The current model of globalisation threatens the world's most vulnerable communities, and many of them have long protested against its impacts. In the 10 months following the WTO's Seattle Ministerial, there were at least 50 separate episodes of civil unrest in 13 poor countries, involving more than a million people.
Most recently, thousands of indigenous people converged on Ecuador's capital Quito to protest at the liberalisation measures imposed on them by their government and the IMF. The protestors occupied local IMF offices and mounted roadblocks, and eventually forced the government to back down.
Advocates of globalisation argue that a rules-based system is needed to govern international trade. Many critics agree, but point out that the current rules serve the interests of multinational corporations, not the people of the world.
Fairer and more sustainable alternatives do not imply a return to the protectionism of previous eras. Nor should they be confused with the xenophobia of far right groups which adopt anti-globalisation rhetoric for purposes of their own. Whatever their eventual form, the alternative rules-based systems for globalisation must put the world's poorest people first. | 
