Project for a New Global Village Century

For a few days it looked like a war might break out. Colombian soldiers entered a frontier area of Ecuador and killed a number of people in a camp operated there by FARC, the guerilla group that has fought the Colombian government and terrorized Colombians for 40 years. The President of Ecuador was angry. The President of Venezuela was also angry. He knew that FARC personnel also inhabited his frontier with Colombia. The President of Colombia felt the action was fully justified. So there was much chest-thumping and bellowing. Threats were issued and armies were moved into position. And then something marvelous happened. Like members of a village, when they gathered together with fellow “villagers” – leaders from other countries in their region – they found a way to solve their dispute peacefully.

This meeting had been arranged by “The Rio Group”, said to have been “created in 1986 to be a political forum for Latin American heads of state.” I had never heard of “the Rio Group” before, and the news about their meeting and successful resolution impressed me. It was then I realized the extent to which international political cooperatives are evolving around the world, including really effective ones at the regional level. It was the kind of news that gives me hope for our future as a global village. Because our global village faces serious problems which require international solutions:

• Water crises in several regions
• Increased global energy demands
• Growing food crises in different regions
• Diseases with pandemic potential
• Natural catastrophes
• Regional conflicts and civil wars

If we do nothing, we all lose. If we try to solve them as individuals, we will accomplish little. It is always best when fellow villagers join together to solve what is, or could become, a common problem. But this requires a mature outlook, not one locked in childish egotism. Let us declare the end of our childhood as global villagers, and, for the sake of our children, assume our status as the elders responsible for their future. Their future demands that we create the political cooperatives, regional and topical, which are necessary to solve these problems now.