The most widely endorsed decision-making systems, such as
representative and referendum democracy, have serious flaws. Political institutions
must be redesigned to enable greater deliberation and participation in the making of policies, argues Stephen Shalom.
Just as the 1999 Seattle protests against the WTO launched
the global justice movement onto the world stage, Copenhagen may reveal a
global civil society that has developed beyond the politics of resistance into
a truly diverse, forward-looking force for change, writes Anna White.
As poor countries are disproportionately affected by the financial, food, climate
and security crises, the Non-Aligned Movement's call for greater international cooperation must no longer be drowned out by the rhetoric of the G8 and the G20, argues Rajesh Makwana.
Northern governments are responding to the economic slowdown by reviving the same 'fossilized institutions' that underpin the financial crisis. The G20 should abandon old ways of global
governance and put in their place a more decentralized, democratic order, says
Walden Bello.
Recession, unemployment and foreclosures represent only the surface level of a deepening global financial crisis. Now, the rise of ethnic strife and civil unrest could characterise a year of social conflict in 2009, says Michael T. Klare.
As the ninth World Social Forum (WSF) came to a close last week in the
Amazon basin, the simultaneous meeting of select business leaders and
policymakers at the exclusive ski-resort of Davos, Switzerland, provided a
sharp contrast between a spirit of vibrant public engagement and the mood of
depression at the World Economic Forum.
Human rights are increasingly viewed through the rhetoric of military intervention, democracy and political freedom, whilst the UN's pivotal role in securing social and economic rights in the developing world continues to be marginalised, argues Robin Willoughby.
