Global Governance and the Emergence of Global Institutions for the 21st Century

Is there any hope for those who despair at the state of the world and the powerlessness of governments to find a way forward? Global Governance and the Emergence of Global Institutions for the 21st Century provides ambitious but reasonable proposals to give our globalized world the institutions of international governance necessary to address effectively the catastrophic risks facing humanity that are beyond national control. The solution, the authors suggest, is to extend to the international level the same principles of sensible governance that exist in well-governed national systems: rule of law, legislation in the common interest, an executive branch to implement such legislation, and courts to enforce it. The best protection is unified collective action, based on shared values and respect for diversity, to implement widely accepted international principles to advance universal human prosperity and well-being. This title is also available as Open Access.

Part I. Background: 1. The challenges of the twenty-first century; 2. A history of global governance; 3. European integration: building supranational institutions; Part II. Reforming the Central Institutions of the United Nations: 4. The general assembly: reforms to strengthen its effectiveness; 5. A world parliamentary assembly: a catalyst for change; 6. Advisory mechanisms to support global policy-making; 7. UN Executive Council: beyond an outdated paradigm; 8. Completing the collective security mechanism of the Charter: establishing an international peace force; 9. Towards systemic disarmament: resetting global priorities; 10. Strengthening the international rule of law; 11. Human rights for the twenty-first century; 12. A new UN funding mechanism; Part III. Governance and the Management of Multiple Global Risks: 13. UN specialized agencies and governance for global risks; 14. Economic governance for inequality and the private sector; 15. Global financial architecture and the international monetary fund; 16. Responding to global environmental crises; 17. Population and migration; Part IV. Cross-cutting Issues: 18. Corruption as a destroyer of prosperity and the need for international enforcement; 19. Education for transformation; Part V. Foundations for a New Global Governance System: 20. Values and principles for an enhanced international system: operationalizing global 'good governance'; 21. Some immediate steps forward: getting 'from here to there'; Part VI. Conclusions: 22. Bridging the governance gap.

Augusto Lopez-Claros is Senior Fellow in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Washington DC, former Director of the Global Indicators Group at the World Bank, and Chief Economist and Director of the Global Competitiveness Program at the World Economic Forum. He is the author of Equality for Women = Prosperity for All (2018).
Arthur L. Dahl is President of the International Environment Forum and a retired senior official of UN Environment. He is the author of The Eco Principle: Ecology and Economics in Symbiosis (1996) and Unless and Until: A Baha'i Focus on the Environment (1990).
Maja Groff is an international lawyer based in The Hague, assisting in the development and servicing of multilateral treaties for over a decade. She has drafted international legal policy documents and published academically on private and public international law, human rights and global governance, also teaching at The Hague Academy of International Law.