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Basic
Course 5: Solutions Strategies - Global Governance
If the problems
increasingly take on global character, then the political solution to the
problem also needs to be 'globalised'. Various concepts apply here, including
the introduction of a global state. Since this, at least in the foreseeable
future, remains a utopia, and in the opinion of many would not be desirable, a
search for new and alternative forms of political organisation in the age of
globalisation has been set out upon. 'Global Governance' is representative of
this. Global governance is labelled as...
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Global
governance without global government |
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Global
internal politics |
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The
politics of world order |
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Politics
in 21st Century |
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An
alternative concept to neoliberalism |
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A
response to globalisation |
The
following table collates various defined strategies for global governance, in
order to provide an initial impression of the significant dimensions and
direction of these strategies:
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Global governance is...
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“...a political correction of the globalised market
economy in the sense of...an integration of economic systems into more
comprehensive social aims...”
[Holger Mürle]
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“...the collaboration of state and non-state
players ranging from a local to a global level..."
[Dirk Messner/Franz Nuscheler]
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„...not a foreign political concept, but a project
to reorganise politics at all levels of activity...Global governance means
to parry the threat of abandoning organisation by politics in favour of
anonymous system logics and the formation of a 'non-state' world...'
[Dirk Messner/Franz Nuscheler]
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“...[represents an environment in which] solution
strategies would be searched for, which do not question the economic and
political benefits of globalisation, and are suitable for surmounting and
tempering the unfairness and dangers which have occurred...This task has
been labelled global governance in the meantime...“
[German Federal Assembly]
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“...a complex multi-level system of governing
beyond the nation state...“
[Ulrich Menzel]
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“...attempt to solve global problems..."
[Dirk Messner/Franz Nuscheler]
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“...the opposite of regulations, the essence of
which represents the further liberalisation and globalisation of the
markets..."
[Holger Mürle]
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“...a concept born out of the global-political
regulation deficit, designed to fortify the competence and transparency of
international institutions using non-state players..."
[Klaus Müller]
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"Capitalism
is a powerful and strong tiger, that can be goaded to revive an economy -
assuming that its powers are tamed by civil and political institutions.
Globalisation has released the tiger from its cage to face a 'wild'
capitalism, which, like a freed tiger, returns to follows its instinct of
hunting and devouring all" [Benjamin R. Barber].
The goal of global governance is the (renewed) taming of the 'tiger'
released by globalisation". |
Global
Governance Represents the Answer to Global Problems
The unequal distribution of profits, shortfall of tax revenue due to tax havens,
international crises as a result of unimaginable, speculative capital movements,
ruinous location competition due to potential threats by multinational companies
and other resulting problems of (economic) globalisation can only be dealt with
suitably within a global framework, whereby the players involved need to
cooperate together at all levels. The same applies to problems ranging from the
greenhouse effect, migration and international criminality, to the distribution
of weapons of mass destruction.
The nation state is too small for this and other problems. The first, successful
'taming of capitalism' took place within its bounds. Now its borders, by way of
which it defines itself in essential terms, remain in crass disproportion to the
'borderlessness' of globalisation: The nation state is eroding, it can no longer
fulfil important state functions alone, such as a guarantee of security for its
citizens in an age of mass weapons of destruction.
The Global Governance Architecture
Global governance wants to fill the resulting vacuum in the deficit in
regulation with international cooperations - here, the nation state retains its
central regulatory function -, as well as with new forms of politics, in
particular, by including the (global) civil society and by strengthening
international organisations. The diagram below details an appropriate
architecture for this:
Global
Governance between Utopia and Need
Franz Nuscheler argues that "global governance does not represent a
romantic project for achieving a healthy 'single world', but a realistic
response to the challenges of globalisation". Global governance concepts
attempt to find solution strategies for the problems of this world. The need to
find new ways to solve political problems remains undisputed. Frequently,
however, the architects of global governance are accused that their concepts are
utopian.
How is global cooperation to function if, as hegemonial power, the United States
increasingly goes its own way and, for instance, withdraws from the Kyoto
Protocol, which signifies a heavy blow for the efforts towards global climate
protection? Who is to coordinate the cooperation between states, corporations
and NGOs etc?
And even if it is possible to coordinate effective cooperation: Who legitimises
the decisions? How can democratic processes be organised in global terms? Global
governance needs to be effective and democratic at the same time. An arc of
tension exists between both these fundamental requirements.
The most advanced model for the cooperation of states and societies is
represented by European Union (EU), which is why it can serve as a laboratory
for global governance. Within the framework of the EU, the dilemma of efficiency
and democracy pointedly referred to can be observed, whereby it has to be taken
into consideration that the European states are far more similar than in global
terms.
Recommendations for Studying the Topic in Detail
1. The
EU Laboratory for Global Governance - The Europaserver provides detailed information on
the EU (www.europa.eu.int).
We also have our own series of topics on D@dalos [...
on
the subject of the European Union as a whole]
2. The
United Nations (UN) as a Strategy for Global Governance
- The UN website provides
detailed information (www.un.org).
We also have our own series of topics on D@dalos [...on the United Nations as a
whole]
3. The
World Conferences as an Example of Global Governance [... more]
4.
Agenda 21 is a Prime Example of Global Governance [... more]
[Author: Ragnar Müller]
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