I agree this sort of stuff is over-stated, to put it mildly, like the idea that globalization "caused" 9/11. Embarrassing.
--- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> [This is the text of a flyer distributed by UFPJ
>
<http://www.unitedforpeace.org/downloads/Globalization_and_War.pdf>.
>
> I can't say I'm convinced. Most of the 30 wars
> raging around the
> world today are in neighborhoods mostly excluded
> from trade and
> capital flows. And there were plenty of wars during
> the
> "pre-globalization" era of the 1960s and 1970s. What
> do other people
> think?]
>
>
> UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE
> <http://www.unitedforpeace.org> | 212-603-3700
>
>
> How Globalization Promotes War
> by Steven Staples, The Polaris Institute
>
> Globalization, more correctly called corporate
> globalization, is
> founded upon a conservative, free market-oriented
> worldview that
> seeks to limit the economic impact of government
> actions. The
> institutions and agreements that codify
> globalization, such as the
> World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Free Trade
> Area of the
> Americas (FTAA), place restrictions on government
> services and
> regulations that might inhibit corporate profits -
> while championing
> the government's role in providing national
> security.
>
> 1. Globalization promotes the conditions for war.
> Ethnic and
> religious differences mask the underlying economic
> causes of the more
> than 30 wars raging around the world today.
> Inequality, competition
> for dwindling resources, and environmental
> degradation are factors in
> the outbreak of armed conflict that are worsened by
> free trade.
>
> Globalization undermines the ability of governments
> to regulate and
> mitigate the damaging effects of the market, which
> leads to an
> intensification of all of the economic causes of
> war.
>
> 2. Globalization promotes military spending over
> social spending.
>
> "Security exceptions" in free trade agreements grant
> governments a
> free hand in military spending, but place limits on
> social spending.
> Thus, governments use military spending to achieve
> non-defense goals
> such as job creation, regional development, and
> subsidization of
> local corporations through defense contracts.
>
> Since the late 1990s, world military spending has
> been on the rise
> and is now nearly $1 trillion a year - almost half
> of this is by the
> United States alone.
>
> 3. Globalization requires police and military
> protection of corporate
> interests.
>
> Popular movements opposed to globalization's harsh
> economic agenda
> have been emerging around the world, especially
> since the famous
> protests derailed the WTO in Seattle in 1999. Police
> forces have
> responded with increased repression and intolerance
> for political
> protests. Armed with powerful new anti-terrorism
> laws such as the
> Patriot Act, security forces can use
> totalitarian-like measures to
> investigate and detain people whose only "crime" may
> be to advocate
> for a fair global economy that serves the interests
> of ordinary
> people.
>
> Meanwhile, the Pentagon is realigning and expanding
> its vast
> international network of bases along the frontiers
> of the global
> economy, such as in central Asia. And in places like
> Colombia, U.S.
> troops and weapons are being deployed where
> uprisings threaten
> corporate investments.
>
> 4. Globalization undermines grassroots peace work.
>
> Government and corporate interests can use trade
> agreements to limit
> people's ability to lobby for government policies
> that promote peace.
> Legislative victories by popular movements
> advocating economic
> sanctions or divestment campaigns against repressive
> states may be
> challenged and overturned by free trade regimes such
> as the WTO.
>
> A successful grassroots campaign encouraging local
> governments not to
> contract with corporations doing business in
> Burma/Myanmar was
> overturned by the U.S. federal government after it
> was threatened
> with a WTO challenge.
>
> 5. Globalization promotes corporate security over
> human security.
>
> Globalization and free trade regimes align
> government interests with
> corporate interests, resulting in the state
> increasingly assuming the
> role of promoter and defender of corporate interests
> at home and
> abroad.
>
> This focus on corporate interests comes at the
> expense of governments
> providing for the security of their citizens through
> social programs
> and public-interest legislation, and deters
> governments from
> undertaking international actions to promote peace
> and security and
> achieve the greater public good.
> ___________________________________
>
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