DESPITE its current economic woes, the United States is still the biggest and most powerful economy in the world. President-elect Barack Obama and his highly select team of economic and international relations experts have a unique opportunity to use this present crisis to effect a radical transformation of the international community so that the interests of the entire human family be equally represented. As he rightfully remarked, "change will come from him." It is, therefore, paramount that President-elect Obama have a clear idea of what changes are needed in the international community so that justice, peace, and development can be attained by each and every person on this planet. The blueprint for this change can be found in the social teachings of the Catholic Church as contained in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.

The first premise of this social doctrine concerning the role of the international community in an era of a global economy fits to a T the principles of the American Democratic Party. As the Compendium states (par. 370), "The loss of centrality on the part of States must coincide with a greater commitment on the part of the international community to exercise a strong guiding role. In fact, an important consequence of the process of globalization consists in the gradual loss of effectiveness of nation-states in directing the dynamics of national economic-financial systems. The governments of individual countries find their actions in the economic and social spheres ever more strongly conditioned by the expectations of international capital markets and by the ever more pressing requests for credibility coming from the financial world. Because of the new bonds of interdependence among global operators, the traditional defensive measures of States appear to be destined to failure and, in the presence of new areas of competition, the very notion of a national market recedes into the background."

As the liberals in the United States contend, the subsidiary role of the State is increasingly needed in the areas of regulation and fiscal intervention as free markets are increasingly inadequate in promoting the common good of society. What globalization has made necessary, however, is that this need for more regulation and intervention has to be brought to the international level as nation states lose part of their ability to attain national economic and social goals. As the Compendium points out: "The more the worldwide economic-financial system reaches high levels of organizational and functional complexity, all the more priority must be given to the task of regulating these processes, directing them towards the goal of attaining the common good of the human family. There is the clear need not just for States but for the international community to take on this delicate chore with adequate and effective political and juridical instruments."

During the next four to eight years, the Obama Administration can do much to help design international institutions that will be responsive to the objectives mentioned above. For better or worse, the United States will continue to play a dominant role in all important international organizations, directly or indirectly. President-elect Obama should instruct his team of economic and international relations experts to work towards international institutions and programs that will take into account the following realities: "It is therefore indispensable that international economic and financial institutions should be able to identify the most appropriate institutional solutions and formulate the most suitable plans of action aimed at bringing about a change that if it were to be passively accepted and simply left to itself, would otherwise produce a dramatic situation detrimental above all to the weakest and defenseless classes of the world’s population."

Although it is easier said than done, the President must work with his high officials to put pressure on international agencies to always make sure that the interests of the whole human family is equally represented: "It is necessary moreover that in evaluating the consequences of their decisions these agencies always give sufficient consideration to peoples and countries which have little weight in the international market, but which are burdened by the most acute and desperate needs, and are thus more dependent on support for their development." It must be remembered, however, that "the public authority of the world community is not intended to limit the sphere of action of the public authority of the individual political community, much less to take its place. On the contrary, its purpose is to create, on a world basis, an environment in which the public authorities of each political community, their citizens and intermediate associations can carry out their tasks, fulfill their duties and exercise their rights with greater security."

The President of the United States, working with his Secretary of State, can play a unique role in stimulating international political action that pursues the goals of peace and development through the adoption of coordinated measures: "The Magisterium (of the Catholic Church) recognizes that the interdependence among men and nations takes on a moral dimension and is the determining factor for relations in the modern world in the economic, cultural, political and religious sense. In this context it is hoped that there will be a revision of international organizations, a process that ‘presupposes the overcoming of political rivalries and the renouncing of all desire to manipulate these organizations, which exist solely for the common good, for the purpose of achieving ‘a greater degree of international ordering.’"

A Democratic Administration will have a greater moral authority to insist on enhanced control and guidance of international economic activities: "In particular, intergovernmental structures must effectively perform their functions of control and guidance in the economic field because the attainment of the common good has become a goal that is beyond the reach of the individual States, even if they are dominant in terms of power, wealth, and political strength. International agencies must moreover guarantee the attainment of that equality which is the basis of the right of all to participate in the process of full development, duly respecting legitimate differences." I sincerely hope that the Obama Administration that will soon be ushered in will meet the challenge of channeling the process of globalization towards the international common good. For comments, my e-mail address is bvillegas@uap.edu.ph.