The Foreign Service Journal, February 2004

evidence of environmental impacts and current developments in alterna- tive energy sources. The first group starts with an historical overview by Maurice Strong, who was secretary- general of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit as well as the director of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Strong notes that while the current economic system has creat- ed unprecedented capacity to generate wealth, the resulting imbalances and inequities can have profoundly destabi- lizing effects on national societies as well as the world community. But he believes a system of international agreements can support sustained development and protection of envi- ronmental resources. At the other end of the spectrum, Jerry Mander, an environmental activist and president of the Inter- national Forum on Globalization, is convinced that globalization is inher- ently bad for the environment and soci- ety. In particular, he maintains that transnational free trade agreements — always a highly politicized issue — replace hard-won national environ- mental protections with a lowest-com- mon-denominator approach. Citing various WTO rulings that produced a ratcheting downward of environmental or labor or health standards worldwide, Mander argues that globalization is dramatically increasing the rate at which resources are consumed and exhausted. Vandana Shiva, an Indian scientist and activist, details the widespread environmental and economic damage caused by IMF and World Bank struc- tural adjustment prescriptions that require developing countries to grow certain export commodities, such as flowers or shrimp, rather than staple crops. Because many countries are exporting the same commodities under such programs, the world price for these commodities has declined. She takes the example of the environmental problems associated with shrimp farm- ing in India (deforestation and salina- tion of local drinking water), and points out that for every dollar traded globally by exporting shrimp, between seven and 10 dollars worth of local resources are destroyed. The second group of articles con- centrates on environmental science. Jane Lubchenco, a marine biologist and president of the International Council for Science, gives a chilling overview of ongoing air and water pol- lution, climate disruption, marine degradation, deforestation and loss of biodiversity. In contrast, Stephen Schmidheiny, a business leader, dis- cusses how sustainable forestry and regulated logging lead to sustainable and profitable forestry use. In closing, Speth casts the 2002 Johannesburg environmental summit as a failure, citing as the primary cause the U.S. administration’s preoc- cupation with the war on terrorism and its general hostility to both envi- ronmental causes and multilateral agreements. But he is hopeful that the environmental NGO sector will remain vibrant, fueled by increasing scientific evidence and successful public-private environmental part- nerships, and that American leader- ship will eventually re-emerge.  Tamera Fillinger was an FSO legal adviser with USAID, serving in Nairobi and Jakarta from 1992 to 1999. She now practices law in Washington, D.C. 70 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 4 B O O K S u Speth is hopeful that American leadership will eventually re-emerge. Web access to major advertisers. Go to www.afsa.org Click on Marketplace tab on the marquee Bukkehave www.bukkehave.com Charles Smith Corp. Living www.SmithLiving.com Clements International www.clements.com Diplomatic Auto. Sales www.diplosales.com Executive Club Suites www.execlubdc.com Georgetown Suites www.georgetownsuites.com Harry Jannette International www.jannetteintl.com Hirshorn Company, The www.hirshorn.com Laughlin Management www.century21laughlin.com Long & Foster www.simunek.com Marriott www.marriott.com Oakwood www.oakwood.com Pennsylvania House www. dcsuites.com Promax (e-mail) promax@erols.com Prudential Carruthers www.prudentialcarruthers.com Remington www.remington-dc.com SDFCU www.sdfcu.org State Plaza www.stateplaza.com WJDManagement www. wjdpm.com For more information about advertisers in the Journal go to: www.afsa.org/marketplace MARKETPLACE