The 31st World Economic Forum (WEF) opened in New York on Thursday in the midst of strict security measures. It is an advisory forum in structure, whose sessions focus on the prevalent economic conditions in the Western world.

The seminar, held annually in Davoos, Switzerland for the last 30 years, was moved to New York at the insistence of U.S officials, in order that their country's economic problems be put at the top of the agenda. As such, the main topic of discussion will be the economic recession that was heightened as a result of the events of September 11.

In recent years, globalization has been the main issue at the forum, accompanied by anti-globalization protestors, who in the last two years have organized themselves, establishing the World Social Forum to counteract the WEF.

This year's social forum meeting was held in Porto Alegre in Brazil and was attended by tens of thousands of anti-globalization activists, intellectuals and researchers from 150 countries.

The leader of the Brazilian Workers Party, who is also the Chairman of the World Social Forum, pointed out that while at the World Economic Forum ways to accumulate wealth are discussed, the World Social Forum considers the distribution of wealth.

In addition to a change of location, this year's WEF differs from its previous sessions in other ways as well, one of which is the absence of several officials, most notably from Latin American countries. Some economic analysts believe that the severe economic crisis in Argentina, and the resulting failure of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its attempts to solve the problems, are the underlying reasons for the sparse Latin American representation.

IMF policies are based on globalization, removing customs obstacles and free imports. In order to receive loans from the World Bank and the IMF, a number of Central and South American countries have had to adhere to these policies. However, they are concerned that they will suffer from a fate similar to Argentina's.

Both the IMF and the World Bank are essentially controlled by the United States. Besides, Washington's belligerent and arrogant policies since September 11 and its insistence on holding the forum in New York indicate that it intends to use globalization to further its belligerent and hegemonic ambitions.