Development and Globalisation: Daring to Think Differently

Yash Tandon is a senior advisor and writer for the South Centre, Geneva, an intergovernmental think-tank of developing countries, and has been a policy maker, political activist, professor, and public intellectual. He has written more than 100 scholarly articles and haswritten and edited books on subjects ranging from African politics and international economics to human rights. Benjamin W. Mkapa is the former president of Tanzania."

Development and Globalisation challenges the misdirected policies of the last 30 years. It offers alternative concepts and paradigms of development for policy makers and peoples movements on wide-ranging issues. It invites readers to dare to think differently. According to the author, development is self-defined. It is primarily the responsibility of the South to develop itself; the North does not have a duty to develop the South, nor should the South expect it. Development is about building confidence between governments and people and not building confidence with banks and global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which is what globalisation is all about.

Foreword - Benjamin W. Mkapa, President of Tanzania 1995-2005 5 Part I: Imperatives of Paradigm Shift 16 1 Rethinking the Development Paradigm 17 Introduction 17 Neoliberal Obscurantism and Its Ill-fated Children 23 The Global Financial Meltdown and Lessons for the South 28 Time for a New Bretton Woods Conference 32 Ecuador's Proposal on the Financial Crisis 38 The Decoupling Imperative 44 Banco del Sur - Another Step Towards Decoupling 46 A New Geopolitical Double Paradox Stalks the World 48 The Non-Aligned Movement and the Collapse of the Doha Round 51 2 Restructuring Global Governance 55 Introduction 55 Good Governance, Colonial Guilt and Contemporary Challenges 61 The G8 Has No Legitimacy; It Should Dissolve Itself 64 UNCTAD XII: Negotiating Diplomatic Truths 68 Why Strengthening UNCTAD Is Also in the Interest of the North 71 South Expectations of the Development Cooperation Forum 75 A Case for Radical Reform of the World Trade Organisation 77 A Perspective on the American Presidential Elections 84 The Role of Civil Society in National Space 87 Part II: Some Specific Issues 90 3 Industrialisation, Technology, Innovation and Intellectual Property 91 Introduction 91 Putting Production over Trade and Finance 93 Rising to the Challenge of Innovation 98 WIPO, WCO, Intellectual Property and Border Guards 100 4 Climate, Energy and the Food Challenge 103 Introduction 103 Open Versus Closed Energy Systems and Climate Change 105 Bali Must Put Development Squarely on the Climate Change Regime 110 Why Is a Proper Analysis of the Current Food Crisis so Important 112 Global Food Crisis: Alternatives to the Green Revolution 118 5 Putting Trade into Perspective 123 Introduction 123 Some Home Truths About Current Negotiations on Agriculture at WTO 125 A Paradox of Trade and Development 128 EPAs Will Benefit Europe to the Cost of Both ACP and Latin American Countries 130 Reflections on UNCTAD XII 135 6 Ending Aid Dependence 139 Introduction 139 Development Dialogue with Donors 141 Ending Aid Dependence: Conceptual Traps of an Outdated Aid Vocabulary 144 Assessing the Accra Action Agenda 148 Beyond the Paris Declaration by Benjamin W. Mkapa, President of Tanzania (1995-2005) 152 7 The Palestine-Israel Question 154 Introduction 154 The Palestine-Israel Question 155 There Is Another Way Out of the Present Dilemma 159 Part III: Role of the South Centre: Recalling Nyerere 185 8 The South Centre, Its Promises and Challenges: Some Year End Reflections 186 9 The Role of the South Centre: Recalling Nyerere 191