New World Disorder
Monte Paulsen, Original to AlterNet
SEATTLE (Dec. 5) -- The World Trade Organization slunk away from this
riot-torn city after delegates from 135 nations abandoned their
efforts to launch a new round of trade negotiations. Demonstrators
danced in the soggy streets, celebrating after a week of mostly
peaceful protests hobbled the ministerial meeting. But the Battle of
Seattle that drew 40,000 activists to the streets paled in comparison
to the quiet riot beyond the barricades.
Working from plush hotel suites nestled high above the clouds of tear
gas, WTO Director General Mike Moore and U.S. Trade Representative
Charlene Barshefsky were less troubled by the sea of protestors
handing out "practice safe trade" condoms than the trickle of outraged
delegates who, angered over how the U.S. and European Union were
monopolizing the agenda, were threatening to pack their bags.
"This is absolutely the worst -- the worst -- organized international
conference there has ever been," said Sir Shridath Ramphal, a
silver-haired veteran of more than 30 years of trade negotiations and
head of a joint delegation of Caribbean nations. "Mrs. Barshefsky is
intent on forcing the process and having a declaration at all costs,
almost as if it doesn't matter what the rest of the countries think
about it. Well, that is not going to happen. The WTO does not belong
to the United States."
How the WTO Failed
The WTO was set up in 1995 to monitor trade agreements and resolve
disputes. The Geneva-based group operates by consensus, which means
that every member nation must agree to proceed with a new "round" of
negotiations. In practice, WTO leaders summon small groups of
delegates to a "green room" -- so named because the walls of the first
room used for this purpose were green -- where the agreement is
hammered out. Once a few key delegates agree on a text, the rest of
the ministers are pressured to go along with it in exchange for
concessions on other issues.
The fundamentally undemocratic nature of this negotiating process was
among the complaints protestors brought to Seattle. It also proved to
be the undoing of the ministerial meeting. Among the fatal flaws:
- The green room process provided no opportunity for interested
parties to monitor negotiations. Neither the proposals, nor the
debate, nor even the voting records were visible to the public, as
they are in nearly every democracy in the world. This led to comical
results in Seattle, where news reporters and representatives from
non-governmental organizations turned to peering through peepholes and
sifting through trash cans as they struggled to discern what was going
on behind the scenes. WTO leaders stationed additional security
personnel throughout the convention center in order to combat such
amateur espionage. By the end of the week, the inside of the hall felt
as much like a police state as the streets.
- Most less-developed nations were also shut out of the process.
Delegates from economically powerless countries in Africa, the
Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean spent most of the week
wandering the halls, asking journalists and non-governmental
representatives what was happening. The delegates -- nearly all of
whom are high-ranking officials in their home governments -- were
humiliated, and grew furious as the week progressed. Making matters
worse, the riots prevented them from sampling Seattle's nightlife and
kept them cooped up in their hotels. "There's too much
behind-the-scene cooking," complained Namibian delegate Nokokure
Murangi. "It's as if we do not exist."
- And when many were finally were presented with a draft agreement,
they were simultaneously subjected to intense pressure to sign. None
would discuss the specifics on the record, for fear of further
reprisals. But Jamie Love, who has been tracking trade deals for
several years as head of the Consumer Project on Technology, said the
arm-twisting is frequently unrelated to trade. "It is this really ugly
form of colonialism where everything happens behind the scenes." Love
said that when Egypt was contemplating a pharmaceuticals policy that
would hurt U.S. drug makers, for example, "They were told in plain
terms that they would lose $500 million in U.S. aid if they challenged
the U.S." Brent Blackwelder, head of the environmental group Friends
of the Earth, agreed: "Delegates from the south are caving in to
United States pressure ... The violence you see outside cannot compare
to the violence being done inside."
By late Friday night, it became clear to WTO leadership that there was
no way to reach consensus. "We could have stayed all night, maybe for
five more days, it wouldn't have mattered," said a weary Barshefsky,
who as host of the failed conference will likely face intense
criticism in the months to come. "The WTO has outgrown the processes
appropriate to an earlier time," she added, " ... we needed a process
which had a greater degree of internal transparency and inclusion to
accommodate a larger and more diverse membership."
What Next?
While the forces aligned against corporate-led globalization won the
Battle of Seattle, the War over World Trade is far from over. The WTO
plans to resume discussions early next year in Geneva. Moore and most
of the humiliated trade negotiators believe that the WTO can be fixed
-- possibly through the creation of a parliamentary style system --
and resume pursuing its free-trade agenda.
But the labor, consumer, environment, human rights, and student groups
who marched in Seattle are opposed to the core beliefs of the WTO,
which they claim promotes not "free" trade but "corporate-managed"
trade policies that threaten health, labor, the environment and basic
human rights. Noted consumer advocate Ralph Nader, "There's never been
an event in American history that has brought together more disparate
groups."
Both sides vow to fight again. The only thing certain is that it won't
be in as comfortable a city as Seattle. When asked where he would
schedule the next ministerial meeting, a former top U.S. trade
negotiator suggested: "Someplace like Iceland, in January."
--------
Monte Paulsen is a freelance reporter based in Washington, D.C. He is
a contributor to "The Buying of the President 2000" to be released
next month by Avon Books.