‘Good Enough Global Governance’ Maybe – But is It Really Such a Global Muddle?

G20_-_Cumbre_de_Cannes_-_20011103So my colleague and friend Stewart Patrick, the Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program at the Council on Foreign Relations has given us a full picture of the contemporary global governance system recently in Foreign Affairs.

But say it ain’t so Stewart. The bottom line for him is an unruly and largely unorganized global governance architecture delivering only partially what is needed:

The future will see not the renovation or the construction of a glistening new international architecture but rather the continued spread of an unattractive but adaptable multilateral sprawl that delivers a partial measure of international cooperation through a welter of informal arrangements and piecemeal approaches.

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And Then There was a New Host – Australia

Sydney Harbor

 

Quietly, maybe a touch too quietly, Australia assumed the hosting duties of the G20 on December 1, 2014.  As one of the first initiatives under Australia’s presidency, the program director of the G20 Studies Centre at Australia’s Lowy Institute, Mike Callaghan convened a Think20 session in Sydney.  So as in Russia, and before that in Mexico, representatives from G20 think tanks and  G20-focused academic centers gathered in the mercifully warm and sunny city of Sydney.

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From Shanghai to Pretoria – From Where You Stand: Part II

University of PretoriaSIIS Logo

 

 

 

 

 

Shanghai was the first conference stop; but it wasn’t the last.  For the first time the partners – the Munk School of Global Affairs and the Stanley Foundation – held a conference in Pretoria partnering with our friends at the Department of Political Science at the University of Pretoria.  We were very fortunate to welcome friends from most of the key countries – Brazil, India, China and obviously South Africa.  Unfortunately, our colleague from Russia was ultimately unable to make it.

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From Shanghai to Pretoria – From Where You Stand

University of Pretoria

 

 

 

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Well I must say, I have a fair bit of catching up to do.  Much in the way of travel and international legal action, but not much action on the blog front.  Well that is at an end.

And we are approaching as well, if you hadn’t noticed, a milestone event in international relations – the 100th anniversary of the commencement of the “War to End All Wars” – the First World War.  If you haven’t noticed, there has been a notable uptick in the number of books on the approach to war and the initiation of World War 1 – August 4, 1914.  So I shall be delving into various of these books and articles on this crucial twentieth century event.

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