Towards global justice

Ricardo Núñez Muñoz

The global economic crisis has brought into stark relief serious flaws at the core of the current international order. In recent decades, the international system has been heavily dominated by market driven growth, which has frequently come at the expense of more progressive objectives. Indeed, the weakness of international regulatory structures contributed significantly to the current global financial meltdown, and has undermined efforts to tackle climate change and energy insecurity. Now is the time to build a new international order, which strengthens nation states’ ability to coordinate their actions at a global level in pursuit of the global good. This new order must take into account the differing perspectives and capacities of each actor in the global north and south. But it must also overcome any potential contradictions through a true commitment to united action and progressive goals.  The following proposals indicate a way forward:

1. Building a new international financial architecture
It is now widely agreed that international financial bodies such as the World Bank, and especially the International Monetary Fund, were not prepared for, and did not have the capacity to prevent, the crisis that we are currently experiencing. These institutions should either be restructured, or should make way for a new of global financial order that goes beyond the remit of agreements reached at Bretton-Woods. These new institutions should be given the necessary resources to deal with the challenges posed by current levels of economic and financial globalisation.

Currently, such existing bodies continue to be unduly shaped by the preferences and interests of the most developed countries and of multinational corporations. They have not given sufficient attention to the development needs of Latin America and other emerging economies. The reform of international institutions will only be effective if it takes into account the needs of both developed and developing countries. In addition to reforming and democratising international financial bodies, it will be necessary to develop effective mechanisms for international policy coordination. If this does not take place, the process of globalisation will continue to fall short of our progressive goals.

2. Improving north-south cooperation on the environment
The current financial and economic crisis has coincided with both an environmental crisis and a global energy crisis. These enormous challenges not only oblige us to rethink our lifestyles and our models of development, but also highlight anew the disparities between developed and developing countries. As yet, progressives have not been able to develop a common strategy to face these challenges.

There is a clear contradiction between those advanced economies that are moving towards a more sustainable future, and countries in the less developed world who are “forced” to continue making do with highly polluting fuels. For example, in the southern hemisphere, coal is once again in use and there is no sign of a decline in petroleum usage. Indeed, firewood continues to be used by the most underprivileged communities, hindering efforts to conserve native forests.

The international community needs to develop a new north-south dialogue on the pathways to meeting a post-carbon economy, which promotes an economic and political agenda for environmental sustainability. This conversation is beginning to emerge in the business world, as industries prepare the ground for what Jeremy Rifkin has coined the “third industrial revolution”. The challenge facing progressives around the world, especially in Latin America, is to ensure that public policies aimed at helping the most disadvantaged in society are compatible with sustainable development.

3. Towards a more progressive global order
Today, it is no longer enough to simply talk about international solidarity. The rapid process of globalisation has connected our economies, politics, societies and cultures in ways that make international solidarity a necessity. Alongside strengthening existing international institutions, progressives around the world should build and improve their own platforms for cooperation. By joining forces, progressives can ensure their influence is powerful enough to guide the international order in a more equitable and sustainable direction.

A united Latin America, for example, would create a stronger presence on the international stage, able to count itself among other global actors such as North America, the European Union, and Japan and southeast Asia. Latin American countries cannot continue to pursue economic integration with the developed world individually, or to preserve intra-continental trade barriers. Apart from damaging our political, social and cultural relations, we will not be able to successfully confront the challenges of the global age, nor make contributions to the global good which correspond to our social democratic and progressive ideals.

Ricardo Núñez Muñoz is senator of the Republic of Chile and chairman of the Instituto Igualdad