*{The Reality of Globality: Who's Minding the Store? [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/The%20Reality%20of%20Globality%3A%20Who's%20Minding%20the%20Store%3F?open&topic_id=300250000&theme_id=300]

            29.01.1999

            Annual Meeting 1999}

            *partie=titre Globalization or globality? A state of rapidly shifting roles *partie=nil

            While the term "globality" may have established itself in the vocabulary of some, it is clear that the international community is still trying to figure out what "globalization" really means, maintained moderator Jessica T. Mathews, President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Setting the tone for the session, she noted that understanding globalization is not a matter of winning or losing, but knowing what game to play. 

            Mathews said that it is a mistake to regard globalization solely as an economic phenomenon. The world is going through a period of enormous fluidity and uncertainty affecting all aspects of society, producing new questions with no particular answers. As the session debate showed, what is certain is that the current situation is creating different groups of winners and losers as well as producing new questions with no particular answers. While there now appears to be an absence of large-scale state-to-state conflicts, other forms of political and economic contagion have come to take their place. Nation states, the private sector and non-state players are all assuming rapidly shifting roles to cope with the impact of globalization. 

            Wolfang H. Reinicke, Senior Economist of the Corporate Strategy Group at the World Bank, Washington DC, probed the issue as to why it is so difficult to manage the store in the face of globalization realities. One of the problems, he noted, is that traditionally both governments and the private sector have relied on the same organizational principles of the "store", namely territoriality and hierarchy. The private sector has stepped out of the store and is using greater flexibility and adaptability. Governments, however, have stayed behind. This, he argued, is causing a growing mismatch, making the overall situation increasingly unsustainable. Neither side is able to deliver its products properly. With the private sector playing a lead role, governments need to step out in order to help create a global public policy network. Reinicke also maintained that under present circumstances, globalization will create more marginalized groups possibly resulting in direct backlashes.

            Daniel Yergin, Chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, USA, said he differed somewhat with Mathews' assumption that globality has not yet been achieved. Globalization, he said, is linked to the markets which emerged following the collapse of Communism. In order to establish appropriate rules of the game, Yergin proposed five new signposts to help evaluate globality and responses needed for the future. These include: the delivery of market goods; justice, fairness and equality; cultural and national identity; environment; and demographics.

            Geoff Mulgan, Founder and Director of DEMOS and Member of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit, United Kingdom, said that the traditional image of globality is dominated by the sort of image found in the film Blade Runner 20 years ago: crime, chaos, megacities … This, he argued, is a misleading image. Governments have responded to the challenge by retooling and measuring outcomes according to market methods. Business, he noted, has acquired a lot of power but smart firms have understood their dependence on governments for security and other crucial needs. For example, there are far more rules and regulations governing money flow and food quality than ever before. What is important is to know how to make these institutions work. 

            Pierre Sané, Secretary-General of Amnesty International (AI), highlighted how actors other than governments and the private sector act. Groups such as AI seek to affect change in areas that used to be controlled by governments. Governments should be responsible for protecting human rights and bringing perpetrators to justice, yet many of these very same governments are themselves responsible for abuse. AI is trying to bring pressure from below by targetting not only governments but businesses to be more responsible. The objective, he said, is to force change through dialogue and targetting. Groups are becoming marginalized not only in the developing world but across the board. Non-state actors, he maintained, have a key role to play to ensure that these groups are not ignored.                  

                  *{Contributors:       Mathews Jessica T.
                  Mulgan Geoff
                  Reinicke Wolfgang H.
                  Sané Pierre
                  Yergin Daniel}