News Analysis: Fair Play, A Must in Globalization

Developing countries are complaining that they are suffering from negative consequences of globalization and they have been calling for global governance in order to ensure fairness, equality, democracy and diversification in the process.

Concerns about globalization arise basically from the belief that there is no one in charge. The uneven impact of globalization is thus a main area of concern, for the developing South in particular. In fact, developing countries started to reflect on the impact of globalization since the Asian financial crisis, which began in Southeast Asia in 1997 and later spread to Russia and Latin America.

Such a worrying development rebutted an argument by supporters of globalization that it was a panacea for all economic difficulties faced by developing countries. Developing countries, being marginalized by the process, mostly agreed that globalization is in many ways a new form of economic colonialism and represents the success of ravenous capitalism.

The reality which worries the South a lot is that the world economy is not global at present. For example, trade, investment and financial flows are, to a large extent, concentrated within the developed blocs. The vast, cheap labor pools of developing countries are being exploited by multinational corporations, and the commodity prices are manipulated and constantly lowered to ensure the developed world a continued supply of cheap raw materials.

Currently, what is sadly striking is that the markets of developing countries are being pried open in the name of trade liberation, while the developed economies limit access to their own markets. As a result, a large majority of developing countries suffered the negative consequences of globalization, but had virtually no role in defining the rules of the game.

The effects of globalization continue to extend into the daily life of people everywhere, and the process itself has engendered in many a sense of powerlessness and loss of control. At the same time, the results of globalization to date have been a mixed bag. Feckless and unruly growth and uneven expansion as resulting from economic globalization have posed a new question to the international community, namely, how to execute effective guidance and governance of the globalization process.

Although globalization is an irreversible reality, it is also true that its promised rewards have not materialized. There is an increase in extremes of social inequality at all levels. Growth in developing countries in the 1990s was lower than the 5.7 percent of the 1970s. One fifth of the world's population, living in wealthy countries, accounted for 86 percent of globalization production. With such a complex context, understanding globalization is of vital significance for developing countries.

Even worse, globalization and interdependence challenge certain aspects of state sovereignty, particularly that of small and weak countries. In other words, it is clear that globalization leads to a reduction of the sovereignty of states, with the weakest and the smallest being the biggest losers.

Sadly lacking in the arguments for globalization is the need to provide for the pace, direction and content of liberalization, given diverse national levels of development and the need to build up national capacities.

Putting the negative effects into perspective, many developing countries are calling for world governance in the process so that a safety mechanism can be set up to protect the interests of developing countries at large.

The globalization process so far has advanced on the basis of market economy and been driven by profits. It is inequitable by its very nature.

The government of one country can redress market-born domestic inequality through domestic policies and regulations. Likewise, global inequality should be redressed through effective global governance, instead of being allowed to go unchecked.

Global governance needs a global perspective, not a Western one. The developing South has repeatedly voiced the hope that global governance will fully embody fairness, equality, democracy and diversification and will promote common prosperity and development throughout the world.



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