GLOBALISATION

Globalisation is a double-edged tool, writes Jose Maria Figueres, managing director of the World Economic Forum and former president of Costa Rica (1994-1998). We can take advantage of it with sound national strategies designed to increase the well-being of our citizens. Or we can cross our arms and do nothing and allow globalisation to take advantage of us. Thus we have the possibility to decide and build our future, but no one will do it for us. The responsibility is ours. Globalisation is more than a simple process of economic opening and tariff reduction. Taking advantage of it requires clear policies and that at the same time reinforce macro-economic health, strengthen strategic social investment, and promote responsible use of natural resources. Convinced that business has responsibilities to society and can play a positive role in areas relating to development, the WEF supports programmes that work in this direction. Many governments and many grass roots organisations share this understanding. Today it is more important than ever to join forces and move forward. The World Economic Forum and the World Social Forum share the obligation to explore their common goals and work towards them rather than accentuate their differences.

OPEN MARKETS OR OPEN PLUNDER ?

Once upon a time, empires were built through direct conquest. These days the equivalent gains are routinely achieved through different, and more efficient, means, which those in power prefer to call not open theft but \'\'open markets\'\', writes Anuradha Mittal, Co-Director of Food First (Institute for Food and Development Policy). The question is, open for whom, and for what? the author writes in this article for IPS. US Secretary of State Colin Powell gave the clearest possible answer: \'\'Our objective with FTAA is to guarantee North American companies the control of a territory that goes from the Arctic Pole all the way to Antarctica, free access to the whole hemisphere without difficulties or obstacles for our products, services, technology, and capital.\'\' Resistance to such domination is strong and growing stronger. Since January 7, 2003, Mexican farm leaders have been on hunger strike as many demonstrations have been held. These protests are part of a worldwide opposition to free trade in agriculture that will be present at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. It advocates alternatives to corporate agriculture, rallying around the battle cry,\'\'Food sovereignty is a fundamental human right.\'\' To make this vision a reality for farmers around the world, the corporate elites are being put on notice -- the World Trade Organisation, NAFTA, FTAA, and other trade agreements must get out of agriculture; there must be a complete moratorium on GE crops and no patents on living matter.

A BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE

There is promising evidence of a growing consensus among those of us working in international agencies, and leaders in government, business, and civil society, that we can begin to solve the world\'s problems only if we forge a new development path linking economic growth to social and environmental responsibility, writes James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank. In this article for IPS, the author writes that without social equity, economic growth cannot be sustainable. Without enlarging the real opportunities available to all citizens, the markets will work only for the elites. This means providing everyone with access to education, health care, decent work, and -- as the new Brazilian president Lula has pointed out -- with at least 3 meals a day. The events of September 11, 2001, helped drive home the message to people everywhere that there are not two worlds - rich and poor. There is only one. We are linked by finance, trade, migration, communications, environment, communicable diseases, crime, drugs, and certainly by terror. Poverty anywhere is poverty everywhere. Our collective demand is for a global system based on equity, human rights, and social justice. Our collective quest for a more equal world is also the quest for long-term peace and security.

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM

The World Social Forum (WSF), to be held January 23-28 for the third year in Porto Alegre, Brazil, has become the prime organisational expression of a surging movement against corporate-driven globalisation and, this year, US plans to launch a war on Iraq, writes Walden Bello, professor of sociology and public administration at the University of the Philippines and executive director of the Bangkok-based Focus on the Global South. This year\'s meeting will be the culmination of an exciting year-long global process, including Porto Alegre-style social forums in a number of cities, including Buenos Aires and Caracas, and regional social forums: the European Social Forum in Florence, Italy, on November 6-9, 2002, and the recently- concluded Asian Social Forum (ASF) in Hyderabad, India. Since Seattle, the anti-corporate globalisation movement has attained critical mass globally, in the sense that its ability to mass forces at significant junctures, such as the December 1999 Seattle WTO ministerial and the July 2001 Genoa meeting of the Group of Eight, enabled it to effect international developments and acquire a high ideological and political profile globally. Not surprisingly, many of those at the WSF will be coming with one question uppermost in their mind: What can the victory of Lula and the PT teach us about coming to power in our countries? And this year\'s WSF will be, in many ways, a celebration of a movement that, by achieving a remarkable measure of political unity amidst diversity, has changed the face of Brazilian politics.

PEACE IS THE WAY

The following article by Deepak Chopra, is part of a book entitled \"Peace is the Way\", published by Harmony Books and set to be released on January 18, 2005. In conjunction with the book, the author has created a website for peacemakers, www.peaceisthewayglobalcommunity.org which will be up and running by mid January. Chopra, one of the world\'s best-selling spiritual authors, is a doctor and the founder of the Chopra Center in Carlsbad, California. His passionate new book was inspired by a saying from Mahatma Gandhi: \"There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.\"

THE DOUBLE DIVIDEND: PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT WHILE SPURRING DEVELOPMENT

On August 29-30, environment ministers and high-ranking officials from around the world will meet in Cape Town, South Africa, for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly, writes Katherine Sierra, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development. In this article, Sierra writes that GEF projects have shown how sound management of natural resources is good for the economy, good for local development, and good for business. The time has come to move away from the myth that economic growth inevitably leads to environmental degradation or, conversely, that sustaining the environment harms the potential for wealth creation. This false dichotomy has contributed to marginalising the environment within the broader development agenda. The survival of human societies depends upon the preservation of healthy ecosystems and the sustainable use of these resources. Without this, efforts to reduce poverty, hunger, and child mortality cannot have lasting results.