A Working Paper for Strategic Planning & Action on the WTO
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Introduction
For many activists both here in Canada and around the world, the Battle of Seattle which took place between November 26th and December 3rd, 1999, marked a turning point in the agenda for economic globalization. The fight for democratic rights, which broke out in the streets of Seattle on November 30th and erupted again later inside the trade convention centre, has become the shameful legacy of the World Trade Organization.
Whatever else may be said, the Seattle WTO Summit symbolized both a 'watershed' and a 'beachhead'. As a 'watershed' moment, the dramatic collapse of the WTO talks and the failure to launch a new round of negotiations for the expansion of world-wide trade by transnational corporations brought the engines of globalization to a 'standstill', at least for the time being. As a 'beachead' moment, the mobilization of mass resistance to the WTO by civil society groups set the stage for a potential 'rollback' of the agenda for economic globalization which has been systematically entrenched over the past quarter century.
In effect, the slogan 'No New Round, Turnaround' which signified the campaign objectives of many civil society groups on the WTO leading up to Seattle, was certainly half accomplished. To be sure, this is no small victory! But, the lingering question for many civil society activists coming out of Seattle has to do with "where do we go next." The legitimacy of the WTO as a global governing institution and, to some extent, the Ottawa trade bureaucracy, has been dealt a severe blow. The question for civil society groups now is how do we sustain this momentum and continue to go on the offensive.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for doing some strategic reflection, analysis and planning in response to these basic questions. The paper is divided into six parts. It begins with some reflections on the 'Seattle showdown' followed by a look at some of the 'political challenges' on the horizon for civil society groups. After this, we review the 'critical issues' at stake in the so-called built-in WTO negotiations that will proceed regardless of what happened in Seattle plus the kind of 'policy demands' which might be made in calling for a citizens' round of negotiations. Finally, we identify some priorities for 'campaign strategies' and 'movement building.'
It should be emphasized that this is not meant to be a detailed plan of action. Instead, it is intended to initiate strategic discussion and planning about the future. Originally, this paper was prepared to provide a possible starting point for our collective discussions when we gather under the auspices of the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Labour Congress for our first national trade campaign meeting since Seattle. It is also our hope, however, that all of our various organizations will be able to use this paper to stimulate some internal strategic discussions about what to do in response to the WTO agenda, given the interests and concerns of our own members and constituencies. For this reason, we have added a 'discussion starter' containing a set of questions at the end of each section. Your feedback on these discussion questions is needed if we are going to develop a common action plan along with a common organizational vehicle for the battles we will face after Seattle.
