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Fall 1999
Articles
The recent spate of crises in emerging markets around the world has shattered the consensus over the benefits of unfettered capital flows and prompted calls for a new global financial architecture. But a closer examination of the underlying causes of the world’s financial woes suggests the need for some commonsense repairs, not a radical restructuring.
In Africa, Asia, and Europe, nations are splintering at an unprecedented rate. So far, the Western Hemisphere has been immune to these secessionist impulses. But the borders of the Americas may not be as stable as they seem.
World trade has become the primary driver of one of the most dangerous and least visible forms of environmental decline: Thousands of species are hitchhiking to new homes aboard ships, planes, and trains and in the process are degrading ecosystems, threatening public health, and costing billions of dollars annually.
From Russia to Indonesia to Ecuador, economic crashes have prompted a growing number of politicians and their economic advisers to advocate the abandonment of their national currencies in favor of stronger, more stable ones. But as attractive as it seems, this solution can create more problems than it solves.
We take it for granted that every country has its own flag, national anthem, and currency. But as the global economy becomes more integrated, an international monetary system comprised of dozens of currencies may no longer be sustainable. The world will be better off as more nations embrace the dollar and the euro.
Some of the architects of NATO’s victory in Kosovo have been quick to hail it as a harbinger of a new type of humanitarian intervention—an effective and relatively pain-free way to stop ethnic cleansing in its tracks. But a closer look at the conflict reaffirms old truths rather than offering new lessons.
When the regime of Indonesia’s President Suharto fell victim to the Asian economic crisis, worried Chinese policymakers were quick to take notice. But while China’s leaders have moved to shore up its shaky financial system, their ability to avoid Suharto’s fate is likely to hinge more on the successful implementation of political rather than economic reforms.
It’s pistols at high noon, as the New York Times and Le Monde diplomatique duel over globalization. Ignacio Ramonet: “Globalization, with its dogma and high priests, might as well be a new totalitarianism.” Thomas Friedman: “My dear Mr. Ramonet . . . the wretched of the earth want to go to Disneyworld, not to the barricades.” Whose side are you on?
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