By Abdul Basit – Kuwait

The Financial Crises that has gripped the globe resulting in the growing unemployment, poverty and hunger that will further aggravate during the coming months and years have created great uncertainty. While the global political and financial leaders and the media and establishment that support them, are groping in darkness about the solution to overcome this crises that has gripped the world community, it is futile to maintain expectation on the ability of these leaders to retrieve the situation as they themselves are the basic reason for this crises. This has been proven during the just concluded World Economic Forum meeting in Davos where empty discussions and debates were held, that lacked any concrete ideas to fix this crisis. The Davos Forum failed to find any answer and they stressed more about the problems instead of finding solutions.

The current crises is due to the wrong policies that were hitherto pursued by the so-called dominant leaders led by the United States and its allies, whose aim was to serve the corporate military establishment instead of addressing the crises as a whole. Most of the efforts of these leaders were to bailout the banks and corporate that paid huge bonuses and incentives to its executive at the expense of the taxpayers and common people. This is because the capitalist and consumerist policies pursued by these nations relied heavily on these financial institutions, corporations and Stock Exchanges. The recent ILO report has predicted a frightening scenario in which 51 million more jobs could be lost by the end of 2009, leading to a 7.1 percent global unemployment rate and those who manage to keep a job, earnings and other conditions of employment will deteriorate.

The world has been continuously deceived by theses leaders and we have repeatedly fallen into the same trap again and again. After the disastrous eight years of Bush administration, the world is looking forward to the Barack Obama, who might either be one of the highly sophisticated among the these traps or an initial source of future change. The coming months and years will provide the answer.

What Do We Require from the Leadership?

To this point, the arrogant and exploitative policies of the world’s sole superpower and its allies at least temporarily benefited them and their allies. But since the last two years after the financial crises and the climatic crises that have engulfed the world, these leaders and nations can no longer continue these arrogant policies as they have also started facing the brunt of their policies that earlier ruined third world countries.

We cannot solve the impending crises with the existing leadership that is part of the problem and is more interested in igniting new conflicts, instead of solving the existing financial and existential issues that are haunting the humanity as a whole.

While searching for new leadership and new solution to overcome the serious financial consequences, we must discard the current economic and financial system and terminologies associated with it as it has only brought sufferings to humanity. We must also discard the ideological confines and arrogance and open minds and hearts to formulate the new route that we have to take to rescue the humanity from the current crises and for building a better future.

While criticizing the current leadership and their short sighted and arrogant policies, taking into consideration the dire consequences that we are about to face in the coming years, it is important to understand what kind of leadership is required and what are the policies to be implemented to overcome the serious challenges. Some of the immediate measures that the world requires to take to face the challenges are as follows:

1) With the global financial collapse and the ensuing bankruptcy and shut down of many corporations and companies that will result in job cuts and unemployment, we will face growing poverty, hunger and homelessness. This consecutively will result in financial and economic breakdown, social evils, crimes, chaos and civil wars. In order to prevent this situation, it is essential that the governments take necessary steps by taking over and controlling the public distribution system and other essential and life sustaining services and ensuring the smooth distribution of basic essential items including food to all sections of the society to prevent further deterioration and civil strife that may follow. This is also essential taking into consideration the depleting food stocks and the growing population.

2) With the collapse of the neoliberal economic and financial system that the current administration is trying to save with all its efforts, the ‘other’ leadership must formulate and implement alternative sustainable economic policies that will ensure equitable distribution of the limited and depleting resources and ensuring environmentally compliant, agrarian economic system as a replacement to exploitative, consumerist and polluted capitalist system. This includes conversion from a financial to a humanistic economy and implementing an interest free banking system. The localisation of economies by building self sustaining cooperatives and ensuring self sufficiency at the grassroots level is one of the basic ingredients to ride over the crises and for building a sustainable society.

3) The great disparities and injustice between nations and resulting exploitation and oppressions has led to the conflicts and social chaos. The depleting resources and the financial collapse will further aggravate these crises. In order to prevent future conflicts and to bring justice to all nations and all strata of the society, we need a global leadership that is above narrow confines and ensure justice for all especially the oppressed and the downtrodden. Resistance, mass movements and civil disobedience have to be organized against the existing establishment representing the capitalist- corporate-military axis and their neoliberal capitalist policies. Resistance should also be organized against the arrogant imperialist foreign policies of these nations pursue and the resulting exploitation, injustice and brutality that is imposed on the people of other nations by them.

4) Addressing and implementing policies to counter the threat of climate change that has resulted in huge natural upheavals, melting glaciers, rising sea level, extinction of variety of species and depleting agricultural yield.

Is there any leader of distinction and stature among the present statesmen who can lead the world to overcome the dire situation that we have got ourselves into?

The ‘Other’ Leadership

Taking into account the current leadership and their negative performance, it is natural that we make an in-depth analysis about the ‘other’ leaders who are accused by the dominant media and regimes as ‘tyrants’ and ‘dictators’. Although many leaders come to our mind, the most prominent among them are Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. In this article we will look into the policies pursued by Chavez, an icon of resistance against Imperialists and oppressors. In order to understand his leadership, it is important to assess the progress and change he has brought in Venezuela during the last 10 years of rule.

Hugo Chavez of Venezuela

Hugo Rafael Chavez Fr