a. Global Governance in the 21st Century
Over the last two decades, the world has suffered from a
global governance deficit. This deficit comprises a lack of
the following:
– Adequate mechanisms to deal with issues of
international peace and security
– Satisfactory mechanisms to anticipate and counter
global economic shocks
– Effective instruments to ensure important global public
goods, not least in critical areas such as climate change
and public health
In the early 2000s, it was expected that the international
community would embark on a comprehensive effort to
overhaul the multilateral system, with renewed rules and
institutions to address the challenges posed by evolving
geopolitical and economic circumstances. These ambitions
included reform of World Bank and IMF governance;
creation of a new world environmental institution; and
ongoing attempts at United Nations (UN) Security Council
reform. Recent history suggests, however, that such a
comprehensive overhaul will not take place anytime soon.
Almost every effort to significantly transform the
mechanisms for international cooperation and coordination
has failed. The floundering of the 2005 UN World Summit,
the collapse of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha
Round, the disappointing progress on climate change,
and the non-fulfilment of early and indispensable G20
commitments all suggest that governments are not ready,
or not willing, to close the growing governance gap, at least
within the next few years.
In other words, no transformative overhaul of international
institutions should be expected in the foreseeable future.
In no way should the pertinent players give up on existing
institutions; rather, the only realistic alternative seems to
be incremental reform.1
Scarce political capital should
be applied to improving the performance of multilateral
institutions, as radical transformations of the existing overall
framework cannot be counted on. Based on this notion,
this project addresses one aspect where incremental reform
seems not only necessary, but feasible: in the leadership of
international organizations (IOs).