• International Institutions and Global Governance: World Order in the 21st Century

  Staff:	Stewart M. Patrick, Senior Fellow and Director, Program on International Institutions and Global Governance Kaysie Brown, Deputy Director, International Institiutions and Global Governance

  May 2008 - Present

  The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has launched a comprehensive five-year program on international institutions and global governance.  Made possible by a generous grant from the Robina Foundation, this cross-cutting initiative will explore the institutional requirements for world order in the twenty-first century. It is motivated by recognition that the architecture of global governance—largely reflecting the world as it existed in 1945—has not kept pace with fundamental changes in the international system. These changes include accelerating global economic integration; a shift in global power to non-Western countries; the rise of transnational security threats; the emergence of agile non-state actors; a proliferation of failing states; and evolving norms of state sovereignty. Existing multilateral arrangements thus provide an inadequate foundation for addressing today’s most pressing threats and opportunities and for advancing U.S. national and broader global interests.

  The program seeks to identify critical weaknesses in current frameworks for multilateral cooperation; propose specific reforms reflective of new global circumstances; and promote constructive U.S. leadership in building the capacities of existing organizations and in sponsoring new, more effective regional and global institutions and partnerships, including those involving the private sector and non-governmental organizations.

  The program will focus on arrangements governing state conduct and international cooperation in meeting four broad sets of challenges:

  1. Countering Transnational Threats, including terrorism, proliferation of WMD, and infectious disease
  2. Protecting the Environment and Promoting Energy Security
  3. Managing the Global Economy
  4. Preventing and Responding to Violent Conflict

  In each of these areas, the program will consider whether the most promising framework for governance is a formal organization with universal membership (e.g., the United Nations); a regional or sub-regional organization; a narrower, informal coalition of like-minded countries; or some combination of all three. The program will also examine the potential to adapt major bedrock institutions (e.g., the UN, G8, NATO, IMF, and AU), as well as the feasibility of creating new frameworks and initiatives to meet today's challenges.

  The participation, input and endorsement of both official and non-state actors will be critical to ensure the appropriateness and feasibility of any institutional reforms. Throughout the course of the project, CFR will engage stakeholders and constituencies in the United States and abroad, including governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society representatives, and the private sector.

  The attached concept note summarizes the rationale for the program on global governance, describes potential areas of research and policy engagement, and outlines the envisioned products and activities. We believe that the research and policy agenda outlined here constitutes a significant contribution to U.S. and international deliberations on the requirements for world order in the twenty-first century.

  • Concept Document (PDF)

  
  

   

  Subprojects

  September 2008—Present

  The United States and the Future of Global Governance Roundtable Series

  Director:	Stewart M. Patrick, Senior Fellow and Director, Program on International Institutions and Global Governance

  The United States and the Future of Global Governance roundtable series will focus on core global governance challenges and proposals for fundamental institutional reform. Topics will include overhaul of the UN Security Council; the reform and expansion of the G8; prospects for a global counterterrorism organization; the adaptation of U.S. sovereignty to a global age; the trade-offs between formal institutions and ad hoc coalitions; and the domestic and legislative preconditions for sustained U.S. multilateral engagement. This roundtable series is sponsored by CFR’s Program on International Institutions and Global Governance and is supported by a generous grant from the Robina Foundation.

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• New CFR Books

  

  In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

  

  In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.

  

  America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.

  Complete list of CFR Books.

  New Council Special Reports

  
  

  Congo: Securing Peace, Sustaining Progress

  This report lays out a thoughtful agenda for U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of Congo, arguing that what happens there should matter to the United States--for humanitarian reasons as well as economic and strategic ones.

  Deterring State Sponsorship of Nuclear Terrorism

  In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.

  Complete list of Council Special Reports.

  David Rockefeller Studies Program Contacts

  For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:

  Gary Samore
  Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
  +1.212.434.9627
  gsamore@cfr.org

  Sebastian Mallaby
  Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics
  smallaby@cfr.org

  Janine Hill
  Deputy Director of Studies Administration
  +1.212.434.9753
  jhill@cfr.org

   

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