Étienne Bowie
Administrative Director | Democratic World FederalistsEDITOR’S NOTES:
Fritz Pointer
Vice-President, Democratic World Federalists
Global problems require global solutions—that is the credo behind the global governance and world federalists’ movements. And, in the world we live in today, this credo must also apply to politics. As the far-right movement focuses on pushing the ideas of nationalism and xenophobia throughout the world, the left-wing seems to have fallen short in its reaction to the speed of change in current events. Hungry, Poland, Austria, Russia, Ukraine, France, Italy, Brazil—the list of nations flirting with far-right leaders seems to continue to grow. Without an
Will the world federalists’ movement take the first steps toward a world federal government (WFG) and begin to build a global political structure—one connecting all the people in the world who believe in multilateralism?
World federalists believe firmly that reversing climate change, ending proxy wars, and banning nuclear weapons can only be accomplished when governments around the world work together multilaterally. The idea of global political parties is not new at all. There has just been a reemergence of the idea since the United States’ President’s failures on the global stage have proven the hegemonic-power model is not efficient in solving
THE SAN FRANCISCO PROMISE
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FINDING NEW GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
Global political parties would push nations toward the global unity that we do not see from our current world leaders, but it is possible to get around the problem by finding leaders dedicated to multilateralism from the beginning.
World Federalist Party (WFP)? Maybe? This is what the minds of the liberal left leadership should be focused on, moving forward in establishing new political organizations.
Today, the left is not fighting on the battlefield of ideas and their hubris has led them into a difficult situation where they have to defend human rights, environmental science, and global cooperation against ideas that, we know, have led us into world wars, time and time again. When will they learn? It is transparent to the people of the world now that the decades of elitism, corruption, and economic inequality happened on their watch, and without some form of acceptance of that fact it will only empower those on the far-right.
This is a fight, a battle, a war for humanity and the planet, but when will the left act like it is? Violence is never the answer, but there must be a sense of urgency. They must stop believing a third world war, environment extinction, and, worst of all, nuclear conflicts are impossible realities. They should never let fear lead them, but find a place in the debate which makes it clear it is time to organize for the future or there may not be much of a future left to have.
Some world leaders on the left side of the political spectrum have started to communicate with one another—Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn, Yanis Varoufakis, and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) come to mind, but they have not shown they are openly willing to discuss and promote the idea of a global political party to the public. This is complicating because many millennials and iGens see new globalism as a project that needs to be held at the highest of priorities.
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World Federal Government (WFG)
ORGANIZING TO ADVANCE THE GLOBAL CONNECTION
Millennials and post-millennial groups need to start asking themselves, do they need to do more? They have to start believing in the youth’s ability to solve these problems, and it must start with a renewed sense of organizing on every level—locally, nationally, and internationally. The future is their world and they will have to live with the negative effects. What happens in the next decades will affect their futures vastly. Nothing like this has ever, before, so they will have to use and create new tools which will assist them in creating the institutions capable of solving the devastating global problems we face in the not too distant future.
The right-wing has weaponized the internet, specifically social media, creating a new cold war of sorts where political battles are fought over the web using hacking, fake news, and distractions to confuse and misinform the population. The only way they can stop these actions is with an equal level of reaction: a global left-wing movement. They will need to walk lock-step and organize a movement utilizing their diverse knowledge of different arts, cultures, organizations, and technology to their advantage.
This is a fight they are prepared for because, as millennials and iGens, they were born in this advanced world of technology and global-connection. But if the current political environment is in their technological domain then why does it seem like the momentum is on the far-right’s side? That is what many people are pondering. The answer: this is just the beginning of a historic decade or more.
In the coming decades, we will see more bad actors continue to weaponize the internet and nations turn to far-right politics in fear; but, the liberal left should never feel as if they are losing because it is their fight to lose. Their coalition is larger and more knowledgeable, but it lacks the mobilization and organization to get to their full potential. This is where the global political party idea comes to mind; because it can be the tool that unifies the liberal left coalition and provides the catalyst needed to promote world federal government.
So, to answer the question within the title of the article: Do we need a world federalist party? Yes. Let us dare to do new things. Let us dare to make great change. And, let us take the first step to a global democracy. Remember, the United Nation told us the world has until 2032 to totally shift the way humanity produces and consumes resources, or we could be looking at life-extinction within 70 years after that point, and that is if we do not kill each other in war before that time.
Whatever happens, be assured the Democratic World Federalists are actively involved in producing the answers to the problems we face as a global society.
Image Credit: Blue City by Joakim Olofsson
Original Publisher
DWF NewsEtienne Bowie is the administrative director of the Democratic World Federalists and volunteers for the Center on United Nations Constitutional Research. He studied business, economics, and politics at California State University, East Bay where he focused on finance and economics. He is a writer, political organizer, and small business owner.
