Speeches Articles

Valedictory Speech

Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues: I stand before you today to give some parting words on the occasion of my resigning from this august body, which will be effective on As you all probably know by now, I am resigning from the House because I can no longer support my...
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Civil Society?s Choice at the G8 Summit: The Road of Genoa or the Road of Gleneagles?

Speech at the opening plenary of the People’s Summit, Sapporo Convention Center, Hokkaido, Japan, July 6, 2008.

The Group of Eight came into being in 1975 as the G7 at a time that the world was embroiled in deep economic crisis, much like today.  Its main aim was to coordinate the macroeconomic policies of the rich countries at a time of stagflation as well as to forge a common strategy vis-a-vis the developing world, which had loosened its political and economic dependency on the First World during the heady days of decolonization, national liberation struggles, and the emergence of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as an economic power.

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Managing the Oil Crisis

Speech delivered during the Development RoundTable Series Forum on Oil and Electric Power held at the Sulo Hotel on 17 June 2008

Our dependency on oil has never been more excruciating than it is today.   The price of fuel has reached unheard of heights.  The price of crude went above $139 a barrel over a week ago, before easing.  At the pump, the price of unleaded gasoline has gone beyond P56 and diesel above P49.  We are now consuming over 120 million barrels a year, and 90 per cent of that is sourced outside the country.

What is causing this unprecedented rise in global oil prices?  The key factor seems to be that the demand for oil is rising much faster than its supply, and this is due fundamentally  to the fact that the few old oilfields on which the world relies for most of its oil are being depleted and no new fields have been discovered that can match their production and reserves.  Peak oil, which was viewed just a few years ago as a outlandish theory, is now being treated as fact.  The second factor pushing up prices is the rush to buy oil futures contracts, a development that is partly determined by the fear that available oil will increasingly become scarce, partly by the desire of investors to park their wealth in oil instead of the declining dollar.

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Challenges and Dilemmas of the Public Intellectual

Excerpts from Walden Bello's acceptance speech at the Outstanding Public Scholar Award
Panel, International Studies Association, 49th Annual Convention, San
Francisco, California, March 27, 2008.  Bello was the second recipient
of the award, the first being Dr. Susan George in 2007. Members of the
panel honoring Bello were George; Dr. Richard Falk, professor emeritus
at Princeton University; Dr. Robin Broad, professor at American
University, and Dr.Barry Gills, professor at the University of
Newcastle. 

I would like, first of all, to say that I am very grateful to the
International Political Economy Section of the International Studies
Association for this award.  I am very, very honored by the generous
comments of Barry [Gills], Robin [Broad], Richard [Falk] and Susan
[George].  And it really is an honor to be in the company of Susan, the
first person to be given this award.  Let me just say that, especially
in comparison to Susan, I am not really sure that I am the best person
to be named ISA’s Outstanding Public Scholar for 2008, though I think I
would consider myself a public intellectual or, as the French say,
intellectuel engage—that is, one who marries analysis to action, or at
least tries to.

I have been asked by Barry to share some of the lessons I have learned
in my work as a public intellectual. This is not easy since although my
views about things are very public, I am not used to speaking about my
life in public.

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Valedictory Speech

Valedictory Speech

Mar 16, 2015 | ,

Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues: I stand before you today to give some parting words on the occasion of my resigning from...

Managing the Oil Crisis

Jun 18, 2008 |

We ought not to be completely helpless, however. What is so shocking about the current state of affairs is that our...