1813 



— The statement at the same conference by Jean-Pierre Hugon, 



Ministere de I'lndustrie et de la Recherche, Repubhc of France: 



". . . the most important fact is that we are now entering a new 



era of worldwide interdependence. There is not any estimation 



to be done: we are condemned to interdependence. Inferences 



must be drawn from that new state of things, all over the 

 world." *^6 



— The observation by former diplomat and Japan Times editor 

 Kazushi^e Hirasawa in an article on "Japan's Emerging Foreign 

 Policy" m Foreign Affairs: "Because of their economic vulnera- 

 bilities, and development experience, the Japanese have become 

 one of the world's most active proponents of global economic 

 interdependence." *^^ 



— Congressional hearings and reports, as well as numerous 

 statements in the Congressional Record. The theme appears, for 

 example, in the title of the printed record of hearings before the 

 House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Foreign Economic Policy 

 in May 1974: "Global Scarcities in an Interdependent World." *^* 



— The observation of the Murphy Commission Report (which 

 also states the case, in principle, for a constructive balance be- 

 tween independence and interdependence): ". . . an inter- 

 dependent world will intensify relations between states and 

 peoples and place a premium on international cooperation, [butl 

 it does not diminish the need to retain that independence neces- 

 sary to provide leadership, to secure cooperation in satisfactory 

 terms and to make the contribution to world needs which na- 

 tional skDls, resources and experience permit." (The Report 

 further states: "We believe that the interdependence of foreign 

 and domestic policy will grow.")^^* 

 Man's perspective on the world has undergone a drastic change 

 since the Age of Interdependence began, more or less simultaneoulsy 

 with the founding of the United Nations: 



Thirty years ago, the UN's Founding Fathers did not (could not?) foresee the 

 interlocked conflicts of values and scarcities we now call the "interdependence 

 issues." On food, we worried about surpluses. Population planning was almost 

 unmentionable' and certainly untouchable by governments. Energy was cheap, 

 air was largely unpolluted, water was free and plentiful, the seas were a zone of 

 liberty, and raw materials were there for the benefit of those with the wealth and 

 the power to extract them. Trade and investment were "free," which meant they 

 were often expensive for the poor. And the monetary system was managed by 

 those with the hardest money. 



Today, the international system built on those assumptions is in disarray be- 

 cause the assumptions are on the cutting room floor. ...*'<' 



OhslacLes and Problems Affecting Constructive Interdependence 



A word on some of the obstacles to the various forces that appear to 

 be thrusting interdependence upon the peoples of the world, and on 

 the complex dimension of growth versus ecological stress, may assist 

 in rounding out the context for the examination of the six cases and 

 six issues which follows. 



<M Ibid., pp. 84-85. 



"'Kazushige Hirasawa. "Japan's Emerging Foreign Policy." Foreign Affairs, Vol. 54, No. 1, October 

 1975. p. 170. 



** U.S. Congress. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Foreign Economic Policy. 

 Global ScarcUits in an Interdependent World. Hearings, 93d Cong., 2d sess., May 1, 8, 9, 15, and 22, 1974. Wash- 

 ington, D.C., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1974. 259 p. 



"' Report of the Commission on the Oreanization of the Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy 

 (the Murphy Commission), Washington, D.C, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., June 1975, p. 26. 



«•« Harlan Cleveland, "The Pace of Mutation," UN SO (op. cit.), p. 11. 



