The Foreign Service Journal, May 2011

76 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 1 1 Developing an Early- Warning System Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalization Gordon Brown, Free Press, 2010, $26, hardcover, 336 pages. R EVIEWED BY H ARRY C. B LANEY III Former British PrimeMinister Gor- don Brown’s latest book, Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalization , explores several major themes: how heads of government con- duct diplomacy; why it is vital for diplo- mats to understand the economic and financial forces underlying globaliza- tion; and how to tame those forces and harness them for the common good. As he did while in office, both as chancellor of the exchequer (secretary of the treasury) and as prime minister, Brown aspires to craft economic and social policies, implemented through durable yet nimble institutions, which he and other leaders can use not just to prevent another crash but to shape a new political and economic order. Motivated partly by guilt about missing early signs of the coming fiscal collapse while in office, he uses the book to advocate a new order that will bring greater prosperity, security and fairness than our self-serving bankers and myopic politicians have left us. In these pages, Gordon Brown car- ries us along with him to Cabinet meet- ings, summits, confrontations and dia- logues with bankers, and meetings and conversations with former President GeorgeW. Bush and many other world leaders, all aimed at forging a global consensus to solve one of the most in- tractable crises of our generation. He displays a serious, brilliant mind con- stantly at work — a man of moral pur- pose rather than a time-server. Along the way, he recounts some major achievements: the initial re- sponses to the Asian financial crisis, the creation of the Group of 20 and, not least, progress toward instituting global regulation of financial risks by the major economic powers. As Brown puts it: “I wanted an early-warning sys- tem, and I wanted the financial regula- tors to work together at a global level as an executive.” But one painful lesson he learned was that once a crisis seems to be over, the push for corrective ac- tion and strong oversight loses steam. That should come as no surprise to diplomats who went through the en- ergy crisis of the 1970s, more recent ef- forts to deal with climate change, or ongoing efforts to roll back moves to better regulate banks and international financial transactions. Brown’s vision is grand. Rather than tinkering at the edges, which he sees as inadequate to our challenges, he seeks a worldwide “coalition for change.” He covers the role that each government, including America, can play in seeking a strategy of growth — which he sees as the key to dealing with our financial and economic chal- lenges. Global cooperation is a key plank of his platform, which echoes Benjamin Franklin’s warning: “We must all hang together or we shall all hang separately.” Beyond the Crash sketches a credi- ble blueprint of a serious international and national framework for dealing with financial, economic, trade and cri- sis prevention measures. It is one that all policymakers — and economic diplomats, in particular — should take seriously. For instance, he proposes a “banking constitution,” a global levy or tax on financial transactions, a world- wide growth plan for jobs and justice, strengthening the G-20, and a host of other reforms — all intended to deal with the problem of “capitalism with- out capital.” Beyond the Crash sketches a credible blueprint for dealing with financial, economic, trade, and crisis prevention measures. B OOKS