Blogging the WSF

Mumbai, Jan 17 - When I left the WSF site half an hour ago, the schedule still hadn't shown up, 24 hours after it was supposed to be delivered. The schedule available online actually shrank in the run-up to WSF (an event I'm supposed to be in got deleted, definitely not the only one).

In the last few days, I'd managed to get hold of a draft schedule (sneaking into the media centre where non-media delegates are not allowed), and been disappointed by the lack of anti-war events (being mainly an anti-war activist/writer).

Last night, on the way to meet someone for dinner, I was given a sheet about the General Assembly of the Global Anti-War Movement, which listed a bunch of events coming up in the next few days. I rang up Mary Lou Malig of Focus on the Global South, whose number was at the bottom of the sheet, and asked when the first event was going to be (just checking) and she said they were having a preparatory organizing meeting in an hour, I'd be welcome. She SMS texted me the address, and I made my way over (with a 40 minute auto rickshaw detour in totally the wrong direction thrown in).

There were about 30 people there from all over the world, people who've been at WSF Porto Alegre, from ESF Florence/Firenze and then ESF Paris, folks from the Jakarta conference. A lot of experience.

First there was a discussion of the background and the Mumbai Resistance plans in particular (they're calling an anti-war demo on the 20th, when the Anti-War Assembly is having a big joint session with the Social Movements Assembly (named the Activists' Assembly here in Mumbai  because of the particular meaning assigned to the term 'social movements')).

Then there was a discussion about a proposed Strategy Day on the 19th. There was a draft proposal which awaited amendment from the meeting. First session 'Globalization and war: the current conjuncture'. The point being to come up with a short list of demands - after hearing some analysis of the situation. Second session, an audit of the anti-war movements. Third session proposed was an update on certain specific campaigns agreed on in Jakarta including Palestine, the Tribunal, Occupation Watch in Iraq. Fourth session, tie it all up, finalize proposals.

The idea is discussion, not speeches - speakers have 8 minutes max, and there are only four in each 2 hour session.

I often have a problem when people talk about strategy, because usually what they end up doing is (a) planning one or more specific events, (b) analysing the current situation, and/or (c) prioritising issues. All worthwhile, but not strategy. Prioritising is just that, setting priorities for the period ahead. Logically, it ought to follow some thought about what is going on, what is going to happen in the period ahead, and what medium-term objectives we need to achieve if we are going to move closer to our ultimate objective.

Pretty much everyone knows about the Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats (SWOT) model for strategic analysis. In this case, session two is obviously the internal Strengths and Weaknesses of the global anti-war movement. Session one could be about the Opportunities and Threats in the external environment, as long as some attention is paid to future trends and not just current events.

The logical next step in the process ought to be discussing a forward-looking strategy for the global anti-war movements, as someone in the meeting pointed out, rather than fragmentation into discussion of these particular campaigns (rather abitrarily chosen, I thought, possibly more to do with the strength of feeling/presence of particular groups in Jakarta than a considered judgement of the needs of the anti-war movement world-wide).

I backed up this perspective, suggesting that Session Three ought to be a discussion of strategic objectives, what we're thinking we need to achieve in the next five or ten years in order to move towards our goal of a peaceful world. This wasn't accepted by the drafters of the proposed agenda, who instead added half an hour on strategic objectives at the end of session One, and took half an hour off the internal audit.

I still think it's a bit of an odd agenda, but spending the whole day hearing from anti-war activists from around the world is something I'm really looking forward to. In the absence of a programme, the organizers have only got leaflets to hand out. (They are snatched up by people desperate for any programme information.) Never did get to supper last night, will probably miss lunch now because there's a Global Exchange etc workshop in half an hour and I have to get back to the site.

Pheri betung, as we say in Nepal.