Globalistan

 Two poles of the Triad—the U.S. and the E.U.—produce 40% of the wheat ex‐

ported globally. 50% of their cereals are exported to developing countries. Both the

U.S. and the E.U. practice heavy subsidies to exports. This massive unloading at cut

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GLOBALISTAN

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price rates of the rich countries’ excess production will continue to lead —in the

rest of the world—to massive destruction of rural jobs and irreversible dependence

on imported agricultural products. That’s trade as lethal weapon.

The Sahel is a fitting example. In the Sahel, traditional cultures such as manioc

have receded at a rate of 1% a year for the past 20 years compared to export cul‐

tures—like cotton, coffee and cacao—which are the source of precious foreign

exchange.  Meanwhile imports of wheat have been growing by 8% a year. According

to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at least 50 countries are

threatened by this process. In less than 15 years Russia and most of the former

Soviet republics became net importers of food. 

By 2004 there were more than 63,000 multinational corporations. When unreachable by national or international law, ecological preoccupations, social responsibility and all of the above simultaneously, they can become more destructive than hurricanes. According to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), 57% of the Corporatistan Top 500 has absolutely no plans to fight global warming. 140 companies didn’t even bother to answer questions by CDP’s research team. BAE Systems—a top U.K. weapons producer—happen to be among the worst in environmental protection.

Well, Corporatistan rules. ExxonMobil is bigger than Turkey, Wal‐Mart is bigger than Austria, GM is bigger than Indonesia, DaimlerChrysler is bigger than Norway, BP is bigger than Thailand, Toyota is bigger than Venezuela, Citigroup is bigger than Israel and TotalFinalElf is bigger than Iran. Ninety percent of the Corporatis‐ tan Top 500 is in the Triad. The Top 1000 accounts for no less than 80% of the world’s industrial output.  

Only seven companies dominate the global film market, and only 5 companies dominate the music industry. Major U.S. TV and film studios collect up to 60% of their revenues overseas, the music business 70%. Corporatistan—or the consumption of products made by Corporatistan—accounts for 50% of the gases responsible for global warming, source of much of the world’s toxic waste. Two‐ thirds of hazardous waste produced in the U.S. comes from chemical corporations. Corporatistan controls 50% of the world’s oil, gas and coal mining and refining.

By the mid‐2000s the absolute majority of the developing world had noticed that the “globalized” geography of wealth had basically remained the same since the  World Bank‐denominated “East Asian miracle” of the late 1980s‐early 1990s—and it looked positively calcified as an immutable order. This was compounded with the worldwide suspicion that globalization was a game where Corporatistan—especially from the U.S.—wins and almost everyone else loses.  

War and globalization cannot escape each other’s seductive embrace.  “Borders” and “markets” can be “liberated” as much via the WTO/ IMF/World Bank trio of enforcers as with B‐52s and Abrams tanks. As far as Wall Street, Anglo‐American and European Big Oil and the interlinked U.S.‐U.K. industrial‐military complex are concerned, the ends justify the means. The key example of the “war on terror” smashing sovereign, recalcitrant nations into submission to “free markets” has got to be Iraq.

If everyone lived like a citizen of Triad member France, we would need two planets Earth. If everyone consumed like an American, we would need five.

Berrigan notes, in quite understated terms, that 20 out of the U.S.’ Top 25 weapons clients are “undemocratic regimes and/or governments with records as major human‐rights abusers.” According to her report, “U.S. arms exports accounted for more than half of total global arms deliveries ‐‐ US$ 34,8 billion ‐‐ in 2004, and we export more of them ourselves than the next six largest exporters combined.”