GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

Spring 2010

by William Drozdiak

The quest for effective global governance needs to focus on pragmatic models, not on Utopian visions. The United Nations has made some very real contributions in peacekeeping, health and development over the last 65 years, but will never live up to the grandiose dreams that some have had of world government. The more salutary ambition would be to re-shape existing multilateral institutions in ways that harness the forces of globalisation while respecting the reality of nationalism as the dominant force in terms of power and order around the world.

The most successful reform so far has been the dramatic shift in global economic power from the G8 group of industrialised democracies to the G20 and its amalgam of both wealthy and emerging powers. The G20 encompasses 80% of the world’s population and a similar proportion of global economic output, and in the eyes of the world that endows it with much great political legitimacy than the G8 which barely accounts for 12% of the world’s population. When thinking about global governance, the important measurement is the balance between the widest possible representation of global interests and the most effective way to implement policies. Too often, consensus means the lowest denominator and thus the least effective kind of action.

Rather than look to global institutions, an alternative is to employ regional institutions to act in the service of global governance. NATO and the European Union, perhaps the two most important multilateral institutions in the West, have proven value in preventing war and building prosperity. The test of their future worth will be how they adapt to the post-American world of the 21st century. Can NATO forge a new strategic concept that broadens the definition of security to include nation-building through effective police training and economic development? And can the European Union extend its mandate to help other regions of the world achieve peace and prosperity? Both institutions must adapt to the changing security demands of our time, and find new ways to work together on solution that have proved so elusive in the past.

 

Further articles in this GLOBAL GOVERNANCE section
Pascal Lamy	Global Governance is a challenge for democracy (but an EU opportunity)
Iain Begg	Global governance could take a leaf from the EU's book
Leszek Balcerowicz	Worldwide reform means engaging public opinion first
Robert Hutchings	Why U.S.-EU economic co-operation holds the key to global governance
Paul Tucker	Ending boom and bust: The case for macroprudential instruments
The Europe's World panel on global governance
C. Fred Bergsten	The global crisis has accelerated governance reform
Daniel Daianu	G20 could turn into a global economic security body
Kemal Dervis	G20 should increase the legitimacy of the international institutions
Jirí Dienstbier	Nation states cannot meet the challenges of deregulated globalisation
Monica Frassoni	The only global governance model that would work is federal
Angel Gurría	G20 could give the momentum needed to usher in unprecedented international co-operation
Danuta Hübner	The dynamics of crisis have fundamentally altered the global financial system
Wolfgang Ischinger	We need fundamental reform of the international institutions
Sandra Kalniete	Global governance requires predictable and fair funding
Sergei A. Karaganov	Despite its decline, Europe will be a shining example of how the world should be governed
Kishore Mahbubani	Europe provides both the problem and the solution to reforming global governance
Reza Moghadam	We at the IMF have already begun the process of reconciling effectiveness and legitimacy
Jean Pisani-Ferry	After a brilliant start, global co-operation and governance may disappoint in the years ahead
Hans-Gert Pöttering	The European Parliament must play a central role if we want a democratic model of global governance
Jiang Shixue	China would never accept the idea of a G2
Danilo Türk	We need global institutions capable of making international co-operation inclusive
Guy Verhofstadt	Integration that transcends borders is the logical response to 21st century realities
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