Considering future scenarios for the state
of the world, we could easily get depressed. In 1945 approximately 50 states
existed; now in the year 2009 there are about 200, and one can predict a much
more fragmented community of states in the future. Can the political world
absorb the conflicts that emerge in a world of even more particularized states?
The challenges presented by financial crises, desertification, ocean pollution
and climate change all require inclusive global governance that grows in
proportion with the growth in nation states if they are to be tackled in the
years to come.
Global
governance needs global forums. The socio-political and socio-economic
structures covering the earth are becoming more and more complex and a global
government will not be able to solve problems in its current form. The UN, IMF
and the World Bank are institutions that always come to mind when global
governance is mentioned. But global governance means a multilevel system,
headed by international and supranational institutions: the classic nation
states are in the middle and local and regional organizations are on the
bottom. The nation state will not be subsumed by its upper and lower neighbor.
It will be the meat in this "Big Mac" system. It can be expected that in
2020 nation states will increase in number though their desire to organize
themselves into inter- or supranational institutions may not grow
proportionally.
Thus, in the "Big-Mac" system, the meat will grow from all sides without
being overlapped by the slices of bread. That seems unappetizing. The up-side
of this is that the existing international regimes and co-operational structures
will not cease to exist: they will play an even greater role in establishing a
normative framework for nation states. Regarding the bottom slice, civil
society is widely viewed as the solution to numerous problems within nation
states, and even beyond. But can the concept of civil society actually be an
effective model to establish more participation within a political system and
finally bring forth a democratic system based on the rule of law? Civil society
as a concept stresses the participation of citizens through specific interest-
driven local organizations: that means particularization of interests. A
society that is fragmented can pose a risk to the integration of the state.
Civil society will only lead to more stable and democratic conditions if
particular interest groups prefer a state centric consensus oriented towards
the idea of a common good. If civil society does not make the state its
epicenter, civil society will be a danger to stability and in the end to prosperity
and democracy. Therefore the idea of civil society has to be rethought in order
to enhance structurally stable nation states, which are the elementary factor
in the conception of global governance
Global governance should be a
decentralized system that underlines its core elements: subsidiarity and federalism. In the multipolar world that we are facing, even the United
States will become only one of multiple major actors. The western states should
therefore try to further integrate anchor states like Brazil, Russia, India and
China (BRIC) into the international system which has been in place since 1945.
These states already play a key role in their regions and will become future
heavyweights in world politics. If the West opens up to broader cooperation,
then the BRICs can become a serious part in global governance and help in
stabilizing it. The western states have a historical opportunity to create the
framework for good global governance. To establish such a system the
international community -- especially the predominant OECD states -- has to
abandon its favored view on international relations. The egoistic and
egocentric self-help-system has to be replaced by a self-aligning system. Nation
states have to align their interests and channel them through voluntarily
regional associations into the decision-making process of international
organizations.
However, as long as the sovereignty of nation states is attacked by external
actors
who impose an ideologically driven policy to induce system transformation, the
possibility of geared international cooperation is low. Global governance can
function more smoothly if ideological barriers are demolished gradually and
therefore successfully and can thus open ways for cooperation. The
democratization of the world through force, on the other hand, has the capacity
to bring forth the end of history in the long run.
Mansur Seddiqzai is currently studying at the University of Bonn and working on his graduation thesis for his Diploma (Regional studies Japan; Sociology) and Magister (Political science; History, Philosophy). From 2005 to 2006 he was a scholarship student at Waseda University, Tokyo.
This article has been shortlisted for the Atlantic Community's "Global Governance in 2020" student competition.
Related material from the Atantic Community:
- Christina Stober: Building a New United Nations Security Council
- Global Governance in 2020: the Return of the State
- Luke Nichter: Redefining the IMF
- 7
February 13, 2009
James Michael Joiner, Writer, (4)
January 5th I updated The planets life cycles and the importance for our future of the planet coming together titled The World is waiting for Obama. Now he is here and already making a difference so it is time to update Life and the planets cycles and the dire consequences of going against them as we were under Bush. I now feel we are off the road of death and destruction Bush had us on and can now take the road of peace and prosperity into the future, Obama can pave the way but it is up to the entire world to follow
9/11/07 9/11 was not the defining moment of our time,that event has not occurred yet ,up to now and all our horror Bush has been, but ? The fall of the Russian Empire set in motion something that began with the founding of Islam in 610. Islam was established by Muhammad in order to give Muslims a formal religion and sense of belonging with the Jews and Christians. It failed and Muslims have never been able to gain equal footing or be willing to accept their role in the worlds society.
The Christian Crusades to take back Jerusalem turned into a blood bath against Muslims. Our nation was born during the enlightenment and industrialization completed a gap between our societies which will never close. Next comes the Berlin Conference in the 19th century, allowing Europe to divvy up Africa which they then took what they wanted and then reset the boundaries creating another mess with the Muslim world.
First, as a society we were following the natural life cycle of a Nation and were moving along the path of the Roman Empire and every other society before us. Bush has merely sped that process up! He is doing the same thing to the planet as he thinks he is doing Gods work. God however will get these idiots for doing what even they the Religious right say is his to do.
Okay, every life form is comprised of many living forms. Some are designed to further the life of the host some are designed to bring that life form to an end, example: cancer cells! Man's role to the life of the planet seem to be that of the cancer cell. Nobel peace prize winners are supposedly the best of the world, They must speak out loudly in unison and save it from this terrible planned future! We need our Nobel prize winners to speak up loud and clear Now! Bush is doing what Jefferson did in the false belief that he too will be vindicated for blatantly going against and destroying the Constitution. But not this time. Bush is a tyrant and history will not look at him kindly.
12/10/07 I was listening to an interview of the peace prize winners and I incorporated them into my story but it reminds me of something I wrote years ago and that is that all Nobel prize winners must come together and speak loud and eloquently not just on the planet but on what is happening today, why, and what is going to happen if this is allowed to happen.I heard Gore warn China and Bush but one person will not matter. We are in greater danger right now than during Jefferson's time primarily because Bush is in absolute control and wants to rule the world and the rest of the world will not sit idly by thereby worsening the life of our planet beyond any repair in a humanity and planetary destructive war. We must do something to stop this and I am sick of saying it!
Al Gore is being overly optimistic saying experts say we have ten years to act and some as little as two. It is worse than that and he and everyone else should know why.The Nobel prize winners must come together and bring to the forefront around the world the dire danger to us and the planet if we continue down the road of an unsurvivable world war! We must somehow convey to them that are respected around the world that the time is now and immediate. There are two overwhelming reasons why the time is now and immediate and why we may not make a difference even if we can wake up the world today!
I wrote this four years ago now and it is more obvious and critical every day but this is only part of it.Ignore the whole thing if you want But pay attention to the Nurturing stage and the dire consequence of ignoring this. Because of the track to future war Bush had us on for the last four years my updates were titled Life's cycles the Final change. With the advent of Obama the planet and man now has a chance. Today's update:
Life’s Cycles!
A time line of Life’s Cycles and Where We Are in Them and The Dire Consequences if we do not respond adequately!
Following is a timeline of mans and the planets life cycles, where we are in them, and the repercussions of not doing the right thing for humanity and the planet.
We should be using our militaries for the sole purpose of helping and ensuring honesty among the Nations of the world. There can be no action taken without the knowledge and complicity of all Nations that have the future of man and the planet as their goal. This is what we should have done with Iraq. This is what we should be doing with Iran, North Korea, and many other potential hot spots around the world today. We as the United States, must stop meddling and interfering with the Politics of other Nations around the world. We should be using our militaries not to wage war but to wage peace. Our military efforts after the tsunami were a shining example of the way our militaries should be used in the future. The world as a whole must be made to realize the fragility of our situation.
We can make this work despite the tenuous situation we have put ourselves in. With that said we must proceed and work as a world unit. It will not work as separate competitive entities as we have done in the past. We must Proceed into the future as one. We must proceed into the future with the future life of man and the planet as our only goal. Nothing less than the survival of man and the planet are at stake. Shortly the planets life sustaining ecosystems will no longer have the ability to sustain the current population of man.
We can not afford to destroy them altogether. That complete destruction and no less is what we have facing us right now. It would do man, the world well to wake up to that fact and act accordingly. This is exactly what will happen if there is another unnecessary world war. Countries must be made to realize that what they have today is all they are going to get. We can trade throughout the world for the items necessary for ones civilization and survival. However, the domination of the past must be history or we will be. We must take care of what we have. It is all we are going to get. The world must be made to realize that we march into the future with what boundaries and countries we have or suffer the dire consequences.
Our prime concern, our only concern at this point in mans and the planets life cycle has to be one of self reservation. The world must wake up to the fact that preservation of man and the planet has to be our only goal and ultimate victory. Shortly we will illustrate the life cycles in any life form and you will understand where man and the planet are in them today. We went into this in great detail in our first two books. It is very obvious and very plain, it bears repeating as we seem to be learning nothing. As we said in the past, life moves only in one direction, forward. We must not go back or attempt to go back to a cycle of life that man and the planet have already grown through and survived. We will not the next time. We have lived through the development stage of man and this planet. It is long overdue for us to get it together as a species and realize this and then face this important fact. We are now in the preservation stage of any life form. We have reached and passed the maturity stage of any life form as a species and as a planet. World wars, world dominance, world destruction, the times for that are passed. It is up to us as a world body to realize this and act accordingly.
Life’s stages
The aforementioned observances are the realization that this is not a utopian idea. It is absolutely necessary for mans survival. We must get the message to all countries of the world. Whosoever chooses to ignore the future of man and the planet must be held accountable for their action. We must get Nobel Laureate’s to publish papers on this subject. It is necessary to have someone reputable and believable write on the subject. They must sound the sense cal alarm. It must be published throughout the Nations of the world and filtered down through all levels of society. Below are the various stages of mans life cycles and where we are in them.
* The Infantile Stage – This is mans longest stage to date. With some luck we can surpass this in our maturity stage, our nurturing stage. Man was very much in his developmental stage. From mans beginning caveman day’s right up through The Dark Ages. Man was very much a live and learn being. You can not accuse man of that today. Man has lost this ability since what we will refer to as The Learning Stage. The 20th century seems to have killed this ability with its perceived lack of need. He now thinks he knows better and he knows everything. We know the thought as most of us have children. He wrongly thinks he has all the answers. We would do well to remember this phase of life.
* The Learning Stage – This period marks the end of The Dark Ages. The end of the Dark Ages coincidently enough is marked by another perfectly cyclical event known as the Christian Crusades. This was in a point of time appropriate for the horror. The horrific thing is that Islam is going through this cycle right now. Their version of the Christian Crusaders is the Islamist Jihadists. This is occurring at a point in time when mans and the planets life cycles are beyond accepting or tolerating this behavior. At the point of time of the horrors that the Christian Crusaders committed they were accepted and tolerated.
This period covers the end of the Dark Ages up to the 20th century. This period covers the birth of mans great Religions. It covers the development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. With the exception of the maturing of the Muslim Religion it marks the maturing of these Religions. It marks their role in the world order. This is again with the exception of the Muslim Religion. It is that time of Religious maturity which there is no place for in the world today. We, the world, humanity, have already gone through that. As a result we do not find what is happening with the Islamist Jihad particularly palatable. This period also opened the way for colonization. It marked the point in mans life cycle when the forceful taking of another country was the accepted norm. This was the time in mans and the planets life for needless pointless death and destruction. It was survivable by both man and the planet. This time is over and can no longer be accepted or tolerated.
*The Maturing Stage – This period includes WW1, WW2, and the recognition of man made hazards to mans and the planets life. This was the period in mans and the planets life cycles when world war was survivable by man and the planet. Our weapons are now too horrific for man or the planet to survive. Life only moves in one direction and for a reason. We can not allow any Nation to try and slide backwards and return to those ways. The time for that in the life cycle of the planet is over. We are becoming aware as to the frailty of the planets life sustaining ecosystems.
* The Nurturing Stage – This is mans mature stage. This is mans preservation period. The time is now. This period marks mans awakening as to the realization of mans negative impact on the life sustaining life cycle of the planet as a whole. This period marks the awakening of man as to the as to the necessity of revitalizing Natures life sustaining ecosystems. This period marks the necessity for an end to all out war. We must come to the realization that as a world we must destroy all advanced weaponry and their systems throughout the world. This is an absolute necessity for the survival of man and the planet. We must form a world board to ensure compliance by the entire world. It is for the benefit and survival of mankind and the planet. We now know the fragility of our planet and our negative role in it. As a world we must act responsibly, be held accountable, and act accordingly.
** Man has taken his ability to live and learn, an ability that has sustained and nurtured him for thousand of years and forgotten he ever had it. It had served us well throughout are creativity. Through the beginning of the 20th century man has been going through the maturity stages of his existence. Like a maturing teenager man now thinks he has all the answers. However he has none of the right ones. Would you send your Grandmother off to war? That is something you can relate to. Likewise man and the planet can not survive a world war this late in the life cycle of man and the planet. Whoever ushers in a new world war must be held personally accountable for knowingly and unwittingly bring about the end of the civilized world and our planet.
Whether you believe in Nostradamus or not, he gave us two scenarios at this juncture in life. We had two roads we could follow into the future. We could take the peaceful road down a successful road into the future or we could take the road into conflict that would lead to destruction of man and the planet as we know them.
* With the advent of President Obama We now have a chance at a future despite Bush's damage! America America God shed his grace on thee! Now crown they good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! That includes the worlds people. All the seas all the oceans, the entire world. Our future is dependent on us coming together!
We are all interdependent. We are one like it or not. We are all, all life, part of the planet we call earth! We are all part of that one organism called earth! Under Bush we had the worst, the divider, the destroyer. Under Obama MLK's words now ring true "The Greatest among you shall be your servant" He is the guiding light we have been waiting for to lead us out of the dark tunnel Bush has us, the entire world in! This is not only Obama's time this is our time and Obama can lead the way if given the chance.
Obama has already made a difference in the middle east. The entire world is prepared to work with Obama the uniter! He can lead but the world must follow! It is up to all of us collectively!