Life is good. In the West we are richer, healthier and better educated than ever before. Trade is booming, thriving on high-speed telecommunications networks and ever cheaper computer power. We’ve never had it so good.
Why then has the 21st century gotoff to such a rocky start? We saw mass public protests in Genoa as the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations gathered to discuss the fateof the world. Then came the horrorsof the 11 September attacks onthe US, the war in Afghanistan,the escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, alongside continuing ethnic and religious conflicts around the globe.
Where is the world going? Is the ever wealthier West leaving others behind? Were the protesters at Genoa right to see a fast-growing, better connected world as more of a threat than a promise? How does the power of the West to disseminate ideasaffect others in a world with few boundaries? Were the 11 September attacks an aberration or a symptomof wider trends?
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Former US President Bill Clinton is among those who see links between what happened in New York and Washington and the march of history. “We live in a world where we have torn down walls, collapsed distances and spread information. The terrorist attacks on September 11 were just as much a manifestation of this globalisation and interdependenceas the explosion of economic growth,”he wrote earlier this year.
Scientists everywhere shouldfeel a particular interest in his words. Global change has been driven bythe achievements of science and the new possibilities that technologicalchange has created. Scientists and technologists made globalisation possible; business people and politicians made it happen. And science and technology can help decide what will happen to us all next.
These connections have inspireda series of articles in this and the next three issues of 91av. In the course of this series we will look at the global economy and meet some of the thinkers who advocate reform and radical change. Next week, we’ll listen to the poorest ofthe poor in India and Africa and see how technology can change theirlives and their view of themselves.After that, we travel to Gaza,the West Bank and Jerusalem to investigate the roots of anger, hatred and war at first hand. And finally we look to the future and our ability tofind solutions to the problem of feeding the world’s people without destroying the environment.
But we begin at the beginning by looking at the changes that have been brought about by the much disputed phenomenon of “globalisation”…
This issue: PART 1
State of the World Overview 30
Solutions and comment from…
George Soros 38
Susan George 42
Hernando de Soto 46
Amartya Sen 50
4 May: PART 2
Rich ideas from the poor: Nairobi’s slum TV. Being modern without being Western. RuralIndia’s Internet revolution
11 May: PART 3
Why humans hate injustice: Reports from Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem. Conflict and religion. The psychology of reconciliation
18 May: PART 4
The future of agriculture: High-rise pig farms. The realimpact of genetically modified food. The Third Way: beyond organics
