Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, the contours of world order are still in the making, but two “mega trends” seem clear — the broadest and deepest wave of globalization the world has ever seen and the rise of new world players from Asia and elsewhere. We also hear ever-louder calls for more effective global coordination in meeting the great challenges of our times. As the Lisbon Treaty comes into force, the EU is, I believe, uniquely suited to take on its leadership responsibilities.
The world has been well served by economic globalization. Remarkable growth in the emerging economies has lifted millions out of poverty and created major new opportunities for investment and prosperity. This has helped great nations, such as China and India, to self-confidently assert themselves as global powers. Brazil is also finally fulfilling its great potential. In the West, the US remains a global economic powerhouse and the EU too has capitalized on globalization to consolidate its position as the world’s major economy and trader.
Globalization, however, also increases competition and exposes weaknesses. Workers globally fear for their jobs because they feel they are being by-passed by economic change. The economic crisis has exacerbated the perceived downside of globalization. As a result, our economic interdependence requires careful coordination, not just in the coming weeks, but, crucially, in the longer term. We need to revisit the structures of global governance, to ensure that they work better for people everywhere, and in the interests of both present and future generations. The EU has led the discussion within its own structures and taken it to wider international forums. We welcome the emerging economies’ call for the reform of global institutions.
Trade is a case in point. It is in the enlightened self-interest of us all not to give in to the temptations of protectionism. The economic crisis has made progress in the negotiations of the Doha Development Agenda at the WTO even more important. The WTO framework to which the EU has always given a priority is increasingly recognized as fundamental to our prosperity. It helps to anchor the global economy in an open rules-based system based on international law, but more needs to be done.
The world faces traditional and non-traditional security fears. Many of our countries are targets of terrorism, which eight years on from the Sept. 11 attacks in the US, we must recognize is down, but by no means out. There are fragile states to contend with, as well as the dangers of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, authoritarian regimes and the threat of extremism. Globalization has also thrown up non-traditional security challenges with no respect for national frontiers. Global pandemics can spread faster; a lack of secure and sustainable energy could push us into a worldwide recession; and climate change, beyond its environmental consequences, could have serious geopolitical and social repercussions.
Multilateral engagement is essential for dealing with these threats. The EU has multilateralism in its DNA. Others, too, can benefit from its experience. Europeans are long-standing champions of the UN and international cooperation, and continually seek to ensure that stability, freedom, democracy and justice prevail as cornerstones of international relations. The EU is also doing its share of the heavy lifting. It has nearly 100,000 peacekeepers, police and combat troops on the ground, helping to consolidate peace in the world’s hot spots. At the political level, too, the EU is increasingly shouldering its share of the burden. An example was the EU mission to Moscow and Tbilisi by French President Nicholas Sarkozy and myself. This allowed us to make concrete progress on implementation of the EU’s six-point ceasefire plan between Russia and Georgia.
Reaching agreement on climate change is an immediate priority for all of us. We can only tackle this if we work together. We all stand to suffer significantly from the effects of climate change, including increased droughts, floods and other extreme weather conditions. The EU is facing up to its responsibilities. It has set itself ambitious targets for the future and is taking the lead in seeking an international comprehensive global agreement, including a very significant effort on funding.
Climate change also represents a case study of how we can make a virtue out of a necessity. Development and use of green technologies can be new sources of growth. Building a sustainable European economy will help to ensure our peoples’ prosperity. It also shows how Europe can only meet its objectives at home by a proactive and global approach. It is this approach that underpins our external policy. We cannot meet the challenges faced by the EU effectively and successfully without a strong Europe in the world. Prosperity and growth, security and stability, and the long term sustainability of the EU necessarily pass through the promotion of our interests and values abroad, and the engagement with external threats and global challenges.
The EU’s commitment to the multilateral system of global governance through the UN and other bodies is clear. We already speak with conviction and clarity on the major challenges that face us. The Lisbon Treaty allows us to achieve a greater coherence and gives us a much greater capacity to act. It will allow diplomacy, crisis management and an emerging European defense capability to be used hand in hand with more traditional policies, such as trade and development.
More than that, it is often said that the EU’s comparative advantage lies in its normative power or the power of its values. I think this is right. In the post-crisis world, when people are looking for new ways to ensure their well-being, peace and prosperity, the European experience has a great deal to offer the world.
Jose Manuel Barroso is president of the European Commission.
COPYRIGHT: PROJECT SYNDICATE
Would China attack Taiwan during the American lame duck period? For months, there have been worries that Beijing would seek to take advantage of an American president slowed by age and a potentially chaotic transition to make a move on Taiwan. In the wake of an American election that ended without drama, that far-fetched scenario will likely prove purely hypothetical. But there is a crisis brewing elsewhere in Asia — one with which US president-elect Donald Trump may have to deal during his first days in office. Tensions between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea have been at
A nation has several pillars of national defense, among them are military strength, energy and food security, and national unity. Military strength is very much on the forefront of the debate, while several recent editorials have dealt with energy security. National unity and a sense of shared purpose — especially while a powerful, hostile state is becoming increasingly menacing — are problematic, and would continue to be until the nation’s schizophrenia is properly managed. The controversy over the past few days over former navy lieutenant commander Lu Li-shih’s (呂禮詩) usage of the term “our China” during an interview about his attendance
Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), the son of former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee Politburo member and former Chongqing Municipal Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai (薄熙來), used his British passport to make a low-key entry into Taiwan on a flight originating in Canada. He is set to marry the granddaughter of former political heavyweight Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政), the founder of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital in Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東). Bo Xilai is a former high-ranking CCP official who was once a challenger to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the chairmanship of the CCP. That makes Bo Guagua a bona fide “third-generation red”
Historically, in Taiwan, and in present-day China, many people advocate the idea of a “great Chinese nation.” It is not worth arguing with extremists to say that the so-called “great Chinese nation” is a fabricated political myth rather than an academic term. Rather, they should read the following excerpt from Chinese writer Lin Yutang’s (林語堂) book My Country and My People: “It is also inevitable that I should offend many writers about China, especially my own countrymen and great patriots. These great patriots — I have nothing to do with them, for their god is not my god, and their patriotism is
RSS