Will September 11th Save the G8 from Oblivion?
- PDF / 27,807 Bytes
- 4 Pages / 535.756 x 697.717 pts Page_size
- 66 Downloads / 227 Views
26/4/02
12:26 pm
Page 32
development. Copyright © 2002 Society for International Development. SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi), 1011-6370 (200206) 45:2; 32–35; 024384. NB When citing this article please use both volume and issue numbers.
Thematic Section
Will September 11th Save the G8 from Oblivion? NICOLA BULLARD
ABSTRACT Nicola Bullard in her reflections on G8 post-September 11th argues that it is too simplistic to conflate poverty and terrorism. She shows how it strips the equation of power and renders it purely economic: a classic neo-liberal solution to a complex historical, political and social problem. She asks us to go beyond the rhetoric and find the way to win the war not against terrorism but against injustice. KEYWORDS Genoa; people’s movements; poverty; social justice; terrorism
The fall-out of Genoa After the ‘bloodshed, muddle and mayhem’ of Genoa, everyone agreed that the days of the ‘big summit’ were over. In the words of one British newspaper the annual meeting of the world major capitalist powers had turned into a ‘costly and extravagant media event’ producing little except ‘lengthy declarations that often contain more platitudes than substance’. The Genoa summit was not only costly and extravagant, it was a public relations disaster: 250,000 protestors on the streets, one young man shot dead by a policeman, and mounting evidence that the Italian police had provoked and condoned much of the violence attributed to the ‘black bloc’. Confronted with this, the G8 appeared arrogant, out of touch and disunited. Their only response was a final declaration true to the rule of platitudes outweighing substance. Their full support for a new round of trade talks surprised no one, the global fund for HIV-AIDS had been announced months earlier, the pledges on debt relief have been heard a thousand times, and their desire to ‘bridge the digital divide’ and ‘make globalization work for all our citizens and especially the world’s poor’ had become well-worn cliches. One or two new commitments, such as the ‘Marshall’ plan for Africa, were vague and had no resources to back them.
09 Bullard (to/d)
26/4/02
12:26 pm
Page 33
Bullard: Will September 11th Save the G8 from Oblivion? The G8’s failure to come up with any concerted political action or vision is to be expected. First, any decision that would have an effect on global inequality would require the rich countries to give up something – such as their right to dictate economic policies for the rest of the world – and they are not about to do that without a fight. Second, they know that it is not possible to deal with these problems and save their privileges at the same time. Third, they are internally divided about what needs to be done and the only common ground is a lukewarm plateau of platitudes. Cracks in the consensus The political divisions among the leaders were particularly obvious in their responses to the protests. While UK Prime Minister Tony Blair dismissed the protestors as anti-democratic hooligans, French Pres
Data Loading...