Progressive Ponderings: Conflicting Global Forces

by Joe Mayer

The United Nations, established after the Second World War by the nations of the world, provides a mechanism for solving differences and grievances in a peaceful manner.

As other institutions, the UN has flaws. The imbalance of power given the Security Council versus the General Assembly assures effective control by the powerful nations. Instead of one president having veto power, the Security Council allows a possible seven vetoes, that is, each member of the Security Council. Yet the UN is the most effective institution humankind has ever established to jointly undertake solving global problems.

In conflict with this UN attempt to reconcile differences through semi-democratic methods is the concept of "globalization." According to its backers it is inevitable. It has no organization. It has never been voted upon. Its definition varies from person to person and day to day. Yet, it is POWERFUL!

Extreme nationalists within some countries, especially within the United States, claim that the UN usurps an individual nation's sovereignty. Nations and individuals with imperial ambitions strongly endorse anti-UN thinking. The appointment of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the UN was an attempt to neutralize and weaken it. When the UN was reluctant to endorse the U.S. campaign to invade Iraq it was called "irrelevant" by our president. The anti-UN forces in the U.S. are found generally among conservatives and economic elites.

The irony in the anti-UN position is that these same people strongly support globalism. Globalism favors trade agreements, parts of which are anti-sovereign. Globalism enlists the help of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization, which usually favor the powerful over the weak, corporate agendas over human and national needs, and the free flow of goods and money from nation to nation but restrict the migration of humans.

Globalism should always be modified by "corporate," as in "corporate globalism." Multinational corporations, through globalization, seek to become transnational, superior to the sovereignty of any nation.

Globalism results in sameness, standardization; UN respects differences in cultures, governments and economies. Globalism fosters competition for wealth and power; UN encourages cooperation among equals. Globalism leaves much of the world behind; UN attempts to alleviate poverty and suffering. Globalism is dominating, hierarchical, power driven; UN practices co-existence with interconnected civilization. Globalism is market-forces driven; UN is human-needs driven. Globalism operates in secret; UN functions on the world stage. For globalism, security equals a dominating force; for the UN, security equals the well-being of each individual and nation.

Arrogance and righteousness on the part of powerful nations cause them to lose credibility with the remainder of the world. Pursuing a globalism that produces extreme wealth for a few and obscene poverty for many breeds the hopelessness that turns to violence as the only solution. Preaching democracy and then sabotaging democratic institutions like the United Nations weakens the case for democracy and peace.

Allowing a concept, globalism, to become the catechism of world values undermines the real human communities and institutions in which we actually live.