Global Policy Forum

Canadian Finance Minister and G20 chair Paul Martin said yesterday poverty and the obstacles it poses for developing countries will be a key part of discussions at the group's two-day meeting on globalization in Montreal, Reuters reports. "The fact is you cannot discuss globalization without discussing poverty," Martin is quoted as saying. "If we are going to deal with globalization in all its aspects...there is no way to deal with globalization unless you confront [directly] the terrible problem of poverty." Debt relief, the digital divide, health problems and governance of poorer countries-"that's all part of the alleviation of poverty," Martin said. "One of the major problems of globalization is not so much the effects of globalization but the fact that vast segments of the world have not been able to participate in it."

Canada is hosting the second meeting of the G20, which got underway late yesterday with a working dinner, notes the story. The informal grouping brings together G7 members with the 12 emerging market economies of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey. The president of the ECB, and representatives from the World Bank and the IMF will also take part in the G20 discussions, the story notes.

"In Montreal, we hope to deepen the consensus on policies that can reduce vulnerability (to financial crises) and the commitment to pursue them," US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said meanwhile. "We expect a particular focus will also be the choice of sustainable and sound exchange rate regimes in the emerging market economies."

Meanwhile, protesters in the streets denounced the policies of international organizations and the effects of globalization. Responding to a question about violent protests ahead of the meeting, Martin had said: "The aims of a number of the protesters whether here or in Prague or in Washington-these are views that we will be discussing at these meetings and indeed many of the views a lot of us share. Protesting-making one's views felt-is one thing; violence is another and violence of the kind in some of the activities we saw last night simply should not be tolerated."

Some 500 demonstrators had turned out on Monday, with some lobbing rocks at police and tossing balloons filled with paint at the downtown hotel hosting the G20 meeting. In all, 39 protesters were arrested, the majority of which were released early yesterday. Protest organizers said about a dozen demonstrators were injured by police in the melee. In contrast, demonstrations underway yesterday were calm, with some 300 protesters gathered in front of the hotel.

The news comes as AFP notes in a separate report that Czech President Vaclav Havel yesterday ordered the release of a 16-year-old Austrian who was arrested in September during violent protests against the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Prague. Havel also ordered an end to all legal proceedings against the activist, the president's office said. Authorities had charged the youth with vandalism for breaking the rear window of a car and tearing off the windshield wipers of two other vehicles during the protests.

Commenting in the Wall Street Journal Europe, British Conservative Party spokesman on foreign affairs Lord Howell writes that from the onset of the information-technology revolution it has been obvious that power is being placed in new hands and that it is being used, and will continue to be used, with increasing frequency. This is now glaringly evident not just within nations but at global levels as well. International meetings-such as the recent World Bank and IMF annual meetings in Prague-now have to be held under siege conditions, as they become the target of amazingly disparate groups with e-enabled efficiency. What this means is that the business of governing has changed radically. Government leaders who have failed to notice this risk a serious impairment of their authority and legitimacy. Political leaders would do well in the face of recent events to pause and remember what makes for moral leadership in society. Such leadership comes in a pluralistic age from many sources, the more so now that the individual is empowered by the new technologies.

But the politicians still have a central role, Lord Howell writes. Leadership has to come not from focus groups and fashion, nor even from the opinion polls. It has to come from understanding the way a transformed world now really works, and from illuminating and explaining for a confused age a little of the puzzling pathway ahead.

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