On April 17-18, thousands of activists are expected to descend on Washington to disrupt meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Hoping to build on the momentum that helped the protests in Seattle last November make international headlines, a broad coalition of activists from labor, environmental and anti-poverty groups are rallying to slow or reform the globalization juggernaut.
But while activists hone their organizing and media skills, D.C. police experienced in dealing with massive protests are hoping for an uneventful weekend. The ineptitude of Seattle police allowed protesters to cripple the World Trade Organization events, and TV pictures of cops throwing tear gas at idealistic young people only added to public sympathies for their cause. Read Salon's breaking coverage and analysis of the battle over debt and development.
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Latest Salon stories
Silencing Joseph Stiglitz
The World Bank cuts its ties to the economist who became an unlikely hero to world trade protesters.
By David Moberg
(05/02/00)
Three cheers for the brave new activism
Let's hope the tactics that have rocked free-traders can also change the hearts and minds of SUV-driving, overconsuming Americans.
By Bill McKibben
(04/17/00)
What I saw at the revolution
That is, when the D.C. Cops weren't running their motorcycles over me.
Jake Tapper
(04/16/00)
Camp IMF
The protests remain peaceful and the chief gets a photo op as decorum dominates the Washington protests.
By Alicia Montgomery
(04/16/00)
Unlikely jailbirds
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time gets a duo arrested -- and admired.
By Daryl Lindsey
(04/17/00)
D.C. cops plow through crowds, reporters
An ongoing notebook, as police and protestors square off.
By Jake Tapper
(04/16/00)
Not just a Seattle sequel
The protests surrounding this weekend's meetings of the IMF and World Bank are the next step in the backlash to globalization.
By Bruce Shapiro
(04/15/00)
On the verge
Tensions escalate in Dupont Circle and cops put on riot gear. But savvy protesters wonder where the badges are.
By Jake Tapper
(04/15/00)
Prepping for the protests
Washington's mayor and police force get ready to rumble, though they hope they won't have to.
By Harry Jaffe
(04/15/00)
Fight Club
World Bank and IMF: Good, evil or irrelevant?
By Daryl Lindsey
(04/14/99)
Decaffeinated protests
As the IMF and World Bank gear up for their spring meetings, a pair of anti-corporate demonstrations fall flat.
By Alicia Montgomery
(04/14/00)
Celeste takes it to The Man
Meet one blond, bright-eyed, dreadlocked anarchist ready to take it to the streets
By Jake Tapper
(04/14/00)
Pat Buchanan courts the Teamsters
Looking for union support, the "reformed" xenophobe bashes the WTO and vows to appoint James Hoffa to a cabinet post.
By Alicia Montgomery
(04/13/00)
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Table Talk
+ Who's afraid of the
WTO? Reason and rioting in Seattle.
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Recent Salon stories
After Seattle, a world trade lovefest
Anti-globalization protesters meet a sympathetic President Clinton in Switzerland
By Steve Kettmann
(01/31/00)
The seeds of Seattle
As anti-globalization protesters ask themselves, "Where do we go from here?" Seattle enters the lexicon of civil disobedience.
By Bruce Shapiro
(12/08/99)
Day of the Jackal
A young punk who lives on the streets of Los Angeles tried to make his mark during the WTO protests in Seattle.
By Bill Donahue
(12/08/99)
How the Demos lost the White House in Seattle
The WTO battles blew the election for Gore; McCain needs more than bad luck to qualify for the presidency; Hillary's one of the most destructive personalities in American politics; and why Madonna talks like the queen mother.
By Camille Paglia
(12/08/99)
Sustainable agriculture or Shakespeare?
While protesters voice their resistance to globalization in the streets of Seattle, a reporter wonders if they really have the people's best interests at heart.
By Nina Shapiro
(12/04/99)
The three horsemen of globalization
Critics fear increased cooperation between the World Trade Organization, World Bank and International Monetary Fund will spawn an 800-pound gorilla.
By Monte Paulsen
(12/03/99)
The great straddler
Free trader Clinton veers left in Seattle. But will his act be enough to keep Al Gore's Democratic party intact?
By Todd Gitlin
(12/03/99)
Apocalypse now
For a longtime resident, Seattle's last few tumultuous days seem to have come straight from the Book of Revelation.
By Jim Molnar
(12/03/99)
Trapped and torn
Locked in by a chain of protesters, I wanted to kick myself. My kids were at home and I was about to be pummeled for all the wrong reasons.
By Lisa Guide
(12/03/99)
Wild in the streets
What better place to find a hottie than at a riot conveniently taking place in my neighborhood?
By Annie Culver
(12/03/99)
A no-win situation
Non-violent protesters get hit from both sides at the WTO conference in Seattle.
By L.A. Kauffman
(12/02/99)
Caught in the crossfire
I was minding my own business, when the Seattle cops gassed me.
By Zach Works
(12/02/99)
What's really at stake in Seattle
Economists speak out on the issues behind the World Trade Organization summit and the street protests.
By Alicia Montgomery, Daryl Lindsey and Fiona Morgan
(12/02/99)
Bare breasts, green condoms and rubber bullets
The WTO has united labor and the radical, counter-cultural left in a way the anti-war movement never could.
By David Moberg
(12/01/99)
WTO protestors go to the Web
Guerrilla journalists and Webcams bring you all the tear-gassed excitement of Seattle's street protests.
By Fiona Morgan
(12/01/99)
Everything you need to know about the WTO
While thousands of protesters gather outside, there's plenty of disagreement inside, too.
By David Moberg
(11/30/99)
The whole world is watching
Direct action comes to the WTO, and members debate what the meaning of "non-violence" is.
By L.A. Kauffman
(11/30/99)
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Elsewhere on the Web
+ International Monetary Fund (IMF) The official site.
+ World Bank Group The official site.
+ Mobilization for Global Justice Organization leading April protests in Washington, D.C., seeking to "Defund the fund! Break the bank! Dump the dept!"
+ 1999 WTO Ministerial Conference The official site.
+ Full coverage of the 1999 WTO conference from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
+ Full coverage of the WTO conference from the Seattle Weekly.
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