While all states have proclaimed their support for democracy, the
international system continues to be profoundly anti-democratic. In
the political and strategic spheres, all important decisions are subject
to the veto of the five powers that, at the end of the Second World
War, granted themselves permanent seats on the UN Security Council
(United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, and China). The
dedication of these countries to the cause of peace is, moreover,
dubious, given that taken together they are responsible for 77 percent
of global arms exports.^82 The primary international economic insti-
tutions – the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO – are completely
dominated by the Western countries. The United States has,de jureor
de facto, the power to block any major reform of these institutions
that does not meet with its approval. In fact, the ascendancy of the US
government and corporations over the world economy has, since the
disintegration of the USSR, become so great that more and more
observers characterize the contemporary global order as “imperial.”
On the domestic level, the democratic malaise stems, first, from the
fact that rather than being available to all equally, political power
remains everywhere in the hands of an exclusive elite. According to
the largest poll ever conducted – a survey commissioned by the UN in
preparation for the Millennium Summit and covering sixty countries –
two-thirds of the 57,000 respondents felt their government did not
reflect “the will of the people.”^83 In many states, basic human rights
are violated with the full knowledge of the authorities. Faced with this
situation, the response of international institutions has been generally
passive; when they do take action, they often apply a double standard
based on economic and political considerations. Far from affecting the
Third World alone, this disregard for human rights also concerns
developed countries, where governments increasingly tend to “sacrifice
the global values of human rights in a blind pursuit of security.”^84
(^82) SIPRI (by Bjo ̈rn Hagelin, Mark Bromley, and Siemon T. Wezeman), “Appendix
12A. The Volume of Transfers of Major Conventional Weapons: By Recipients
and Suppliers, 1999–2003,” Stockholm, 2004, p. 5 (http://web.sipri.org/
83 contents/armstrad/app12A2004.pdf).
84 Annan, “We the Peoples,” p. 16.
Amnesty International, “Report 2004: War on Global Values – Attacks by
Armed Groups and Governments Fuel Mistrust, Fear and Division,” press
release, London, May 26, 2004 (http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/
engPOL100162004?open&of= eng-200).
Two tales of globalization 79