Manifesto for a New World Order [Paperback]

George Monbiot (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1595580395 | ISBN-13: 978-1595580399 | Publication Date: February 2, 2006

Visionary George Monbiot's road map for a global democratic revolution.

George Monbiot is known to millions for his newspaper commentaries, which are widely circulated on the Internet. Monbiot's Manifesto for a New World Order offers a plan for transforming the world into a decent place for all. All over the planet, the rich get richer while the poor are overtaken by debt and disaster. The world is run by a handful of executives who make the most important of decisions, concerning war, peace, debt, development, and the balance of trade. Without democracy at the global level, the rest of us are left in the dark. George Monbiot shows us how to turn on the light.

Emphasizing not only that things ought to change but also revealing how to change them, Monbiot develops an interlocking set of proposals that mark him as the most realistic utopian of our time. With detailed discussions of what a world parliament might look like, how trade can be organized fairly, and how underdeveloped nations can leverage their debt to obtain real change, Manifesto for a New World Order offers a truly global perspective, a defense of democracy, and an understanding of power and how it might be captured from those unfit to retain it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The anti-globalization movement may have a reputation for traffic-blocking obstructionism devoid of a positive program, but this smart and stimulating manifesto aims to change that. Monbiot (Amazon Watershed; Captive State) is uncompromising in his attack on what he says is an international order run by and for wealthy elites and powerful corporations. But he is equally critical of what he sees as the left’s infatuation with localism and anarchism, its knee-jerk opposition to trade and its preoccupation with feel-good palliatives like "mindful consumption." What he offers instead is a utopian vision of a global democratic order that transcends the obsolete nation-state, based on a real world program for concrete institutions to supplant the undemocratic power centers of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization. His most substantive ideas concern world trade, which he feels should be restructured to open advanced countries to Third World exports while allowing backward economies to develop behind protectionist barriers. He calls for a Fair Trade Organization to set mandatory standards for international corporations, and resurrects Keynes’s proposal for an International Clearing Union that would automatically rectify trade imbalances and prevent poor countries from getting trapped in debt. Less thought out are proposals for a revitalized United Nations General Assembly that would abolish the Security Council, and a directly elected World Parliament, initially vested only with "moral authority." Monbiot’s ideas will find their critics, but his often scintillating analyses of the inequities of the world economy and his preference for constructive action over dogma make the book a good place to start for readers in search of solutions.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Directed to participants in, and ideologues of, the antiglobalization movement (or, in the author's preferred terminology, "the global justice movement"), Monbiot here debates the best way to bring about the revolution to overthrow capitalism, corporations, and the nation-state. On that goal, Monbiot, communists, and anarchists can agree, but Monbiot dismisses Marxist prescriptions, saying that they have already been tried and have failed, and believes that anarchists are completely unrealistic about power. Monbiot then argues the idea that democracy might be the best way to go--on a global scale, that is, which would initially take the form of a world parliament. This entity would supersede the UN, and new financial and trade institutions would be created to replace the hate objects of antiglobalists, namely, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. "The dictatorship of vested interest" would be defeated, allowing the redistribution of wealth, cancellation of debt, and equalization of trade. Although nonradicals won't buy into Monbiot's program, it will keep radicals talking. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The (February 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595580395
• ISBN-13: 978-1595580399
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,001,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You want serious proposals for change? Read this., August 15, 2004

By 

Pen Name? "fluxus" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Manifesto for a New World Order (Hardcover)

Give George Monbiot a great deal of credit. What this work offers is some very thorough and thoughtful criticism of the current systems of internationalism and globalization, a sharp critique of the dominant counter logics of Marxism, Anarchism and other central positions of the Global Justice Movement(while giving them credit where due, as he does throughout) and it moves beyond to offer solid proposals for a world parliament, a refined UN and an updated version of Keynes' "Clearing House" concept which was spurned in the Bretton Woods 'debates'. In combination, these three bodies are supposed to replace the international governing bodies currently in place, instill greater democracy and promote sustainable living. It does sound very idealistic, right? Read the book. Monbiot is extremely well researched and is entirely forthcoming in admitting the hugeness of the tasks at hand, but is equally compelling in demonstrating that such a huge plan needs to be undertaken, and soon. Monbiot's work is realistic, without faltering into the trap of 'realism' and it's self-fulfilling pessimism.
Consider this work to be one of the major first steps, a serious and worthy proposal for further debate.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the major works of the 21st Century, May 15, 2004

By 

Alec Johnson "Climate Hawk" (Delaware, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Manifesto for a New World Order (Hardcover)

I read this when it was published in England under the title "Age of Consent: A Manifesto for a New World Order." I see the US publishers have changed the title, but no matter, it remains the most remarkable book I've read in this century and I suspect its influence will reverberate for the next one hundred years or more. Part of what I loved about it was how pithy he could be, making his points with remarkable elegance. I find myself seriously challenged by this book and hope I will rise to the challenges set forth in its pages. I would recommend this book to anyone who is serious about the future and changing the fate of our world.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lose the protest how-to guides and read this one book!, April 18, 2005

By 

Tony Fleming "TonyFleming.org" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Manifesto for a New World Order (Hardcover)

A lesson in not judging a book by its cover. What looks like a manual for anarchist or Marxist revolution turned out to be a very critical look at both the state of the world and the movements attempting to change it. Monbiot is clearly looking for pragmatic answers to global problems--he utterly refutes anarchy, Marxism and self-appointed world constitutionalists. Buy one for your protestor friend and help them understand how to make a real difference. For those who are looking for a bit of idealism mixed in with their practical politics, however, Monbiot satisfies as well. I was reminded of Emery Reves' Anatomy of Peace from the 1940s and thanked the powers that be for this "updated" version.