Opinion Sur
Who could ignore the great international crisis of these days? Originated at the heart of the central countries, its impacts will be felt throughout the world; what remains to be seen is how they will be distributed among and inside the countries. This is so because the way the impacts will permeate from the centre outwards and from top to bottom will be conditioned by various factors: on the one hand, how the global system is currently structured and how the markets are interconnected (structural factors) but, on the other, how the various players mobilize in order to face the crisis, mitigate it, contain it and find solutions. From that convergence of forces a new international economic system with its rules, regulations and distribution of costs and benefits will emerge. This is a critical moment for everyone as the prevailing systemic functioning must find other courses to sort out its difficulties.
How to react from the Southern Hemisphere? First of all, we must raise the alert to a maximum, because of the crisis’ direct consequences that could hit us but, much more, because the new structures and the global course are already being defined. We need to quickly make our voices heard, to make our interests and needs, our vision regarding a sustainable global system -including its economic, political and environmental dimension- be taken into account. Although each one on its own has small influence in the global dialogue/negotiation, with cohesion we gain strength. It is not a matter of antagonizing with anybody but of actively participating in forging the new systemic avenues that will condition a good deal of the evolution of this XXI Century.
As far as possible, Opinión Sur intends to contribute to the understanding of this historical critical moment and have a bearing on the new courses. The articles offered in this issue – Socialism Where Least Expected, Coming out of the Crisis towards a Better Systemic Functioning, and Leading in the Vertigo of Contemporary Acceleration- are geared to that purpose. We hope they are of interest to you.
Cordial greetings,
The Editors
