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International Peace Network Formed<br> To Address Globalization Global Policy Forum - Globalization International Peace Network Formed
To Address GlobalizationBy Steve Staples
Council of Canadians
June 25, 1999The relationship between globalization and disarmament will be the focus of a new international organization formed at the Hague Appeal for Peace civil society conference held in the Hague, the Netherlands. The International Network on Disarmament and Globalization (NDG) was created at a special meeting on May 12th of peace activists, economists, and researchers from ten countries. They identified the need to better investigate how economic globalization and the rise of transnational corporations are affecting efforts to promote peace and international disarmament.
"Globalization has changed all of the rules," said Steven Staples, a Canadian activist and researcher from Vancouver. "Globalization is about much more than international commerce - in fact globalization is fundamentally challenging international diplomacy, the role of governments, and even democracy itself," said Staples.
Corporate-driven international trade agreements and financial institutions are limiting the ability of governments to govern on behalf of their citizens. The creation of a single world economy is not distributing wealth evenly, but instead is increasing the concentration of wealth into the hands of a tiny minority of people. This inequality is creating poverty and degrading the environment, setting the conditions for conflict and even war. At the same time, mega-mergers are creating powerful transnational corporations that produce most of the world's weapons and military technology. These corporations lobby governments to divert greater amounts of public treasuries to military spending. The largest of these corporations include such aerospace and defence giants as Lockheed Martin, Boeing/McDonnell Douglas, Raytheon, British Aerospace/Marconi, Aerospatiale/Matra and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace.
"As globalization creates the conditions for war and provides the weapons to wage it, activists working for peace and disarmament must confront globalization," said Staples. The NDG will address the relationship between militarism and globalization, and will begin by creating an e-mail network and educational resources which will be available on the Internet to build a body of knowledge for peace activists, economists and researchers.
Contact: Steven Staples, sstaples@canadians.org International Network on Disarmament and Globalization 405-825 Granville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1K9 CANADA tel: (604) 687-3223 fax: (604) 687-3277
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