Global experts open forum

http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2008/10/15/global-experts-open-forum.php


Politicians discuss globalization trends at annual conference

By Markéta Hulpachová
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
October 15th, 2008 issue

At the start of his poignant monologue on the state of democracy in his country, Russian political activist and chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov used this year’s Forum 2000 to draw an unconventional parallel: “The [meltdown] of global financial markets has been handled similarly in the United States and Russia,” he said.
While the U.S. Congress agonized over a $700 billion bailout bill that overrode the country’s traditional free market policy, the “puppets” in Russia’s parliament, the Duma, gave Prime Minister Vladimir Putin the power to dispose with what Kasparov called “the entire savings” of his country. “It shows what happens when power is given to very few,” he concluded.
Economic challenges, human rights and the distribution of power were some of the principal issues discussed at this year’s Forum 2000, an international conference co-founded by former President Václav Havel.
Now in its 12th year, the forum regularly draws an array of global leaders and thinkers. Past guest lists have boasted the Dalai Lama, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Held Oct. 11–14 at various Prague venues, this year’s forum, called “Openness and Fundamentalism in the 21st Century,” featured approximately 77 representatives of the international intellectual community, who tackled topics ranging from water security to religious fanaticism. They included delegates such as Zoya Phan, a 27-year-old Burmese political activist.
Twelve years ago, the Burmese military attacked Phan’s village as part of a government offensive against her ethnic group, the Karen. “When we escaped to a refugee camp in Thailand, I looked to the United Nations as this powerful institution that could help us,” she said.
Phan went on to criticize the UN’s “soft approach” toward Burma’s government, which was responsible for ethnic cleansing, slave labor and a slew of other human rights violations. “The UN holds all the cards. … It can [exert] economic and political pressure,” she said.
Like Phan, Zimbabwean opposition leader Trudy Stevenson used her speech to inform the international community about the dire political and economic problems facing her country, which currently records the worst inflation rate in the world. “The powerless do not have access to infrastructure,” she said. “I have to go to the neighbor to get water to flush my toilet. That is how bad it is.”
A founding member of the country’s Movement for Democratic Change, Stevenson is the first white woman to be voted into the party’s National Executive. She blamed Robert Mugabe, who has clutched the country’s presidency since 1987, for the instability. “
African leaders think that power belongs to them once they have it,” she said. “Once you are up there, that’s where you stay.” To loosen the ruling parties’ stranglehold on power and resources, Stevenson urged forum participants to help “disseminate information” and build up the country’s media capacity.
Hailing from another hemisphere, former Mexican President Vicente Fox pondered Latin America’s authoritarian history and its negative impact on the region’s development. “What we experienced in Latin America was very sad,” he said. “Building middle classes is the first and best defensive against these messianic leaders that come to take it all.”“

Václav Havel is a role model for us, especially when our country is under the rule of military dictatorship. The main important issue is to deliver human rights, because we have some countries that enjoy democracy and human rights, but there are many countries who suffer under dictatorships, like Zimbabwe, Burma and Belarus. The countries that have the rights of democracy and human rights should promote it to other countries to those who are oppressed and powerless, like us, because we need help. I think the most important way is through the United Nations, or through the big institutions that can promote human rights and democracy by providing finance or training to people who can’t do it by themselves.”Zoya Phan, international coordinator, the Burma Campaign



“I think there is one important point about Tibet. We don’t see it as a problem of independence — this is something that should be very clearly said. It’s a problem of cultural rights and human rights, and to accuse the exiled government of Tibet of supporting separatism is absolutely wrong. It is not the case. None of the governments who try to fight for human rights support separation of Tibet. … These are two very different issues, and I think that it’s very important that everybody understands that those who fight for human and cultural rights can’t be accused of supporting separatism.

Jiří Šitler, director, Department of Asia and Pacific, Foreign Affairs Ministry“Having lived through a century of war, we now face a world in disorder. The factors that contribute to this reality are so complex that it is impossible to name one particular cause for our situation.”Yohei Sasakawa, chairman, the Nippon Foundation, Japan

“Our world, our planet and even humanity is currently on some kind of special historical crossroads, with lots of dangers looming around. It is composed of independent cultures and civilizations, and if there is to be any existence with some sense for this world, then it must be in the sense of cooperation on the basis of all these cultures and entities. That’s why I had the idea that it would be nice to organize a conference in Prague and invite people from different backgrounds from different countries to meet here and have a discussion.”

Václav Havel, former president“The biggest issue is extremism and terrorism. I am an Iraqi. In Iraq, we are suffering from extremism and terrorism, so we are a part of the problem of the world. We should exchange information with the world and engage in dialogue. Extremism is something many states are suffering from. I think religion should play an important role in reducing it.”

Mohammed Mohammed Ali, International Forum for Cultured Civil Society/Iraqi Reconstruction Group“The biggest challenge is globalization. More than ever in the past, we have to live with different cultures, religions. We have to not only exist together, but to live together. It is very important to say, ‘I am what I am,’ and to be willing to learn who [you are]. Identity is not something [you] can find by [yourself]. I lived in Africa for seven years, and I discovered that it is important to discover another culture to understand oneself. My humanity is only a part of humanity. I am not global humanity by myself.”

Gabriel Nissim, president of the Human Rights Commission of the INGOs Conference with the Council of Europe, France“The matter in the years to come is drinking water for the whole planet, especially in the Middle East. The issue of water is going to impact everything. There is a technology that treats water to make it drinkable, and there are people who develop the technology who [regard it as] an investment. … We are trying to solve [the tension] between the people who invested, the people who are using [this water] and the [countries] that are drinking without paying. Everything needs to be known, and everything needs to be told.”Fara Gaye, Sufi master, Senegal
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— Compiled by Ailene Torres