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				Rabbi Walter Homolka On NGOs as international actors The 1987 Brundtland report gave a lot of hope that UN reform would be driven by NGOs. I think it is premature or too optimistic to say that NGOs are the new stars in the sky of international civil society. Against the background of the increasing erosion of democracy and in the context of neoliberal globalization, many focus on whether NGOs are able to form the emerging system of multilateral regulation according to democratic structures, and if they can - how this would be done. In contrast to that view, I see a lot of reasons why this will and should never happen: 1. NGOs are very instable. 2. NGOs are heavily dependend not only on public appreciation but also on media attention. 3. NGOs are single-issue-oriented. 4. NGOs are stuffed not so much by researchers and analysts but by believers. 5. NGOs suffer from quite insufficient organizational structures. 6. NGOs need an enemy. 7. NGOs have no democratic legitimacy. NGOs clearly have verious positives sides: they challenge wrong, demand change, and offer alternatives. Very often NGOs are addressing political issues where their expertise is sought. But they don't find a solution in the sense that they can arrange a compromise for acceptability. I also see no indication that the debate on a United Nations level in any way suggests that NGOs will get more than a consultative status. Any hope of their becoming the new runners of the game is totally optimistic. Most of the NGOs that work on an international level are the voice of the first world, and certainly not representing an international debate that has reached consensus. On the necessity of politics I would say there is no other process than politics that can take care of the kind of framework we need to go into the future. And I therefore would urge this conference to discuss how we could reach a reformation of the political process so that dialogue is possible, that the media (which are important for transpareny) fulfil their task, and that we get that process that we have shaped over the last 200 years going again, so that we'll be able to look at the challenges of the future. Dr. Hans Fleisch offered a direct rebuttal to several of Rabbi Homolka's points.
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