Under the auspices of the UN, governments from all the world meeting in New York
last week adopted what is the first, and so far only, global consensus on a
response to the global financial crisis.

North and South positions were so far apart during the preceding negotiations
that many thought the feat would be impossible to achieve. But two days before
the conference, a document containing a carefully drafted compromise developed
by the two co-facilitators, failed to ignite any response and was, as such,
moved to the conference. The unexpected enfolding of the document took many by
surprise. In the words of a diplomat, "It's as if you have been training all
week for this big match. Then, just as you are entering the field to play, the
referee blows the whistle and says "The game is over, you win ! " The problem
is, we are not sure to whom he said 'you win'!'" Ultimately, the compromise
text's ability not to leave anybody with a certain impression about "who won,"
proved to be its greatest virtue. When the conference started two days later,
though any government could have asked for the document to be reopened, no one
did. This obviated the need for establishing a negotiating committee, and the
exact same text was formally adopted as the outcome of the conference.

It is clear that many demands that developing countries formulated throughout
the process failed to obtain explicit-or in some cases any type of-- recognition
in the final outcome. But it is also clear that the outcome has validated the
demands for a more inclusive and participatory response than what institutions
or groupings dominated by rich countries could provide. ...

Read full article at http://www.coc.org/node/6402





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