Global governance is a movement towards political cooperation among transnationalactors, aimed at negotiating responses to problems that threaten local and global communities. It is a product of neo-liberal paradigm shifts in international political and economic relations.
• Global governance is concerned with issues that have become too complex for a single state to address alone.
Need for global governance:
• Issues such as humanitarian crises, military conflicts between and within states, climate change and economic volatility pose serious threats to human security in all societies and they have become ‘global’ beyond the capacity for state governments alone to address such issues.
Mechanism for global governance could be:
• International Governmental Organizations (IGOs): World Trade Organization and the UN systemare examples of existing state-centered governance mechanisms. They utilize partnerships with non-state actors that have expertise and resources.
• Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs): UN Global Compact is anexample of an international PPP. UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) utilize the PPP strategy across all aspects of implementation of the SDGs.
• Private governance: They set sector-specific standards. Eg: Moody’s Investors Service and Standard and Poor’s Rating Groups sets international accounting standards.
• Tripartite governance mechanisms: It includes involvement of state, private and civil society actors. For example Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, publish What You Pay and the African Peer Review Mechanism, thus helping in categorizing PPPs.
Challenges:
• Gridlock: Current international institutions fail to provide a coordinated response to current agendas. Eg: Recent crisis in Syria showed lack of cooperation among international institutions.
• Principle of sovereignty: Issue of sovereignty comes while dealing with international problems.
• Limited capacity: For egpolitical divisions and partisan interests within the Security Council blocked any international response to the mass atrocities committed in Syria, thus strengthening impunity and encouraging the expansion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
• Rise of increased nationalist movements:Eg: The issue of refugees in EU effects global cooperation
• Many alternative institutions: Rising powers as BRICS while advocating for better representation in institutions as UNSC, IMF, WB have developed alternative mechanisms as ADB.
Way forward:
• The future of global governance needs to be shaped on – individual empowerment, increasing awareness of human security, institutional complexity, international power shift and liberal world political paradigm.
