Abstract

The policies of globalization dictate dismantling and restructuring the national production systems in the developing countries. They aim to destabilize these systems and to transform them into fragile parts dependant on the will of international organizations. Working as tools on behalf of international monopolies, the WTO, the IMF and the International Bank endeavor to emphasize the expansion of capitalism and the unequal worldwide development. These circumstances permit to manage the struggle and the crisis in international relationships on behalf of the capitalist centers, which control these organizations. Globalization does not necessarily deprive national governments from their autonomy, but it leads to redistribute social, political and security roles, in addition to the redistribution of forces among states, markets, and civil societies. Furthermore, a practical analysis of the role of non-governmental organizations predicts their usage to promote western policies, and highlights the usage of democracy and human rights as pressure tools on national governments that may resist the globalization.

Syrian economy faces the challenges of economic globalization (WTO, IMF, International Bank, Syrian-European Partnership, Syrian-Lebanese Common Market, and Arab Free Trade Zone) and the development challenges and the rehabilitation of the national economy (technical development, telecommunication, institutionalization of active collaboration among all-economic sectors, and building knowledge capacities). These challenges do not invoke passive reactions, but they impose the enhancement of economic performance.

The partisans of globalization allege that restructuring reforms prescribed by the IMF and the International Bank (liberalizing prices and trade, privatization, reforming taxes and labour market) will sustain economic growth. Nevertheless, they do not consider social impacts (restrictive monetary policy, lowering budget deficit etc.). They suppose that every reform cost is certainly less than the social cost of current situations. According to this logic, governmental intervention is dependent on growth level itself, which means that state intervention is proportional to the deepness of reforms.

The second half of the 1990s emphasizes the nature of economic recession due to the structuring stabilization (decreasing budget deficit, hiking the prices of public services, maintaining the levels of salaries and wages, lowering public expenditures, abolishing the government subsidies to the public sector etc.). These processes are the inception to the next stage of the structuring adaptation (abolishing goods' subsidies, privatization, devaluation of national currencies, lowering import tariffs, orientation toward exports, leaving industrial protectionism etc.).

Syrian economy has two tracks delimitating its functionality:

1. First track concerns the follow-up of economic liberalization policies, the gradual achievement of structuring adaptation stages (floating prices and exchange rate, mixed banks, financial market), and then it is necessary to abolish the law N24 and to amend the law N10. These policies motivate the public sector and are suitable to the partnership with Europe; but if the mechanisms of the public sector collaboration are not available, it will retrograde in the Syrian economic future.

2. The second track focuses on activating government performance, surmounting the recession, and promoting the public sector. Syrian investment spending have been doubled in the budget 2000 from 62 billion SP to 132 billion SP. Moreover, the government has an emergency program to treat unemployment, low salary, and weak productivity.

The Syrian economy future necessitates building an integrated national system compound of long-run development strategy for the public and the private sector (till 2025), restructuring administrative policies, sustaining the social dimension, emphasizing transparency etc.

In his comments on the article, Dr.R.HILAN thinks that the challenges of the globalization are twofold. On one hand, there are the problems of southern countries and expiry dates. And on the other hand, does the globalization lead to better growth and make economic convergence with developed countries without any damage on national cultures? Globalization appeared in the middle of 1970s as a ferocious attack against humanity and European modernity. Intrinsically, this phenomenon is a reaction against the historical progress (the social project, independent development, and western social security)

To achieve development through the globalization, Syria must:

1. Carry out a national, technological, and scientific revolution.

2. Redistribute the national income in order to sustain this revolution and to obtain a human diapason.

These orientations induce other challenges:

· Economic challenges: building national industry, enhancing saving and investment rates, increasing productivity etc.

· Scientific and cultural challenges: Education development, illiteracy elimination, Scientific research development etc.

· Political challenges: Equilibrium among authorities, sustaining civil society, encouraging free opinion and democracy.

· Social challenges: unemployment, starving, women problems, poverty, illness etc.