In Africa, two-thirds of film screens show American movies. CNN beams to the farthest reaches of the planet. Disneyland outposts in Paris and Tokyo will be joined by one in Hong Kong by late 2005. American English is becoming the global language. Culture used to be protected by geography and distance, but today satellite technology, mass-accessible air travel and the internet have created a world where marketers target a global elite that inhabit the same global space and consume the same global culture. As that culture continues to fi lter down, what will it look like? Is it simply going to be a re-creation of American cool, or are other societies going to infl uence it equally? No coercion was involved in making Titanic the world's highest ever grossing movie with revenues of $ ever grossing movie revenues of $1.2 billion. But there's something wrong with a system where the ideas and culture of something wrong with a system where the ideas and culture of rich societies spread while those of the poor decline. Especially since the richest country of all tries to fix the rules of the global economy in its favor. But there is a growing backlash of critics who deplore the cultural homogenization engulfing the globe. They understand that culture is not static and has always been influenced by outside forces, and they don't want economic prosperity and social development to be linked to the adoption of a particular set of dominant values. They understand that sealing off their societies and preserving tradition for its own sake is not the answer. Rather, they want to establish an international trade regime that treats cultural capital as distinct from other goods. There has to be a line over which the wto is not allowed to step. That line should protect art, music, storytelling, and other cultural expressions. Cultural capital is too precious.

France

During the Uruguay Round of international trade negotiations in the early 1990s, France introduced the "cultural exception" (l'exception culturelle) clause to protect its cultural industries. The government had no intention of scrapping protectionist measures such as the fi lm subsidies that have made it the largest film producer in Europe. Still, even the French have their work cut out for them resisting McWorld. Consider the fate of Asterix. It's hard to imagine a more potent metaphor for French resistance to American cultural imperialism than the cartoon adventures of the noble Gallic hero and his right-hand man, Obelix. The two spend their days pummeling and outsmarting Roman imperialist foes both at home and abroad. These days, however, Asterix is just another cartoon character that McDonald's piggybacks to sell burgers.

Canada

Bob and Doug McKenzie are two of Canada's most famous sons. But the beer-swilling, doughnut-eating rubes who epitomize the Canadian 'hoser' identity wouldn't be around if it weren't for Canadian Content regulations (CanCon) that require television and radio stations to play a certain amount of domestic programming. CanCon, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and laws that limit foreign television channels are just some of the measures Canada has taken to protect its cultural identity from being swallowed up by its neighbor to the south. Because of this decades-long struggle, Canada is a world leader along with France in ensuring that cultural capital is protected in trade agreements. It insisted on cultural exemptions when it signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1992. It also committed to the New International Instrument on Cultural Diversity, a proposal to establish global ground rules for the integration of international trading considerations with countries’ rights to maintain policies that promote their culture.

Korea

In McWorld, South Korea is a rarity. More than 50 percent of its cinematic fare is domestically produced - and it's not by accident. For 35 years, the country has operated under a screen quota system that requires theaters to show Korean fi lms for at least 146 days each year. And the fi lm industry is not just successful at home. Mark Yoon, international business head for Kang JeGyu Films in Seoul notes,

"In Asia, Korean films can compete head to head with US films." Further afi eld, Korean directors are honored at fi lm festivals around the world. But South Korea's David-style success has Goliath worried. For more than six years, the US has pressured the Korean government to sign a bilateral investment treaty that would ease or lift the quotas. And big business interests who want the pact to go through don't like the fact that quotas are holding it up. A senior offi cial at the Federation of Korean Industries told United Press International that "South Korea is a member of the oecd and has signed on to the wto. The screen quota system violates the principles and commitments of free trade." But such rhetoric is gibberish to the members of South Korea's fi lm industry who are sticking to their guns. They insist that cultural capital should not be regulated by market principles.

China

The directives from on high were clear. Chinese TV personalities couldn't wear revealing clothes or sport unusual hairstyles. They also couldn't imitate Hong Kong or Taiwan accents or mix English with Chinese. Xu Caihua, an offi cial at the Shanghai Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and Television, explained: "The rules are intended to reduce the negative impact of queer dressing and behavior on youngsters." Control of the airwaves is one of the ways China's government is trying to preserve Chinese culture. But the old Soviet model of closing off a society to preserve it doesn't work. China has to realize that it has enough economic and cultural heft to make something cooler than Brand America. One way it's already resisting US mono-culturalism is by looking to its Asian neighbors for new defi nitions of cool. Despite a tradition of animosity towards Japan and Korea, young Chinese are embracing the food, music and culture of those two countries. How long until Asian cool takes over the world?

Nicholas Klassen