Nothing to Gain, Everything to Lose

The negotiations leading up to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial in Hong Kong are apparently getting nowhere. The draft ministerial reports on the state of negotiations in agriculture, non-agricultural market access, and services are out, and while all...

The Tragedy of Contemporary Democracy in the South

It is now 25 years since the beginning of the great wave of democratisation that swept away dictatorships from Latin America to Southeast Asia. Yet there is everywhere a palpable sense of disappointment that the new electoral democratic regimes have fallen far short...

Can the Philippines Handle Globalization?

I would like to thank the organizers of this event, particularly my co-awardee of the Right Livelihood Award for 2003, Nicky Perlas, for inviting me to speak at this event. Nicky’s optimism, as many of you know, is infectious, and I do hope all of us will be...

The War and Peace Equation Today:

It is certainly a step forward that there is a growing consensus among us that development, peace-building, and conflict prevention must be undertaken simultaneously if initiatives at peace and security are to take hold and prosper. This is, however, a consensus...