WTO and the Global War System Forum The World Trade Organization and the links between economic globalization & militarism Sponsored by: Northwest Disarmament Coalition (USA) · End the Arms Race (Canada) · Abolition 2000 Seattle, Washington Sundav, November 28, 1999 ---------------------------------------------- Program Participants Susan George (France) is the Associate Director of the Transnational Institute and is active in TNI's Global Economy Program. She holds degrees from Smith College, the Sorbonne and the University of Paris. She is active in the International Forum on Globalization and Jubilee 2000, whose aim is to eliminate the debt of the poorest countries. She has advised and worked with environmental and development NGO's in many countries. She gives lectures and press interviews worldwide, and her writings are translated into a dozen languages. David Korten (U.S.) is a best-selling author whose books and lectures have made an invaluable contribution to raising public awareness of the dangers of the expansion of corporate power. His most recent titles are When Corporations Rule the World and The Post-Corporate World: Life After Capitalism. He is the chair of the Positive Futures Network and publisher of Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures. [Mark Ritchie (U.S.) joined the panel since David Korten was unable to appear for health reasons. A member of the International Forum on Globalization's Board of Directors, Mark Ritchie is the President and Globalization and Global Governance Program Director of Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. The IATP was established in 1986 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organziation to create environmentally and economically sustainable communities and regions through sound agriculture and trade policy.] Alice Slater (U.S.) is President of the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) and a founder of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. She is a Board member of the Lawyers Alliance for World Security and a United Nations NGO representative. She has organized numerous UN conferences on nuclear and environmental issues and has spoken frequently at meetings and conferences worldwide. She has been widely interviewed by the news media and published in numerous periodicals. Steven Staples (Canada) is the British Columbia Organizer for the Council of Canadians, a national citizens group dedicated to promoting democracy and fair trade. He is a board member of End the Arms Race, BC's largest peace and disarmament group. In May at the Hague Appeal for Peace, Steve helped to found the International Network on Disarmament and Globalization, a network of activists formed to address the relationship between globalization and militarism. Martin Fleck (U.S.) Moderator, is the Director of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and a co-founder of the Northwest Disarmament Coalition. Founded in 1992, the NWDC coordinates the nuclear disarmament activities in the Pacific Northwest of fifteen member organizations, many of them affiliates of U.S. national or international organizations. ---------------------------------------- Program WTO and the Global War System November 28, 1999 Welcome and Introduction by moderator Martin Fleck Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility Speakers Susan George, Transnational Institute, France David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World, USA Alice Slater, Abolition 2000, Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE),USA Steven Staples, International Network on Disarmament and Globalization, Canada Question and Answer Session and Discussion This forum will examine how the World Trade Organization's pattern of economic globalization undermines security, creates conflict and promotes militarism. An international panel of four speakers will explain how WTO trade agreements endanger the social programs, public services and environmental regulations that are vital to survival and quality of life in the modern world. Internal police forces, armies and weapons are exempted from WTO trade restrictions for "national security" reasons. Billions of dollars of public moneys are slashed from social programs and freely spent on militaries and invested in manufacturing new weapons. Unrestricted and highly profitable arms sales result, giving rise to the Global War System and undermining democracy. The speakers will describe how this dangerous trend away from respect for human rights, legal obligations and diplomacy is also reviving the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation. One key cause of this dangerous trend is the United States' failure to honor its legal obligation under Article VI of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to work to eliminate nuclear arsenals worldwide. The forum will focus on the threat that the Global War System poses to our survival, the obligation of citizens to confront it and opportunities for Non Governmental Organizations to promote alternatives to it. The forum is free and open to the public, donations welcome. There will be ample time for discussion. This forum was made possible by generous contributions and participation from the sponsoring organizations Abolition 2000 Working Group Northwest Disarmament Coalition on Corporate Issues 4554 12th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98105 Suite 405 825 Granville St. 206- 547-2630 Vancouver BC V6Z IK9 604-687-3223 Peace Action of Washington 5828 Roosevelt Way NE American Friends Service Committee Seattle WA 98105 - Pacific Northwest Region 206-527-8050 814 NE 40th Street, Seattle WA 98105 http://www.peaceaction.gen.wa.us/ 206-632-0500 Plymouth Congregational Church, The Council of Canadians, Peace Action Group BC Organizing Office 1217 - 6th Ave at University 711-207 West Hastings St. Seattle WA 98101 Vancouver BC V6B 1H7 206-622-4865 604-688-8846, fax 604-688-5756 Seattle Women Act for Peace End the Arms Race 2524 16th South, Seattle WA 98144 Suite 405 825 Granville St. 206-329-3666 Vancouver BC V6Z 1K9 604-687-3223 Tikkuni Olam Committee / http://www.peacewire.org/ Congregation Eitz Or PO Box 15480, Seattle WA 98115 Fellowship of Reconciliation 206-467-2617 Western Washington Office: 225 N. 70th St., Seattle WA 98103 United Nations Association 206-789-5565 - Metropolitan Seattle Chapter http://www.scn.org/activism/wwfor/ 509 10th Ave E #303, Seattle National Office: WA 98102 PO Box 271, Nyack NY 10960 206-568-1959 http://www.nonviolence.org/for/ University Unitarian Peace Committee Ground Zero Center 6556 35th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98115 for Nonviolent Action 206-525-8400 16159 Clear Creek Road NW Poulsbo WA 98370 War Resisters League 360-377-2586 339 Lafayette St., New York http://www.gzcenter.org/ NY 10012 212-228-0450 The International Network on http://www.nonviolence.org/wrl/ Globalization and Disarmament 825 Granville St., Suite 405 Washington Physicians Vancouver BC V6Z 1K9 for Social Responsibility 604-687-3223 4554 12th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98105 206-547-2630 Nonviolent Action http://www.wpsr.org/ Community of Cascadia 4554 12th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98105 20/20 Vision 206-547-0952 1828 Jefferson Place, NW Washington DC 20036 202-833-2020, 206-528-0289 http://www.2020vision.org/