NIC's Gordon: IMF, World Bank in Identity Crisis

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

By Yuri Aida, Market News International

March 2, 2007 Friday

National Intelligence Council Vice Chairman David Gordon Friday told the Center for National Policy of Washington that international institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and even the U.N. are facing a real crisis of identity now and in the future.

Gordon said "international institutions are going to be under tremendous pressure ... to reflect the changing nature of the international world." He continued that these universal organizations have "an enormous challenge of effectiveness and accountability."

Gordon said he is skeptical about "universal organizations to be able to reform themselves," including "major international economic institutions."

"The IMF is facing a real crisis about identity," he said. "The WTO faces enormous challenges" reaching consensus, he added.

Despite the negative outlook for international organizations, Gordon viewed ongoing globalization as "powerful and positive" in terms of technology and economic expansion.

"Technological progress and economic progress are going to lead to a wealthier world," he said.

However, he added, it is going to be a world of potential security crises. He said that China's rising power, for isntance, would make it difficult for the U.S. to continually retaining its edge in the globalizing world. "China will become a very meaningful share in the world; they have not reach that scale," he said.

Gordon said, in addition, "Globalization is shaking up the workforce."

"A tremendous amount of goods and services are redefined by information technology," he said. In order to keep up with the ever-changing work environment, "children should be lot more educated than the past generation," he said.

"A revolution in biotechnology increased the standard of living especially in poor countries around the world," he said. However, the same revolution "can also provide an enormous (threat of) bio-terrorism around the world." The greatest concern that the U.S. is facing is "the terrorists taking advantage of the power of network that information technology might bring," he said.

Terrorist are now able to "network," he said, thanks to technology. Ironically, this "networking opportunity," will make the U.S. vulnerable in the future, he said. "The U.S. will be a primary target."

"Globalization is not global," he said. There will be, he said, "relatively left-behind countries."

"How we are going to manage the policies in a fast-paced globalized world is a challenge for rich countries," he said. In that context, he said that "multi-lateral trade negotiations" will become more important.

"States that are neither fully democratized nor stable authoritarian states will be greatly challenged by this combination of economic change -- by the rise of the technology, the ability of run governments of groups, individual, political parties and religious organizations," he said.

There will be "an increasing pressure on authoritarian regimes to democratize," he said. However, it would be very difficult for these "new democracies" to survive "deep and institutionalized democratic powers," he added.

Gordon has been vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council since mid 2004. The NIC coordinates the efforts of 16 intelligence agencies as the staff of the Director of National Intelligence.

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