THE CHURCH IN THE NEW CENTURY

While inter-church relations have changed for the better, trends that see the ecumenical movement as threatening are gaining momentum, writes Konrad Raiser, member of the Evangelical Church of Germany and general secretary of the World Council of Churches through 2003. Such fears are linked to the breakdown and fragmentation of religious identity, secularisation, and the growing relativism at the heart of our society, Raiser writes in this article. Fears linked to the identity or integrity of each community - among Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, or Orthodox - are increasing. Religious renewal in former Communist countries is impressive but their terms of reference remain to some extent involved in the distinction between \'\'enemies\'\' and \'\'friends\'\'. In addition, today there is an indigenous, a black, and an Asian Christianity, a profusion of charismatic, Pentecostal, and prophetic communities This is the background against which the question of a new configuration of the ecumenical movement is being posed. If there is no structure of reference, nor any discipline regarding participation, we may encourage the rise of a militant, populist, and fundamentalist Christianity.

COMMUNICATIONS SUMMIT MAY BE DOMINATED BY MULTINATIONALS

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an organisation which defines itself as being \'\'specialised in technologies\'\', has received a mandate from the UN to organise a World Summit on the Information Society without co-organisers that have greater competence in social matters, writes Antonio Pasquali, former Assistant Director General of UNESCO for Communications. In addition to the socio-political inexperience of the host there is another shortcoming to this event: the role in the Summit ceded to the multinationals of this sector, writes Pasquali in this article. If the Summit produces any universally beneficial decision it will be due to, for the first time perhaps, the intelligence and tenacity of the NGOs. As a show of democracy, the ITU has invited governments, companies, and civil society to participate, though the latter were ostracised to such a degree during the three preparatory sessions that some are weighing withdrawing loudly from the Summit.

ILLUSION OF ISOLATION FEEDS TERROR

If the first casualty of the US war on terror was truth, the second was trust, writes Mark Sommer, director of the US-based Mainstream Media Project and host of award-winning syndicated radio programme \'\'A World of Possibilities\'\'. In this article, Sommer writes that telegraphed through the policies and pronouncements of an imperial but increasingly isolated superpower, mistrust is spreading like a virus through the global body politic, infecting not only trade relations, diplomacy, and public life but personal and professional relationships. The decades-long decline in civic participation in democratic countries is both a symptom of this fearful isolation and a boon to authoritarian leaders as it fragments all opposition and undermines confidence in its capacity to reverse the course of history. While in itself this reaching out is a purely personal act, it has enormous political implications, opening up a horizon of shared life and shattering what is in fact the mere illusion of isolation. To say that we are all connected is not a merely a wish or spiritual aspiration but a simple material fact. Recognising this is itself a source of profound reassurance.

INFO SOCIETY SUMMIT TO AVOID ISSUE OF MEDIA

The conspicuous absence of any real reference to today\'s media in the draft Declaration or Action Plan of the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society is indicative of the power and impact of the media, writes Seán Ó Siochrú, a founder and spokesperson for the CRIS campaign (Communication Rights in the Information Society) and author of \'\'Global Media Governance: A Beginners Guide\'\'(2002). The features of today\'s media landscape were not predetermined by the nature of new technologies nor by globalisation per se but rather by the systematic application of market principles to media across the globe, the author writes in this analysis. In few places was this force local. Rather, the strategy was pursued by a handful of Northern corporations, strongly backed by their governments, who tailored global governance mechanisms to suit their needs and persuaded national regimes to adopt their ways. The CRIS campaign along with others in civil society have taken up the challenge to broach the issue of the media and its impact at their parallel summit, the World Forum on Communication Rights, which will take place at the same time as the WSIS and focus on issues such as poverty and the media, peace, conflict and communication rights. A people\'s movement is gradually rising to the challenge of initiating this change, on local, national and global levels, and turning our concerns into concrete action.

THE FUTURE OF THE COMMONWEALTH

As the date of its summit in Abuja, Nigeria, approaches (5-8 December), the Commonwealth finds itself polarised and apparently paralysed about what to do with Mugabe\'s Zimbabwe, writes Greg Nillas, National Director of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) and the author of \'\'Poverty to Prosperity: Globalisation, Good Governance and African Recovery\'\'. As a result of Robert Mugabe\'s misrule from Harare, half of Zimbabwe\'s 13 million citizens face starvation, and many live under constant physical threat from his government. This situation stands in dire contrast to the values set forth in the Harare Declaration, Mills writes in this article. Human rights issues now threaten to divide the Commonwealth between North and South, between the developed and developing world, between the largely white and the largely black member-states. In spite of the labelling of the Abuja meeting as \'\'Development and Democracy: Partnership for Peace and Prosperity\'\', the agenda is likely to be dominated not only by Mugabe\'s Zimbabwe but also by the security situation in Iraq.

THE LOOMING FIRST WORLD DEBT CRISIS

The first of the New Economics Foundation\'s annual reports on the global economy predicts that a giant credit bubble, created by central bankers and finance ministers who engineered decades of \'\'easy money\'\', has now reached a \'\'tipping point\'\', writes Ann Pettifor, director of Jubilee Research at the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and editor of Real World Economic Outlook. While globally there is a total of USD100 trillion of debt outstanding, there is only USD33 trillion of income with which to repay those debts. When this credit bubble bursts in the US and UK, it will be middle-class consumers that will first bear the brunt, the author argues in this article. This will be grossly unjust because while central bankers and finance ministers have clamped down on prices and wages, they have used the credit bubble (borrowing) to inflate asset values (stocks, bonds, and property) to extraordinary heights. On the whole it\'s the poor and the middle classes that rely on wages and salaries, while the rich derive their incomes from assets or wealth. The report calls on governments and central banks to take responsibility for their reckless de-regulation of finance, to re-regulate international capital by bringing back exchange controls, and to rein in reckless lending and borrowing.

DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT: TWIN ENGINES OF PROGRESS

A key challenge of the 2003 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, from 5-8 December, is understanding how democratic values and practices can be harnessed to help communities achieve more growth, develop better health and education systems, and increase their living standards, writes Don McKinnon, Commonwealth Secretary-General since April 2000. In this article the author writes that one important way of achieving progress in both democracy and development is through consensus-building. The process of global dialogue on which the Commonwealth is based allows leaders to develop joint approaches to problems of common concern. We use the power of consensus in the area of trade and economic development. Because it embraces such a great diversity of states -- large and small, rich and poor, island and land-locked -- the Commonwealth is strategically placed to ensure that the voices of its smaller and developing members are not ignored. The greatest obstacle to effective consensus-building is often the lack of common ground. Here lies the Commonwealth advantage: our nations are not only united by self-interest; they also share common values, similar political, judicial and administrative structures, a common language and a similar business culture.

TERRORISM: FIGHT THE ROOT CAUSES OR FIGHT FOREVER

Hopefully President Bush and Prime Minister Blair in their summit talks in London will realise the need to attack the root causes of terrorism, writes Kaare Willoch, former leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of Norway from 1981 to 1986. In this article, the author cites former US president Bill Clinton who, during a recent visit to Oslo, asserted that \'\'in a world where it is impossible for us to occupy, capture, or conquer whoever aims to harm us, we need to work harder to achieve a world with more friends and fewer terrorists\'\'. And Ami Ayalon, former head of Israel\'s security service Shin Bet: \'\'Those who want \'victory\' against terror without addressing the underlying grievances want an unending war.\'\' One cannot expect non-Westerners to consider it more a more heroic act to bomb Palestinian homes from airplanes than to blow oneself up. US-financed missiles and shells are inflicting a much higher death toll on innocent civilians. It is only natural that many outside the West believe that we oppose only certain forms of violence and condone other far more lethal ones by ourselves and our allies.

DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT MUST GO TOGETHER

At the heart of the international debate is the relation between development and democracy, writes Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary General of the United Nations from 1992-1996. In this article the author writes that these two concepts are inherently intertwined but have all too often been treated as separate. The achievement of both is fundamental to the future of world peace. Development is essential to complement and reinforce democracy. It represents the set of economic, social, and cultural aspirations to which all societies aspire. The right to development is a human right. It should involve all aspects of human life. Inequality, poverty, exclusion, religious fanaticism, racism, xenophobia, and lack of dialogue are all impediments to development which ought to be overcome if we are to work towards the establishment of a more global democratic culture. The mere fact that these are still common traits of modern societies highlights the need for participation and involvement in the democratic process. It reveals that freedom of opinion and expression are not only rights that are to be taken for granted, but rights that must be put into practice.

THE MISGUIDED WAR ON TERRORISM

There is a connection between a lack of military power to confront injustice and the use of terror. Nuclear weapons are an element of one party\'s crushing superiority in the Middle East. The West - with good reason - seeks to prevent other countries from acquiring them. But the US refuses to hear criticism of Israel\'s nuclear arsenal, writes Kaare Willoch, former leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of Norway from 1981 to 1986. In this article, the author writes that one cannot expect non-Westerners to consider it more a more heroic act to bomb Palestinian homes from airplanes than to blow oneself up. US-financed missiles and shells are inflicting a much higher death toll on innocent civilians. It is only natural that many outside the West believe that we oppose only certain forms of violence and condone other far more lethal ones by ourselves and our allies. Western leaders must turn their attention to the root causes of terrorism and take action to eliminate them.

THE POLITICAL SUICIDE OF ARIEL SHARON

The UN resolution recently approved condemning Israel\'s decision to remove Yasser Arafat is a clear demonstration of the world\'s moral and political incomprehension of Israel and of US policy towards the Middle East, writes Mario Soares, prime minister of Portugal between 1976-1978 and 1983-1985 and president between 1986-1996. In this analysis, Soares writes that the key to real stabilisation of the region is the resolution of the conflict between Palestine and Israel. For this reason the strategy of Sharon seems suicidal and a sure recipe for irreversible disaster. How is it legally possible to publicly advocate the assassination of an adversary, a man elected president of the Palestinian Authority and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate? Has there been no thought given to the repercussions this would have not only in the Middle East but the entire world? Israel\'s policy inflicts long-term and in cases irreversible damage to the moral and political prestige of Israel, whose people, persecuted throughout their history, are turning into persecutors, oppressors, and colonialists.

OPEN FIRE AND OPEN MARKETS: STRATEGY OF AN EMPIRE

Eruptions of armed aggression by the US should not distract us from the underlying logic of economic imperialism. America\'s \'\'war for freedom\'\' or \'\'war on terrorism\'\' is at one with its expansionary goals for the market: open invasion in some places, and open markets everywhere. In this article for IPS, the author writes that the plans for Iraq go beyond reconstruction. The intention is to create a dream economy -- completely privatised and foreign-owned. The war on Iraq was shadowed by a battle among American corporations to win reconstruction contracts. Resistance to the unilateral US strategy does not go over well. In March 2003, President Bush alluded to the possibility of reprisals if Mexico didn\'t vote America\'s way in the UN Security Council on the question of Iraq. In July 2003, the administration cut off military aid to 35 friendly countries in retaliation for their support of the International Criminal Court (ICC). And following the collapse of trade talks in Cancun, the US is threatening \'\'to take note\'\' of those countries that \'\'torpedoed\'\' the negotiations in Cancun. However, the US position as a solo superpower could be short-lived. Washington\'s desire to dominate affairs around the world has created a global resistance stoked by a combination of developing country resentments inflamed by US arrogance, a crippled economy, an expensive invasion and occupation of Iraq that has not gone well for the US, and reinvigorated civil society resistance to corporate driven globalisation.

DANGER

Power feeds on fear. Without the demons that create it, it would lose its source of justification, impunity, and fortune, writes Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan writer and journalist, author of \'\'The Open Veins of Latin America\'\' and \'\'Memories of Fire\'\'. Fear distracts and deflects attention. Were it not for the services it performs, the obvious would be plain for all to see: that power looks at itself in the mirror and incites fear by telling us what it sees, Galeano writes. Patriotism is a privilege of those in power. When practised by those who are ruled, is it reduced to mere terrorism? To take two examples, the suicide attacks by desperate Palestinians evicted from their country, or the national resistance to the foreign forces now occupying Iraq: are these terrorism and nothing more? Power disguised negates common sense. If it weren\'t thus, could there be any doubt that the current government of Israel is practising terrorism, state terrorism, and is spreading madness? The more land this country devours and the more humiliation it inflicts on the Palestinian people, the more criminal responses it will generate.

HELP FOR POOREST COUNTRIES LIES IN WTO REVITALISATION

If the promise embodied in the name of the Doha Development Round is to be fulfilled after the WTO failure at Cancun, these negotiations must be re-vitalised, writes Ian Goldin, Vice President, External Affairs and United Nations Affairs of the World Bank. In this article, the author writes that rich countries need to take the lead in re-starting the multilateral process by making more ambitious offers than were on the table in Cancun, and developing countries should follow by showing increased flexibility to open their own markets. This will ensure that the developing countries are able to take full advantage of the benefits from investments in research and extension and rural infrastructure to enhance their global integration and trade. The potential benefits for the developing world from global trade reform are estimated to be as high as USD 349 billion per year when dynamic impacts are taken into account. The goal of Cancun was that business as usual cannot continue and that a new equilibrium needs to emerge that will give Africa a chance to benefit from the powerful engine of growth and poverty reduction that trade has proven to be in other parts of the world.

UK STUDY FINDS NEW RISKS IN GENETICALLY-ENGINEERED CROPS

A major new study on the environmental impact of genetically- engineered (GE) crops adds yet another concern to the growing list of ecological risks associated with transgenic crops, writes Peter Rosset, biologist and co-director of the Institute for Food and Development Policy, also known as Food First, based in the USA. In this article, Rosset writes that the study found that there were very serious impacts on biodiversity. In two of the three crops studied, herbicide use drastically affected plant biodiversity and consequently also had very negative affects on birds, bees, and butterflies. This raises the spectre of widespread above-ground ecosystem disruption in areas with broad use of herbicide-tolerant crops. Each new study adds new risks to an already overflowing list. In many cases these are risks --like lower soil fertility, reduced natural population control of pests, and loss of local varieties-- that will effect poor farmers more severely than wealthy farmers and threaten their livelihoods. The question is, when will governments ban international trade and planting of these unnecessary and dangerous crop varieties? the author asks.

MEDIA FOR ALL BY 2015

Information and communication technologies offer us an historic opportunity to create a new world of mutual responsibility and human solidarity -- though only if and when the majority of the world has the chance of fair and equitable access to the means of communication, writes Anuradha Mittal, director of OneWorld International Foundation and author of numerous articles of issues of global justice. In this article, the author writes that the real communications revolution will only come when enough citizens have the option to become media producers: when they can talk with as well as listen to those of us who are media professionals playing the role of facilitator. The People\'s Media era will begin when the Information Society is replaced by a Communication Society. When the People\'s Media era dawns, we will have no excuses left for being ignorant about what is really going on in the world. We will have no more excuses for global apartheid.

BOLIVIA: THE COUNTRY THAT WANTS TO EXIST

A gigantic explosion of gas -- this was the popular uprising that shook all of Bolivia and culminated in the resignation of President Sanchez de Lozada, writes Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan writer and journalist, author of \'\'The Open Veins of Latin America\'\' and \'\'Memories of Fire.\'\' In this article, Galeano writes that the gas was to have been shipped to California, for a minuscule price in exchange for a few miserable gifts. Sanchez de Lozada called this false privatisation \'\'capitalization\'\', but the country, tired of living to fuel foreign progress, demanded that the gas be used for Bolivia. These fast-moving times are marked by astounding achievements in Bolivia. In 2000 an uprising deprivatised the nation\'s water. A few months ago another popular explosion forced the government to annul the payroll tax that the IMF had demanded be implemented. And popular disobedience derailed a juicy deal for Pacific LNG, comprised by Repsol, British Gas, and Panamerican Gas, known to be a partner of Enron. As for the fugitive Sanchez de Lozada, he lost the presidency but he won\'t be losing much sleep. Though he has the killing of over 80 demonstrators on his conscience, this champion of modernisation is not bothered by anything that can\'t turn a profit.

UNITED STATES: LET HISPANICS LIVE IN PEACE

It must be election time again. Hispanics are suddenly being rediscovered in the United States, by both US and Spanish politicians, writes Joaquin Roy, \'Jean Monnet\' professor and Director of the European Union Centre at the University of Miami. Amazingly, the presence of the mythical 40 million \'\'Hispanics\'\' in the US is being wielded as justification for the Spanish government\'s unconditional backing of US policy in Iraq, the author writes. But did Aznar read the polls showing that Hispanic support for Bush\'s policies in Iraq was 20 points lower than the national average? And why does Spain\'s prime minister hold US Hispanics in much higher esteem than the other 40 million real \'\'Hispanics\'\' in Spain, who overwhelmingly (90 percent) opposed the Iraq adventure? Applying his own logic, Aznar should side with Castro against the US because of the presence of 10 million \'\'Hispanics\'\' in Cuba. A humble suggestion. On the occasion of October 12th, the Day of Hispanity, the national day of Spain, or the Italianified Columbus Day in the US, leave Hispanics and Latinos in peace. They will really appreciate it.

WTO: THE POST-CANCUN CHALLENGE

It would behove us now to put behind us the accusations and recriminations about what happened or failed to happen at the WTO Ministerial in Cancun and focus on how best to launch a new phase of negotiations in Geneva by the end of this year, writes Carlos Perez del Castillo, president of the General Council of the World Trade Organisation. The outcome of Cancun has dampened the will of many countries to continue doing their utmost for a multilateral process which, since Doha, has been characterised by one failure after another, the author writes in this article for IPS. Some major trading partners are already talking about alternative ways of achieving free trade. Others have severely questioned the principles and organisation of the WTO and its failure to tailor itself to existing demands. Should we fail to put the negotiating process back on track, not only will the 1 January 2005 deadline for completion of this Round be jeopardised; the relevance of the multilateral trading system itself will be called into serious question. For this reason, a major and decisive new phase will be launched in Geneva this week.

THE DIVIDING LINE

Every major issue of our day derives from four fundamental crises: the threat to peace from the religious war that looms over us; the globalisation of the economy and the need for both ethical and juridical regulation; the growing --and intolerable-- imbalance between the d eveloped world and the world of hunger and poverty; and the process of continuous and often irreversible environmental degradation, writes Mario Soares, president of Portugal from 1986-1996. The solution of the four underlying crises, and all of their progeny, would be within the reach of science and humanity if there were the political will. But at present there isn\'t, Soares writes. There are many signs of a building reaction against the global system that contributed to the current regression of the world, particularly in the area of social justice, human rights, international law, and even the operation of our democracies. It is becoming clear that today\'s reigning economicism, together with the media-inundation of societies, dominates politics and threatens justice. Things cannot go on like this.

THE DANGEROUS RAINBOW

The cross and the sword are raised high as in old times, and with good reason: in the last few months, homophobia has come under serious attack, writes Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan writer and journalist \'\'The Open Veins of Latin America\'\' and \'\'Memories of Fire\'\'. Earlier this summer, the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that criminalised homosexuality, effectively voiding similar laws in 12 other states. And in New Hampshire, for the first time in the history of Christianity the faithful and the clergy of the Episcopal Church elected a bishop who is openly gay. Galeano writes in this article for IPS that all of these acts of \'\'grave immorality\'\', of liberty and mental health, are not gifts: they are victories, the result of the persistent battle of gays and lesbians against discrimination and violence. Armed with the rainbow banner, a symbol of human diversity, they are overturning one of the most sinister heresies of the past. The walls of intolerance are beginning to fall.