 The
"war on terrorism" launched by US President George W Bush after
the 9/11 attacks made it painfully clear that whether we live
in Iraq, Indonesia or Iceland we belong to a world whose players
are acting on a global stage. In this era of globalisation,
the once isolated and frozen Far North is hit hardest by global
warming fed by factories firing thousands of miles south; headlines
on foreign newspapers scream abuse at Bush's re-election, and
telephone orders placed by U.S. consumers for Asian-made computers
are answered by workers in India trained to "sound American."
While the United Nations and other global institutions like
the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are maligned by an increasingly
vocal civil society for serving the interests of rich and powerful
nations at the expense of the poorest, multinational corporations
crunch ahead serving profit. IPS, with its history of amplifying
the voices of the world's unheard and its network of writers
and editors in 130 countries, will help you make sense of these
global forces. |
