There was a time when an event like the G20 economic summit would stir the interest of a comparatively small group of die-hards: Policy wonks, finance majors, journalists working the international relations beat, and maybe a handful of protesters from fringe groups leery of a single world government.
Well, the G20 summit was held in Pittsburgh last week, and things are a little more … lively. With protesters of all stripes converging on this Pennsylvania steel town, the city and federal government spent an estimated $19 million on security during the conference, which started Thursday and ends today. Looking back, this is probably a low estimate.
As we reported last week, the police enforcement of the protests turned ugly; there were chemical weapons and beatings and raids on the mobile food kitchen for the demonstrators. We heard about an abduction of a protester by paramilitary police. (Here is that video, which is obviously impossible to fact check and which does not appear to have been rebroadcast on television.)
Expect similar scenes at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, from Dec. 7-18 of this year — though in modern European (and Scandinavian) style, law enforcement will probably be more restrained. Many groups are expected to arrive and protest the deliberations there — even some that support reduction in carbon emissions but think government and energy companies are hindering progress.
What’s changed, that these once-esoteric events have become hotspots for mass protests? Our awareness, that’s what. With information becoming more and more easily available all over the world, thanks especially to the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle, more people are aware of what is being dealt with at these conferences. And that means more minds are pondering the significance of every detail of those negotiations, and their consequences.
Some might decry this trend of protest-ization of virtually every international issue or conference. Do the images we see on television and in newspapers — often depicting opposing groups of protestors struggling over barriers, waving signs and screaming insults at each other — cloud the bigger message of these meetings: That these governments, however imperfect, are at least coming to the table to discuss the pressing issues of the day?
Truly, it’s hard to say. But one thing can certainly be taken away from this trend: More people, in more places, are aware of how even the most technical elements of international relations can impact the lives of individuals. And that awareness has also resulted in movements like microfinance, increased education of women, protecting rain forests and overstressed fish populations, and many more. People around the world have grasped the big picture, in other words, and in the long run that’s most likely going to wind up good for the planet and its inhabitants.