innovation, bold change and new responses can we hope to effectively meet the challenges of our contemporary global crisis. The status quo is not really an option. Only the willingness to make fundamental, perhaps sweeping changes, can offer us the possibility of avoiding the worst consequences of the present order and the opportunity to consolidate a new and better world order. This journal will make its appeal most directly therefore to all those who are dissatisfied with the status quo in the reigning world order and who are dedicated to bringing innovation and indeed radical changes to bear in response to the multiple crises of our era. Whether globalization means utopia or dystopia in the future will largely depend on what this generation does today, on how this generation and its children responds to the present global crisis.
Perhaps the time has come to recognize that the only good use of power is the power to do good. Only by abandoning the pursuit of power and by embracing an alternative culture of mutual assistance, empathy, and non-violence can humanity hope to construct a world order realizing the ideals of peace, prosperity, stability and unity for the majority of the world’s people. Competition is promoted by some, both political realists and economic liberals, as the right central organizing concept for human affairs, or even as a form of natural law. Yet biological, zoological, anthropological and sociological research tells us that real and lasting success is perhaps more a consequence of co-operation and mutual assistance among a species rather than a ruthless Social Darwinism or a quest for domination where inevitably some are ‘winners’ and others are ‘losers’. While competition is held by some to offer benign consequences and even the achievement of efficiency and security, others question its efficacy and its status as natural law, and see it as an ideology masking a set of material interests. Similarly, while many favour some version of ‘free trade’ in principle, many more people are rationally suspicious of taking the principle (as with competition) to extremes. Most people would actually prefer a set of more pragmatic compromises that preserve a complex balance of social interests and which do not sacrifice all on the altar of a single-minded goal such as free trade for its own sake. This set of circumstances is very evident today in the (lack of) progress of the Doha Round of global trade talks. The reaction of the developing world at the Cancun ministerial, and the WTO’s subsequent abandonment of all of the so-called Singapore Issues with the sole exception of ‘trade facilitation’ (which is simply easing of customs procedures) indicates that much greater compromise is needed in the direction of meeting the needs of the majority of people in the world if there is to be a real prospect of preserving multilateralism and the rule of law in global economic relations.
Likewise, while the post-9/11 politics of American global power seem to indicate a retreat from genuine multilateralism, there are many people in the world who are convinced that multilateralism is an objective trend and indeed a requirement of effective global governance in an era of globalization. These people, who may indeed represent the global majority, may move ahead with this agenda regardless of the (temporary?) tendencies in Washington.
The great dangers to be avoided and opposed at the present conjuncture of global history are a reversion to power politics and the naked pursuit of power and interests, domination and thus the ‘clash of civilizations’ as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The rekindling of ancient enmities will only fuel a new phase of global conflicts, with a never-ending spiral of violence and revenge. We must therefore abandon the culture of militarism, of dogmatic self-assertion, of ego-centrism and arrogance, in favour of the creation of a new global culture based on mutual co-operation, political rather than military settlement of conflicts, and global dialogue and toleration rather than single-minded missionary or crusading zeal. To begin, an urgent global effort is needed to finally ban all weapons of mass destruction, including the nuclear weapons (in all categories) of all the powers, and all other biological and chemical weaponry. These standards must be universal and applied without exception, even to the most powerful. Beyond this, it is also necessary to resume the trajectory initiated immediately following the end of the Cold War to make new and hopefully rapid progress towards more general disarmament and arms control, and reverse the present dangerous trend to initiate yet further expensive and potentially dangerous arms races. In principle, the world may see the long term wisdom of reversing the present priorities of spending on military versus development needs, which at present stands at something like $900 billion for the former and a mere $50 billion for the latter.
Finally, the idea of national sovereignty stands out to some as their last bastion in a time of great uncertainty and perceived threat. However, to many others it is perhaps more of a last great obstacle to human unity and integration and must therefore, rather than being reinforced, be gradually circumscribed with limitations, thus strengthening a supra-national world order, based on universal human rights and the rule of law. By effectively limiting the power of the states, especially the Great Powers, by a host of means, including the increased participation of ‘global civil society’ in global governance, the global community insures its own stability and future viability.
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