Dialogues in Focus

he post-cold war world is marked by an emergence, proliferation, and expansion of a wide array of transnational, citizen-based initiatives to address international economic, political, ecological, and social issues and crises. These citizen-based movements are often publicly identified with the mobilizations at the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Seattle, 1999.

A crucial fault-line in many of these networks is that Southern and Northern members often have different perspectives about the character of the problem and about the focus of proposed solutions. (Recognizing, of course, that within both North and South there are often differences as well). These divides are all the more important because the resource inequalities embedded within these movements, coalitions, and networks is often an obstacle to a full, transparent, and constructive dialogue.

For example, there is typically controversy over the meaning and significance of sovereignty that arises in debates over the appropriate responses to economic globalization, application of trade sanctions, and the promotion of conditionalities by the international financial institutions. Also, Southern activists typically fault Northern activists for failing to address the politico-military dimensions of globalization.

As part of its mission, the IRC aims to promote strategic dialogues within and among citizen groups. We aim to maximize the web and the Internet, as well as more traditional fora, to provides spaces for the airing of analytical, strategic, and tactical debates among progressives. We welcome your feedback on how we might do this better. Please send feedback to John Gershman.