The Long Battle for Global Governance by Stephen Buzdugan & Anthony Payne

Author:Stephen Buzdugan & Anthony Payne [Buzdugan, Stephen & Payne, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Political Science, Political Economy, General
ISBN: 9781317276876
Google: q6BYCwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-01-08T10:50:51+00:00

In effect, then, ‘the Reagan view prevailed at Cancún’, not only over the different conception of global governance espoused over a long period by the ‘developing’ countries, but also over the alternative, more social democratic or neo-Keynesian views that existed in other ‘industrialised’ countries. These dissented somewhat from the new neoliberalism, but in truth had no more capacity than the ‘developing’ countries to challenge fundamentally the dominant Anglo-American neoliberal perspective (SAIIA 1981: 4).

This is not to suggest that the ‘developing’ countries wholeheartedly embraced the Reagan administration’s viewpoint and proposals; indeed, several ‘developing’ country leaders publicly expressed criticisms. Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, responding to the US delegation’s emphasis on ‘pulling oneself up with one’s bootstraps’, stated trenchantly: ‘Most people forget that there are very large numbers of people in the world who don’t wear any boots – and therefore they don’t have any straps with which they can pull themselves up’ (cited in Beri 1981: 420). Julius Nyerere of Tanzania recalled Reagan’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the G77’s demands and the influence this had on the broader set of negotiations: ‘Reagan said “no” and that was it. What was very revealing and very depressing, was that after Reagan said “no”, the other leaders from the North said that was the end’ (cited in Rathkolb 2005: 64–5). The Chinese Premier, Zhao Ziyang, was more careful in his public reaction, balancing his support for the ‘developing’ countries with his desire to improve relations with the US (particularly with regard to persuading the US to halt sales of fighter aircraft to Taiwan). However, most Chinese newspapers were critical of the line taken by the US at the summit, describing its rhetoric and actions as ‘fundamentally unsympathetic toward the policies proposed by … the representatives of the world’s poor’ and ‘the source of the failure’ of the summit (Worden 1983: 626).

The general consensus amongst observers and analysts was indeed that the Cancún Summit was a failure, certainly in terms of moving towards a satisfactory resolution of the G77’s demands. It was reported, for example, that, when co-chairmen Portillo and Trudeau entered the convention centre on the final day of the summit to deliver their closing speeches, ‘few among the approximately 3,000 journalists and staff present failed to notice the decidedly opposite mood of the two men. Lopez Portillo was cautiously optimistic; Trudeau was dejected. Cynics in attendance claimed Lopez Portillo had no option but to act in this fashion, as host of the conference. It was Trudeau … who accurately reflected the results of the conference’ (Faruqi 1982: 502). Although the summit had been conceived only as an informal gathering of world leaders on the topic of ‘North–South’ issues and not as a lengthier conference intended to bring about detailed resolution of the many conflicting demands, it was nonetheless hugely significant as a milestone in the trajectory of the ‘North–South’ debate. It effectively closed the door on the G77’s attempts to transform the world economic order in its preferred fashion and laid

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