After the end of epoch of colonialism, Cold War period and disintegration
of system of real socialism, there seems to be a rift within global
framework, in the functioning of the system of international relations,
established after the World War II. Because of it, different attempts
of building up of existing institutional arrangements and establishing
of new coordination mechanisms on the level of global processes of political
decision-making with an aim of harmonizing of priorities of common policy
of leading capitalist countries in the new millennium, are becoming
more and more apparent in the relation between USA and EU. Faced with
new challenges and doubts, imposed by the current process of restructuring
of mutual relations between America and Europe in an era of economic
– financial, political and cultural globalization, editorial staff of
Prelom magazine brings in this issue a series of theoretical texts,
whose choice inteded to point out an example of a politically profiled
way of looking at the processes of economic and political transformation
of capitalism in the globalization era, with particular review on the
courses of systematic changes in the very centre of world capitalist
system.
Initial
assumption is that before-mentioned transformation processes are primarily
functioning in the context of demands for the improving of economic
efficiency of the global market, by means of creating practical assumption
for unanimous functioning of neo-liberal regime of economic growth,
all of it being a part of spreading of global hegemony of the leading
countries of contemporary capitalist system at the end of 20th and beginning
of 21st century. [In that sense, transcript of
the address of Tony Blair to the officials of Foreign Office on the
Leaders' Conference in 2002, published in this issue, concisely illustrates
the depth and far-reaching consequences that the demands for improving
of economic efficiency of global market produced in the domain of creating
of joint political agenda of USA and EU at the turn of the century.]
This is
where the conclusion comes from - the structural changes in economical
foundation and production basis of capitalism at the end of 20th century
have to inevitably be reflected in the domain of political decision-making
and governance. Nevertheless, regarding the fact the path of already
initiated dynamic changes in the global financial-economic currents,
has not yet been clearly and completely determined, as in the lack of
rational economic theory an abstract term of free market is used most
frequently – issues surrounding the future of the process of political
transformation of world capitalist system and corresponding institutional
remodelling of the existing international order remain also open, all
the more likely as global political-economic constellation marked by
noticeable lack of efficient institutional framework in the future is
going to be favourable to cases in which the most powerful would be
pleading that the current mix of different policies of the leading capitalist
countries, so-called international community, be altered in a way to
primarily suit the particular interest of the strongest, which is certainly
not going to be welcomed by their less powerful partners. In this case,
most of all, we bear in mind the global influence that current internal,
that is, foreign policy of USA is realizing today in the complex system
of non-state and state forces and subjects, as well as contemporary
or newly founded regional economic-political alliances in post-Cold
war era. Yet, regardless whether Republicans of Democrats are in power
in USA, that is whether the representatives of ‘old’ would win over
the representatives of ‘new Europe’, paving the way of main directions
and ways of realizing of common/partner policies of USA and its chief
partners in EU would still result from an amalgamation of policies of
short-term management of various interests of global market and long-term
strategy of strengthening of global hegemony of the first echelon of
trans-Atlantic military-political alliance, led by USA.
All problems
inevitably originating from the complex of political relations, organized
in this manner, such as a loss of economic and political sovereignty,
rapidly growing economic inequality and similar, would certainly strengthen
additionally current demands for alternative institutional reconstruction
of global economic-political and security system, as much within advocates
and creators of new institutional arrangements, as well within numerous
alter/anti-global movements. In the meantime, however, the essential
lack of political virtues is becoming evident on the level of global
political decision-making in practice, indicated in voluntarism of complacent
politics of leading countries of global Empire in the making, which
is systematically creating different kinds of fundamentalist resistance
and reformist counter-strategies worldwide.
Based on everything mentioned here, it is more than obvious that in
the conditions of the lack of corresponding mechanism of control and
coordination of political decision-making, both of global and national
level, distribution of power and responsibility taken in the name of
that power is seriously endangered. In order to avoid being charged
with advocating mere reformism of institutional framework of international
legal-political system, we are going to state that above-mentioned processes
of transformation on the level of political decision-making, which crucially
regulate global movements in the world should be perceived primarily
in the context of problems of long-term political sustainability and
economic feasibility of global capitalist system in-the-making. Its
current disorganized state and transitional period, in which it currently
is without a doubt, should be understood principally as a suitable historical
moment for an active engagement on the project of founding of universal
policy, which would precede establishing of political movements that
would represent the leaders of revolutionary changes in the future,
whereas the selection of texts before you stands as an attempts to outline
theoretical horizon, which is going to offer us guidelines for realization
of that historical goal.