(IPS) opinion Many policy pitfalls have been pointed out to US President George W Bush since his team began crafting a response to the terrible attacks of Sept 11. They include the need to avoid any rapid retaliation with the use of force, which might kill more civilians.

Afghanistan is already a wasteland of poverty, drought and suffering, while Osama bin Laden's camps are mobile and hard to detect. Recruiting allies and Nato could lead to another set of 'us versus them' divisions that could further alienate many other countries and risk triggering new terrorist acts.

President Bush can learn from his father and avoid such traps by uniting the whole world to participate in curbing terrorism. President Bush now has US$40 billion of discretionary funds granted by Congress. He could take one billion of this and pay the US arrears owed to the United Nations and to our allies for past UN peacekeeping actions, which were fully approved by the US.

Why is this so necessary?

Because, like his father during the Gulf War in 1991, President Bush needs to create the very broadest coalition of support for the US in dealing with terrorism. Only the UN can deliver this via a resolution with the support of every country in the world. Even our approaches to Pakistan will need to be strengthened by support of all countries, through a UN resolution.

Such UN action will be swift and supportive of the US since it can invoke the power of international law and precedent. Then a UN Summit on Terrorism can be quickly convened with the willing help of our European and Nato partners and include every country wishing to be free of the scourge of terrorism.

The new war

The new 'war' as we are learning, is different. The old 'wild West' cowboy models belong to the last century. The US has been the key player in today's technological and economic globalisation that created the tightly-wired interdependent world we now share with all peoples, rich and poor, industrialised or still pastoral.

We took down all the firewalls between national economies and are now learning how to deal with the consequences: massive flows of 'hot money' and the crises and contagion as all economies now move up or down in sync.

Similarly, the world's two billion people surviving on less than US$2 per day can see on global media our affluent, often wasteful consumption. The result of this global interdependence is resentment, anger, desperate immigrants seeking better lives for their children and inevitably, greater risks of terrorism. We in the US are called to a greater maturity, matching our power and wealth. We lost our innocence on Sept 11.

Today's current economic, technological globalisation could end in another global recession and war as the previous globalisation did in the 1930s and 1940s. To prevent this, we must help shape a more just and ecologically sustainable global economy. The myriad of international agreements needed to shape this healthier, more balanced globalisation, must reinforce those already achieved on human rights, core labour standards, and the treaties to protect our global environment.

International Criminal Court

These accords were brokered over 55 years by the United Nations and today many more need to be ratified by the US, from the Kyoto protocols on global climate change to the International Criminal Court. We need Interpol and many other international agencies to help catch Osama bin Laden and his accomplices. Then these criminals can be tried before the International Court in the Hague along with Slobodan Milosovic and others who commit crimes against all humanity.

President Bush's first months of unilateralism, during which he abrogated no fewer than six international treaties, including his missile defence threat to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, caused deep anger, even amongst the US' closest allies. Bush needs them now, as well as all other countries fighting terrorism.

Only the United Nations has a big enough tent to bring all countries to a Summit on Terrorism, where all, including many sympathetic Muslim countries, can shape a worldwide strategy to combat terrorists wherever they are in our wired, global village. Such win-win strategies will become more prevalent as we all learn the lessons of global interdependence.

HAZEL HENDERSON is an American author, futurist and consultant on sustainable development. Her latest book is 'Beyond Globalisation: Shaping a Sustainable Global Economy'.