Who rules the world?

The role of effective global governance in harnessing globalisation

 


‘ATHENS 3’

Third Annual Conference
of the New School of Athens

 

John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation

Athens Greece

April 2-5 2008

 
 

                                 

                                                                                                                                                V Vijay Mehta
vijay@vmpeace.org

 

Contents

1.   Introduction

2.   Who rules the world?

3.   Present day global threats and challenges

4.   Strengths and weaknesses of world institutions

5.   Recommendations for an effective global governance in harnessing globalisation

6.   Conclusion

 

 

Introduction

The creation of legitimate global institutions involves multiple goals: First, the institutions must be representative. Second, the institutions need to be effective. Third, collectively the international institutions need to serve as an effective global governance system. Finally, the international institutions should offer opportunities for national and international leaders to forge coalitions for action and reform.

Globalisation involves a whole range of issues, from intellectual property, trade, multinational corporations, how we manage the environment, natural resources, oil, as well as the global financial system. In a sense, globalisation is the sum total of all of those.

Many of today’s international institutions were created at the end of World War II, more than 60 years ago. Since then they have responded in many significant ways to the challenges arising during the second half of the 20th century, including decolonisation, the end of the cold war, global security, environmental threats, and global poverty. Even though many new global and regional organisations were added since 1945 - when the United Nations was created and the Bretton Woods organisations opened their doors - very little has been altered in the basic structure of these global institutions.

Global institutions are not working well individually and as a group. For example, the global institutions at the core of the international system, such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the G8 Summit are, to varying degrees fragmented, unrepresentative and ineffective, and generally suffer from an corrosive decline in their legitimacy. They are increasingly fragile and unable to address the global challenges of the 21st century.

Who rules the world?

The short answer is "no-one," if by "rules" one means "control". No world government exists, and the United Nations, while many things, is anything but united. In most circumstances, the organisation lacks both the consensus as well as the capacity to impose its will on member governments or others, be they terrorist organisations or drug cartels, corporations or NGOs.

No one – even the most powerful country in today's world, the United States – can run things alone. This is, in part, because of the nature of the challenges in today's world. Terrorism, the spread of nuclear materials and weapons, global climate change - all require collective action.

Globalisation is not an option. It is a fact.

First, we live in an age of networks. States, individuals and companies are more and more integrated. The challenges we face - economic integration and migration, energy security and climate change, humanitarian crises, failing states and terrorism - are interdependent. The current turmoil in financial markets clearly shows how interlinked the world has become.

A second key feature is that, in many ways, we live in a global village. Information spreads in real-time. Geography is no obstacle to knowledge anymore. Economic attitudes converge. The same mobile phones and fashion brands are present from Brazil to Beirut.

Still, the challenge today is not stemming the tide of globalisation, but making it work properly.


 Present day global threats and challenges

We can define present day global threats and challenges as security, environmental and economic threats which are:

 

-          Global, human and collective security

-          Terrorism

-          Weapons of mass destruction

-          Climate change

-          Rich-poor divide (globalisation)

-          Food, water shortages and  natural disasters

-          Global financial crisis

All these need to be tackled for the maintenance of world security, effective global governance and harnessing globalisation. We need all types of security to develop the institutions to work for peace, development and environment.

Managing globalisation and strengthening its rules is thus in everyone’s vital interest. Globalisation is not a zero-sum game: there are massive dividends to be gained from it, if it is harnessed properly and poorer nations are not excluded from its benefits. According to a UN report, over the last 40 years, the income of the world’s richest 20 nations has tripled, whilst the income of the 20 poorest has barely changed. The growing inequity needs to be addressed in order for globalisation to work for the poor.

The upheaval of today’s financial markets is a stark warning that we require a strong financial system to regulate our financial markets as sound economic well-being is as important as security for the successful implementation of ethical globalisation.

Globalisation has given us great opportunities. Businesses trade more freely, people and goods travel more cheaply, millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. Yet there is a dark side. Increased competition can lead to the outsourcing of jobs. Technological change enables the enemies of globalisation. Inequality breeds discontent.

Opening our economies, making globalisation fair and investing in people is not sufficient. Globalisation cannot succeed without a stronger dialogue of civilisations. A "clash of civilisations" is not inevitable. But we must make sure it does not become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The real threat is a clash of ignorance and intolerance.

Therefore, we need a vigorous but peaceful dialogue of civilisations. This dialogue must have liberty, dignity and respect at its core. Both the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion are universal and non-negotiable. More fundamentally, violence is never a remedy for perceived wrong. We should promote tolerance, human security and good governance around the world.


Kofi Annan got it right when he noted that without respect for human rights, there could neither be security

nor development. Obviously, one cannot simply export or impose freedom, market economics or democratic institutions.

Helping the forces of moderation and modernity is vital to protect human security. It is also critical for the functioning of globalisation as such. Only stable stakeholders are responsible partners. There is no open world without open societies. A key weapon against instability and the "clash of ignorance" is education. Supporting open societies is particularly important to fight another scourge of our times: Global terrorism.

We are at present witnessing nuclear proliferation and tensions in India, Pakistan and Iran. The recent escalation in the situation in Iran could start another pre-emptive war. We are living at a time when the constant threat of nuclear weapons and war hangs on us. How can the United Nations and the international community send a powerful message for abolishing nuclear weapons and establishing the rule of law?    

Safeguarding global security and prosperity also means working for reliable energy relations and sustainable development. This is critical to avoid mortgaging future generations, but also to ensure a level playing-field for globalisation today. Think about the impact of global warming, price hikes on resources and environmental disasters, in particular on developing economies.

Global and local environmental problems will move increasingly to the fore as efforts are stepped up to address the problems of global warming, pollution of the oceans, fresh water scarcity, and urban congestion and so on. In the coming decades, the industrialising countries will become a much bigger consumer of energy and account for a significant and growing share of greenhouse gas emissions. Population growth, economic expansion and climate change could expose as many as 3 billion people to water shortage problems by 2025.

In particular, we need to make sure that emerging economies are on board too. By 2020, developing countries' emissions will surpass those of developed countries. At the same time, it is the poorest that would suffer most from the impact of global warming. That is why it is important to integrate climate change into the development policy.

Already today, energy matters are a central feature of our relations with producer and transit countries, from China to Central Asia, from the Gulf to Western Africa. Energy security is inextricably linked with the issue of climate change. There can't be any doubt that man's activities are responsible for global warming. Last year's review by the UK economist, Sir Nicholas Stern estimates its costs at 20% of global GDP when extrapolating wider risks. At the same time the cost of action to avoid the worst impacts can be limited to 1% of global GDP per year. A good example is the EU which is at the forefront of combating climate change. It has agreed to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 20% and to raise the share of renewable energy sources to 20%, both by the year 2020.

Also, Europe's system of emissions trading has blazed a trail in using market forces to protect the environment. That is why various players, including e.g. California, consider joining this system. The European Union has been at the forefront of the EU European Trading Scheme (ETS) and should be more widely adopted by other countries.

Strengths and weaknesses of world institutions

Global governance system is composed of national governments, international organisations such as the United Nations, nongovernmental organisations, transnational corporations, and the international currency exchanges. The mass media have created a "global theatre" that is also inescapably a part of this system. There are also regional intergovernmental organisations like the European Union (UN), NAFTA, ASEAN, APEC, the African Union and MERCUSOR who are also part of global governance system. 

Global governance is therefore extensive and multilayered; extensive because it can embrace pretty well any challenge facing the global community. The peoples of the world are becoming interconnected and interlinked and therefore mutually concerned. This can be climate change, human rights; the environment, operation of financial markets, or the health of national economies; it is a case of “what affects one can affect all.”

A healthy form of global governance is that its implementation must be by popular consent, and yet it must also be consented to and implemented by nation-states. We need to understand that ideas and values are now as important a tool as economic might, in the effort to guarantee our security.

For example, there is a small self selected body that has become like one institution, the G8 (France, United Kingdom, Germany, USA, Japan, Italy Canada and Russia) initially concentrating on economic matters, now in a sense representative of the world community, and yet playing a powerful role in guiding the response to international challenges.

Another example is the European Union. Over the last 60 years, European integration has been the successful answer to "regional interdependence". Today, the EU is a truly global actor. It unites half a billion people. It is the world's largest economic block, with a quarter of global GDP. 56% of worldwide financial aid comes from Europe. 60,000 European peacekeepers serve from Congo to Kosovo, from Afghanistan to Indonesia.

The Euro is the world's second currency. It has created the world's largest market, which is not only a magnet for investors, but also "globalises" European rules, from financial services to mobile phone technology. The EU is already the world's largest donor. Its goal is to raise aid to 0.7% of our Gross National Income by 2015, and to improve the links between aid and other policies, such as trade, climate change and human security.

A key step to strengthen the global economy is using the full potential of the transatlantic marketplace which accounts for 60% of global GDP. Together it covers 40% of world trade, with exchanges worth over €1.7 billion a day.

The remark of the China's Ambassador in Brussels recently demonstrates the success of the EU project. He said: The EU is one of those things which happen only every four or five hundred years." That is the achievement on which others must build.

In a report by the Commission on Global Governance entitled, “Foundation for Global Governance” the Commission is of the belief that the world is now ready to accept a "global civic ethic" based on "a set of core values that can unite people of all cultural, political, religious, or philosophical backgrounds."

The report continues, "We believe that all humanity could uphold the core values of respect for life, liberty, justice and equity, mutual respect, caring, and integrity." Similarly, the United Nations, World Bank and other international organisations, various regimes, coalitions of interested nations and individual nations when they act globally to address to various issues that emerge beyond national borders, such as development, the environment, human rights, infectious diseases and international terrorism are part of global governance.
 

However, the world institutions of today are slow to react and bureaucratic. They are in need of radical reforms if they are to be more effective and relevant to the present realities. The leaders and governments of the world are pursuing relentlessly their own national agenda to the detriment of the planet.

Clearly, our present system of global governance is very poorly equipped to handle the challenges of the global agenda. And it is not hard to see why "short-termism" prevails as our public and corporate leaders face an average tenure of less than five years. National interest dominates to the detriment of global interest in an antiquated system based on national sovereignty. Existing institutions tend to be compartmentalised with separate organisations for security, health, labour, environment and trade and are thus ill-equipped to address the interrelated challenges of the 21st century.

The G8, the UN Security Council and other institutions require new approaches and structures to deal with the realities of the post-WWII world in which developing economies wield more influence and power.

The end of the Cold War, the expansion of the European Union and the rapid economic rise of developing countries such as China, India, Brazil and Mexico mean that the international organisations dealing with broad governance issues no longer include important players.

Recommendations for an effective global governance in harnessing globalisation

The way forward for global institutions is to tackle new security, economic and climate change threats by promoting disarmament, human rights, trade, building a global rule of law and order. It also includes managing environmental degradation, emergencies and disasters, clash of religion and culture, unrestrained tide of globalisation. The implementation and completion of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) should be a top priority as gross inequities like poverty and lack of opportunity are fertile grounds for violence and terrorism. The recommendations are as follows:

 

bullet We should find holistic solutions to all the interrelated issues and taking responsibility to deal collectively and have a multilateral approach in dealing with threats and challenges of today. I suggest the concept of common security- peace, environment, social justice and environmental protection- reflects more accurately the purpose of the UN Charter, its treaties and conventions. Most importantly the international community has the moral obligation and duty to control and intervene in countries if they are sliding into chaos, lawlessness, violence and unable to protect its citizens from rape, murder and killings.

 

bullet The international community need to link the agenda of development, environment and disarmament together by building partnerships at national and global level. We can not have security amidst starvation and we cannot build peace without alleviating poverty and we cannot have either without a better environment. Only a peaceful society can work its way up to creating the institutions ripe for development and free itself from injustices and human rights abuses. The problems we face today- violent conflicts, destruction of nature, diseases, poverty and hunger etc are human created problems which can be resolved through human effort, understanding and goodness.

 

bullet Unilateralist ambitions of major powers cannot solve global governance. The principle tools for bringing a non-violent world are dialogue, negotiation, compromise, taking into consideration not only the interest of the parties involved but concerns for the entire humanity. We should make the 21st century about governments giving power to the people. A united civil society should use its strength for stopping politicians using their power unilaterally in violation of law and international treaties.

 

bullet The international community should work towards phasing the elimination of nuclear weapons. For decades nuclear non-proliferation treaty has saved the world from extinction. We should ensure and cooperate with other countries to maintain the nuclear disarmament and restrict the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.


 In the area of prevention of nuclear proliferation and to achieve a nuclear weapons free world, we should work on promoting measures such as comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty, an end to the production of fissile material, further reduction in the nuclear stockpile, the establishment of nuclear-weapons-free-zone, prevention of an arms race in outer space, and the abolition of nuclear weapons through a verifiable treaty or a package of treaties.  

 

bullet In a globalised world, where fundamentalism is rife, where there is a clash of culture and civilisation, we need discussion and dialogue leading to inter-cultural and inter-religious harmony. We should work to strike a balance between religious and secular values and forge a unity in this fragmented world. We need respect and tolerance between religious and different groups of people to treat each other with dignity.  A dialogue and understanding among civilisations, cultures, and religions can pave a way for safer and brighter future.

 

bullet In the sphere of aid, we need to reduce poverty and campaign for debt relief and of doubling the aid for Africa, implementation of MDGs. Also improving emergency fund for responding to disasters, food and water shortages.  

 

bullet We should also work for promoting multilateralism which paired with rule of law can deliver civil liberty, economic opportunity, and security which can change life in a positive way. We should strengthen democratic institutions and develop a pluralistic media, increasing participation with civil society.

 

bullet We should reduce the global incidence of war. War retards development, but conversely development retards war. Around 50% of the conflicts of the past 20 years have reoccurred within five years of the peace agreements. Getting rid of war is not a utopian dream. There already exists in the world large regions for example, European Union, within which war is inconceivable.

 

bullet We should work towards using resources for peaceful and environmentally sustainable purposes instead of military spending. At present the global arms trade, and its accompanying glut of military spending, continues to represent the single most significant perversion of worldwide priorities known today. For the sixth year military spending rose over the trillion dollar mark while billions of people who never see more than $1 or $2 a day are held hostage to unconscionable poverty.

 

bullet Good governance at the national level must be matched by the commitment to practice good governance at the international level, to establish a dynamic and enabling international economic environment. The present global financial system requires a complete overhaul. It is neither open, rule-based nor predictable. This is clearly reinforced when one looks at the Bretton Woods Institutions and the limited scope for the effective voice and participation of developing countries, especially small developing countries. A reform of the decision-making system, especially in the IMF and World Bank, is required so that developing countries can have a fairer and more effective role in the policies and processes of these institutions.

 

bullet It is very important to introduce universal education and the importance of spreading ideas which can be very influential in disseminating knowledge for everybody’s use for nurturing a globalised information and knowledge economy and society. There is a need for a major overhaul of competition and intellectual property laws and administration to take into account the greater importance of intangible assets and global markets. New ground will have to be broken to provide global policy frameworks for the internet and in particular for electronic commerce. The latter demand includes global solutions to such issues as consumer protection, safeguarding privacy, secure payment, verifying identity and ensuring competitive market conditions.

 

bullet For globalisation to work, we have to introduce heavy investments in technology, education and aid to the countries which are the bottom of the league as in Africa, who don’t have the resources and the knowledge to take advantage of the benefits of globalisation. In stark contrast, in China and India where there has been consistent growth of up to 10 per cent for a long time, should be the role model of economic growth.

 

bullet Economic globalisation has outpaced political globalisation. Economic globalisation has meant we are more interdependent, more integrated, as a global economy; and more integration, more interdependence, means there is more need for cooperative action. We have to do things together—set standards, set rules of the game. But we don't have the political institutions by which to do that democratically, nor the mindset to do it in ways that are fair.

 

bullet We should emulate European integration which is a success story. It can be used as a template for global governance. It has built permanent peace between Europeans, laid the basis for their prosperity and framed the re-unification of the continent.

 Conclusion
We need governments and institutions which are transparent, democratic, accountable and can work together with NGOs and civil society. With all its weaknesses and need for reform, the UN is one of the best world institution which has the clout, legitimacy and calibre to solve problems effectively on a world stage. However, it should work in cooperation with other international organisations and civil society, as all of these are problems that no one institution or country can solve on its own and which are the shared responsibility of humankind.

On a positive note, some of the successful examples of global governance can be listed as the newly formed International Criminal Court, Kyoto Protocol and MDGs where the governments of the world, NGOs and civil society have worked together certain common codes of conduct under which some of the challenges and threats including prosecution for crimes against humanity, protecting the environment and helping the poor to fight HIV, AIDs and poverty can be implemented globally. The Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has made major contributions to global security and economic well being. It has been remarkably successful in achieving its main goals and - with nearly 190 parties -has become the most widely-adhered to arms control treaty in history. The NPT is an indispensable tool in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.

Let me throw a few questions on the current global governance issues which are relevant today. 

 

·         The deteriorating situation in Iraq and Afghanistan

·         Current tensions with nuclear proliferation issues with Iran

·         Human rights abuses in Darfur, Burma and Tibet

·         How countries should act to mitigate climate change

·         How countries can tackle food, water shortages and  natural disasters

·         How countries can deal with the global financial crisis

So who rules the world? Whoever has the strategic guidance, vision, and leadership for institutional reforms creating a global governance system and is able to achieve the focus, coherence and coordination required to meet today’s challenges, reflecting the new economic and demographic realities for responding to new challenges for creating a better future.

The role of UN and the goal of effective global governance is to promote peace and disarmament, protection of human rights, environment, rule of law, and development of the poorest regions of the world. If that can be put into action by leaders and global institutions then we stand a fair chance of harnessing globalisation and solving the huge problems of the 21st century.

 

 


 

Notes

The following publications were consulted during the writing of this article:

Commission on Global Governance, ‘Foundation of Global Governance.’
To view report go to www.libertymatters.org/globalgovernance.htm

For figures on global military expenditure see Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
"Recent Trends in Military Expenditures"
2004. http://web.sipri.org/contents/milap/milex/mex_trends.html

OECD, ‘The future: what policy-makers have to think about,’ (OECD) 8 March 2006

V Mehta, Revitalising global governance and democracy. Athens, Greece
www.vmpeace.org

V. Mehta, ‘The Fortune Forum Code: For a Sustainable Future,’ 2006

Joseph E. Stiglitz, ‘Making Globalization Work’ (Carnegie Council), October 5, 2006

BBC News, ‘The case for global integration’, Richard N Hass, September 23, 2005

Brookings Institute, Reform of Global Governance: Priorities for Action, March 9, 2008

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The full version of this speech can be downloaded from:

 

bullet VM Centre for Peace                                           www.vmpeace.org 

 
bullet Action for UN Renewal                       www.action-for-un-renewal.org.uk

 

Vijay Mehta is an author and global activist for peace, development, human rights and the environment. Some of his notable books are The Fortune Forum Summit: For a Sustainable Future, Arms No More, and The United Nations and Its Future in the 21st Century. He is president of VM Centre for Peace (www.vmpeace.org),co-founder of Fortune Forum Charity,  Chair of Action for UN Renewal, and co-Chair of World Disarmament Campaign.

 He along with his daughter Renu Mehta founder of Fortune Forum (www.fortuneforum.org) held two summits in London in 2006 and 2007. The summits attracted a worldwide audience of 1.3 billion people (one fifth of humanity) including print and media coverage. The keynote speakers for the first and second summit were Bill Clinton, former US President and Al Gore, former US vice-President, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize 2007.

Vijay Mehta has appeared in various TV programmes including BBC World , Ajtak-24 hour Indian news channel, Iranian national TV, and Think Peace documentary, Canada, among others. The Independent, Observer and Guardian newspapers, among other journals have written about him. His life is devoted to the service of peace, humanity and our planet.

He is at present writing a book on climate change jointly with, Renu Mehta.