This week, at United Nations headquarters in New York, we have made a bit of history. Global leaders from the worlds of business, labor and civil society came together to forge a new coalition in support of universal values. Why is that necessary?
Eighteen months ago, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, I warned international business leaders that globalization might be far more fragile than they realized. Since then, events in Seattle and elsewhere have reinforced my warning.
But it would be tragic if local or national communities react to the challenges and shortcomings of globalization by repeating the mistakes of history, and turning in on themselves. Open markets offer the only realistic hope of pulling billions of people in developing countries out of poverty, while sustaining prosperity in the industrialized world.