RSS

If you look very closely at the roots of the malice of terrorism, you will find that one thing that is for certain: international security can only be guaranteed once human rights are upheld in every corner of the globe. But in order for worldwide respect for human rights to become a reality in 2020, people must have the economic wherewithal to demand them, and governments must have the resources to defend them.

That is why the international community of wealthy democracies must focus their efforts on molding the global economy so that it becomes the driving force behind the proliferation of respect for human rights. Their commitment to this task, or lack thereof, will affect the nature of the next decade's security environment more than anything else.

It might seem counterintuitive, but the fight for human rights should be waged predominantly on an economic front. Diplomacy and military action are unreliable tools, the former being too easy for autocrats to ignore while the latter is likely to incite a counterproductive backlash. Sustainable economic development not only avoids these shortfalls but also allows for an irreversible transformation to occur- a transformation that builds up an underlying support structure for a democratic society while it chips away at the institutions of the old, autocratic order.

The world's wealthy democracies have to contribute an unprecedented amount of their resources and expertise towards all developing countries' economies if the status of human rights is to improve in the next eleven years. Why only the wealthy democracies? They are the only ones with the means to make such a contribution.

They would have to fund research for a massive re-evaluation of international aid and development programs so that future projects can be guaranteed to economically empower the neediest citizens of developing nations in an environmentally sustainable way.

Sacrifices would have to be made while their trade and investment policies with developing nations are reformed. Many bilateral trade and investment treaties jeopardize the status of human rights because they make it too easy for large corporations to profit, while making it harder for poor nations' governments to back legislation meant to improve workers' welfare and protect the environment.

These democratic states would also be responsible for supporting research on making the world's food system, water system, trade, and industrialization environmentally sustainable, while still productive.

Peace and prosperity stand a greater chance of prevailing if the world's wealthy democracies manage to take on and carry out such projects. The likelihood of that happening, however, is slim. The corporations that have brought so much wealth to the developed world have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. They benefit from lax foreign human rights and environmental standards, and will logically consider it a wise investment to try to influence the general public and government decision-makers in a way that works to their advantage. So although every study may indicate that action needs to be taken on the issue of global warming, and although the link between security and environmental degradation may be getting clearer by the day, it is highly unlikely that the policies mentioned above will be adopted whole-heartedly or soon enough.

In this light, the status of human rights and security in the world in 2020 looks fairly bleak. The biggest danger lies in China's future: the combination of environmental degradation, migration to the cities, water insecurity, and an ageing population with 33 million "wifeless" young men almost certainly spells disaster when the population runs up against the shortcomings of an authoritarian regime. Whether that disaster takes the form of state-sponsored jingoistic imperialism, terrorism, or an all-out societal collapse is impossible to tell, but security and human rights are certain to suffer in 2020 and beyond as a result.

Such catastrophes can still be averted though. It will depend upon the ability of wealthy democratic governments to identify when and how corporate entities drive government policy in the wrong direction. If they succeed in this, they will be better able to turn the international economy into the most effective human-rights-promoting tool in history, rather than letting it go on to become the catalyst of a variety of future security threats.

Alyssa M. Ramsey is a political science major and Arabic minor at University of California, Los Angeles.

This article has been shortlisted for the Atlantic Community's "Global Governance in 2020" student competition.

The Atlantic Community's World Economic Forum Focus Week (Jan 22 - Jan 28)
This article is part of the Atlantic Community's World Economic Forum focus week in a 5 day run-up to the WEF Davos Conference (conference begins Wed 28 January). We are focusing on two of the most pressing aspects of the conference: the Global Economy and Climate Change.

Other articles in our WEF series:

• Yam Ki Chan: Unipolarity's Days Are Numbered
• Jordan Levine: Socioecological Innovation: an Alternative Future
• Scott E. Hartley: Political Liberalism at the Heart of International Trade
• Sam Vanderslott: Action on Climate Change Requires Global Technology Transfer
• Scott Micheal Moore: A Multidimensional Approach For a Planet in Peril
  

From the discussion on the communi ty page we will generate a special Atlantic Memo that will be distributed to WEF organizers and to decision makers worldwide at the start of the conference. Please share your comments on the recommendations and issues raised in this article. We want to know how you think the WEF Davos Conference should approach the long-term questions raised by the global financial situation.