Conclusion
The two visions set forth in this chapter propose very different diag-
noses of global politics and the attitudes that should determine the
actions of the international community. The acute differences sepa-
rating these visions clearly make dialogue difficult. However much
one may deplore the situation, it is important to understand that these
two interpretations derive from the basic dynamics of the “global
public domain.”^89 Within that common space, opinion formers who
emphasize the economy, freedom, and individual responsibility find
themselves constantly opposed to those who stress social issues,
equality, and collective responsibility. These differing values have long
been associated with the right and the left respectively. Needless to
say, statistics on the reduction of absolute poverty or on the increase
of the Third World’s debt cannot intrinsically be classified as right or
left. Nevertheless, political life is such that those who take part in it
chooseto highlight certain facts and figures rather than others. And
thatchoiceis always linked to a system of values or an ideology. It is,
therefore, unlikely that the current debate will one day be resolved on
empirical grounds.
It should be reiterated, in closing this chapter, that whether they
take place on the domestic or the international level, political dis-
cussions can never be reduced to a sparring match between two
impermeable camps. Ordinary citizens and experts alike defend ideas
that often straddle the discourses of the satisfied and of the critics. For
example, the left-leaning American economist Jeffrey Sachs, head of
the UN Millennium Project, denounces the international community’s
meagre efforts in the fight against poverty, while at the same time
hailing the benefits of the opening up of markets.^90 On the other hand,
Martin Wolf, generally associated with the right, insists on the
beneficial role of transnational corporations, yet condemns the hy-
pocrisy of the rich countries’ agricultural policies.^91 Clearly, the global
political debate is traversed by an infinite number of nuances. Without
(^89) John Gerard Ruggie, “Reconstituting the Global Public Domain: Issues, Actors,
and Practices,”European Journal of International Relations, vol. 10, no. 4,
2004, 499–531.
(^90) Jeffrey Sachs,The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, New
York, Penguin Press, 2005, p. 357.
(^91) Wolf,Why Globalization Works, p. 215.
Two tales of globalization 81