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Keeping Our Eyes Wide Open

2013-01-23T10:16:41Z

To see clearly is a difficult task. At night, or when there is too much light, when tired, or when too many people are around, where the rush of events is clouding our ability to discern what is essential. As journalists, we should ask ourselves constantly: do we see well?

Take the non-profit industry. The second edition of our Top 100 NGOs ranking is stronger, and we enjoy not only the fantastic outreach from the inaugural list, but the fact that NGOs themselves pushed us to look at their sector in an improved way. This year, we have focused on the three criteria we have used consistently since we began our media journey three years ago: innovation, impact and sustainability. Whether looking for projects with the potential to address critical global issues over the next five years – to create a successful GLOBAL+5 festival – tracing the development of stories on our website, or finding relevant features to share with our readers in more than 30 countries, these three criteria have been omnipresent.

For anyone concerned with the future, innovation, impact and sustainability provide a good compass. As we maintain our unwavering focus on the corporate world, governments, academia, social business, NGOs and simple citizens, we will continue to keep these criteria in mind to better understand global politics. This year, our new leader in the Top 100 NGOs ranking is Bangladeshi development giant BRAC. More than the sum of its – substantial – parts, the organization has transcended its origins in the microfinance revolution of the 1970s to represent a model for how NGOs can continue to evolve and innovate while remaining true to their underlying social mission.

Speaking of wide-open eyes, historians seem to be back in business. If we believe that economists, occupying the forefront of the media scene for a decade now, deserve a say when it comes to our collective future, then why should historians, scientists, geographers, architects, philosophers, writers, poets, doctors and so many others not be granted a similar chance? There is a sense of fatigue with the dominance of the economic perspective in public life. Voices like those of David Armitage, at Harvard, or Mark Mazower at Columbia, dare to challenge mainstream views – the 25-word sound bites framing the world through numbers and fear. Economists are rarely joyful – their basic rhetoric is imbued with the detritus of doomed plans.

Let’s change our perspective and open ourselves to the possibility of identifying new patterns and paths to govern the planet by looking back to the lessons of the past. Plutarch and his twin-portraits of leaders would certainly have liked the idea. In part, the innovation we require to advance is rooted right there. Still with wide-open eyes, read Thomas Davies on the long and turbulent history of NGOs, and Jonathan Katz’s eyewitness account of how the world came to save Haiti and left a disaster.

Bearing in mind that a few great debates began or escalated in the past year, in the fields of health, Internet governance, climate change and energy policy, global politics is heading step by step toward a worldwide call to citizens. How do we make sure that the voice of the people is heard amidst ever more complex disputes? The Global Journal works on a simple premise – in an honest and independent fashion – that in-depth journalism remains a great asset when it comes to understanding the world we live in.

Post-script: to celebrate 2013, our fourth year in publishing, I hope you will enjoy the changes to our design thanks to Dimitri. I’m not sure where he sits at this very moment – whether in Australia, Mexico, the United States or elsewhere – he is a globe trotter and a fantastic global designer. Bénédicte, our French designer, is now putting her hand to our second publication, Global Geneva. Feel free to read it whenever you visit us.

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Two Years On

2012-05-18T17:32:09Z

After two years of covering the topic of global governance, the Global Journal is just beginning to do justice to the intricacies of the subject. As the concept of international relations is now part and parcel of the old lexicon of the twentieth century, that does not mean that the new one, ‘global governance’, has yielded up all its secrets or potential.

The implications of an interconnected world were the subject of a speech given by Hillary Rodham Clinton during the recent Time 100 Gala: “Today, a flu in Canton can become an epidemic in Chicago. Or a protest in Cairo can reverberate in Calcutta causing economic and political shockwaves. And we know too well the destruction that an extremist cell in Karachi or Kandahar can cause. The world has changed – technology and globalization have made nearly every country and community inter-dependent and interconnected; citizens and non-state actors like NGOs, corporations, cartels are increasingly influencing international a.airs for good or for ill. And the challenges we face have become so complex, so fast-moving, so cross-cutting that no one nation can hope to solve them alone. So how we practice foreign policy needs to change as well.”

All well and good, but consider the question that prompted it: “Is America still up to the job of leading this rapidly changing world?” This simple question reveals that the United States – like many other countries - has not yet taken on board the full measure of the changes they recount so lucidly. Most countries move from national governance to global governance only to preserve their national interests. How to define common goals – and establish the appropriate methods of governance – is the real challenge of the century. Those who judge their neighboring nations – looking to place them lower in the rank of nations – are out of date and missing the point.

If your neighbor collapses, there is no question that you will suffer some consequences: how can you let someone starve outside your door and not intervene? Clearly, solidarity must be the first step in the redefinition of governance. Without a consensual basis, how can we collectively progress? Solidarity, fair play, justice... and then, finally, implementation. These are themes dear to Jürgen Habermas in his latest book that paints a picture of a Europe shaken to the roots of its political and cultural foundations. We couldn’t resist the temptation of entrusting the role of the interviewer to Francis Fukuyama who recently questioned in our pages the future of European identity. Their discussion has exceptional clarity and inspiration. “Clarity” and “inspiration” are two words that also define five exceptional women who have made a mark on their own times and whom we invite you to meet in this issue: five individuals who risked living their lives on the edge, in order to inject profound changes into their world; five individuals who deserve our deepest admiration.

Meanwhile, expatriates in China are becoming intoxicated with an excitement that has long fled Western shores – like a youth who feels his wings spreading (in contrast to Westerners stunned by economic crises and fears about the future). The Shanghai Bund has become an unstaunched artery of globalization, populated by individuals who never sleep, who run from club to club, meeting an ever-changing sequence of strangers, and dancing on tables before possibly ending up in the arms of some wide boy, who will provide the lucky one with a soft landing. Pamplona, Berlin, Moscow, Paris, New York, London, Rome, Rio…each party rings with the same laughter and produces the same hangovers the morning after. Yet the nightlife of the Shanghai Bund is already a legend. Here, drinking champagne by the magnum has not gone out of fashion. Tim Franco will be our guide for you.

May 2012, Jean-Christophe Nothias, Editor-in-Chief

More or Less Global Governance?

2012-03-06T12:03:27Z

The notion of Global Governance remains an abstract one for many of us. Some would see it as an invention by people who dream of being more powerful than the powerful. Others imagine it as a nebulous grey zone, where decisions are taken far away from citizens’ representatives usual national meeting places, a kind of betrayal of the democratic social contract – and perhaps the concern is partially justified. De facto, nation-states form accords between themselves over the heads of their citizens. Even though those agreements may have significant consequences, they rarely form the subject of democratic debate within each nation. Politicians don’t like talking to the electorate about these zones ‘above’ their own national laws. In Europe local politicians are nervous of public debates on Europe. In the United States, outside of the presidential election, the average voter sees the federal level as a distant star. It’s the same in India, China and Brazil… But nowadays, global governance is much more than the traditional space for debate between nation-states, and bilateralism is floating downstream towards prehistory.

The story of modern political power is being written in a new logic, borne along by the globalization of stakes and risks, the free – or forced – movement of citizens and the acceleration of transport for people and goods. Some evidence for the changes is hard to dispute. The UN Security Council has become an obsolete part of global governance; the shame we share at the Sino-Russian veto of the UN resolution against the Syrian regime merely confirms our recognition of its impotence. The G20 can’t provide the answer either. Even if the UN system remains the most legitimate system – as some like Joseph Deiss continue to champion – it is no longer able to rise to the changing aspirations of the world.

So there is a vacuum. A void that history will fill one way or another, in the streets or in debating halls. The public enemies of global governance are, firstly, indifference, silence, lack of discussion when faced with the complexity of the issues and the difficulty of reaching decisions. Unanimity is a fine thing, but inaction can be deadly. Human resources and the time factor can also raise challenges: should we allow more time to reach a consensus than the average term of an elected representative or national delegate called to the global negotiating table? As for the experts, it is not their role to make decisions. We have to rethink, reinvent global governance, as the model created after WWII is now irrelevant. Failing to understand that the present vacuum will draw in new ideas, new social movements, would be a major political error.

In this issue, several visions of global governance are put forward. The most classic, as expressed by Kati Suominen, a former ‘exec’ at the Inter–American Development Bank, is confident that the United States will remain, more or less, the world’s quarterback. In her eyes, the weakest link in the chain is Europe. The more modern visions largely agree on questions of wealth and possibilities, but diverge on how to involve the public, and how to proceed democratically. Shimri Zaramet, a global activist and graduate of the London School of Economics – before it closed its Global Policy Department – has a sense of urgency – youth and conviction ‘oblige’. His vision has the capacity to attract a lot of people, and he sets about doing so with great intelligence. He dreams about a first world strike in 2012 to shake up public awareness, to go even further than the Occupy phenomenon. Jan Aart Scholte, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, believes in a more gradual evolution, but his ideas are clearly avant-garde. David Held, eminent specialist in global governance, Professor and Master of University College, Durham, warns us that the story can accelerate very unexpectedly. He can already glimpse the forces moving towards the next stage in the history of governance.

March 2012, Jean-Christophe Nothias, Editor-in-Chief

More Shifts of Power to Come

2012-01-13T11:35:27Z

2012 is dawning much better than our usual fearmongers were predicting. Chiefly, perhaps, because 2011 was a dramatic year, with its share of terrors and a multitude of surprises. From here on, there are many possible prospects on the table. No doubt the Arab Spring surprised the Arabs themselves, and it has certainly undermined the widespread occidental conviction that supporting harsh regimes helps to maintain stability. What will happen in the coming Arab seasons?

In 2011 China and India continued their powerful growth, only held back by the corruption that remains their principle handicap. The US, with dwindling means, has become ‘all mouth and no trousers’. South Africa is trying to persuade the rest of Africa to follow its lead in reconciliation, in order to release the continent’s wealth of talent. Brazil is prancing before the admiring and somewhat jealous gaze of its neighbors. Closer to home, a new generation of Russians would like to escape from ‘Putinia’, while, equally, the nearby Belarusians would like to free themselves from their dictator, and the Ukrainians, to establish a democracy whose identity is not yet very clear…

But as 2011 fades into the distance, let’s focus on a critical phenomenon: the European Union and the return to London of the good soldier Cameron – who didn’t have any choice, he complains. Because, whatever their allegiance, be it left, right or center, the European speeches of our dear Britons have never varied: “Let’s be European as far as it serves our own interests.’’ That may reassure, even flatter, the island nation, but it will also harm their future – the British Empire is now only a vestige of its past. The euro crisis is above all a question of confidence – and solidarity between 500 million citizens. National debts are not new, and their size has always been considered exorbitant. Nothing could be clearer than the British response to the proposal of a new European budgetary and financial treaty. Exit Britannia, the City ‘oblige’. Europe can now move forward, on condition that the debate on ‘why solidarity?’ is not taken out of our hands by the technocrats. Solidarity is above all a cultural, not a financial, issue. At the Global Journal, we journalists, humble observers of global governance, see just how far culture is at the heart of these new governances. Professor Fukuyama, in front of a packed audience at the Latsis Foundation prize-giving ceremony at the University of Geneva, declared that Europe had not yet defined its cultural identity: ‘’Without identity, the EU is heading for catastrophe.’’

Jean Monnet, founding father of the Union, is said to regret not having started with culture – it actually started with coal and steel. If the Quebecois can say “I remember’’ and the French, “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” what could the Poles, the Italians, the Greeks and the rest of the European citizens say to express a similar sense of belonging? “We stand together”? It would be a start. And that moment will come, even if people are not allowed to vote again when they don’t do what the political powers of the moment want, or if the European Presidency – in the hands of Belgian Guy Verhofstadt in 2001 – entrusts the preparation of a European Convention, announced at the end of the Laeken European Summit, to the American cabinet. We know what became of this Convention, a gigantic democratic farce finished off by setbacks in the ratification of the 2004 Treaty of Rome – rejection by referendum in France (54.6% against) and the Netherlands (61.6% against), then suspension of the process. In 2011 bad boy Greece at least reopened the debate. The euro is not dead, far from it.

In 2012, another world will achieve new maturity – the world of non-governmental organizations. In less than thirty years they have grown well beyond being groups of well-meaning volunteers, television charities or tax-advantaged philanthropists. NGOs have become catalysts for societal transformation, like governments, local institutions, companies, multinationals. They employ staff, develop professionalism and jargon, direct (and sometimes bias) debates, they communicate and they attract bigger financial resources. Even if making money is not the primary objective, they have to be financially sound, as well as addressing the societal aims they have set themselves. Noble, generous and ambitious aims, for the most part. There is room, therefore, in this new and disparate world of NGOs, for classification, however imperfect. It’s a question of transparency as much as awareness. Citizens need to measure how much the world is transformed through the intervention of these new actors, without simply assuming that the NGO is synonymous with a benevolent joy in the service of others. What’s good about ranking is that it excites curiosity and interest. It generates standards, and who doesn’t need those? It also whets the appetite.

December 2011, Jean-Christophe Nothias, Editor-in-Chief

Rethinking the UN

2011-11-02T11:15:49Z

‘Global Governance’ is a victory whose time will come. If we cannot yet imagine a world government or the passing of our current national governments, it is still obvious that global issues are increasingly the responsibility of entities that think ‘Global’.

National entities working in international fora have an obligation to put their nations first. It is hard to blame them for that. But the “every man for himself” philosophy makes it difficult to reach global solutions that are effective, affordable and rapidly deployed even over the long term. We need urgently to design real energy strategies, particularly in terms of the security of energy and food supplies. Without even raising the question of the relevance of global governance, it happens that such a ‘government’ already exists to a degree: the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB).

The CEB is de facto composed of ‘ministers’ who are none other than the current heads of the major UN agencies. Snag No. 1, their constituents are the nation states and not citizens of the world. Snag No. 2, the ‘ministers’ in question have no direct access to a budget funded by citizens but, again, by nation states –certainly funding sources vary from one UN agency, fund or program to another. Can one imagine a UN tax section on our future tax forms? These two obstacles mean that the current governance of the United Nations must remain in the shadow of global policy, which continues to be driven by nations and supported by the G’s, BRICS and other informalities.

In this issue of GLOBAL, we have asked the leaders of a dozen major international organizations, members of the CEB, the following question: “If you could start over, what would you change?” Ten of them agreed to answer; others mentioned busy schedules –as early as last July. Their responses are well worth reading. We are very proud to have brought together, in the same publication, a large part of this ‘global government’. They do not all agree with one another. Jarraud would build a de facto agency that is increasingly focused on climate-environment-economy, whereas Steiner calls for a WEO, ‘World Environmental Organization’. The two sponsors of the IPCC are definitely not on the same wavelength. Gurry dreams of a new WIPO, the ‘World Innovation Promotion Agency’, and has decided not to wait to build it...

We have also had the pleasant surprise of a rare interview with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. All the more valuable as, going into his second term, the man has acquired great experience, travelled the world, met with innumerable leaders and his beliefs have grown stronger and his desire to be a major player visibly solidified. Ban Kimoon dares to say “I believe the United Nations can provide crucial intellectual and operational capacity to informal groupings like the G20 that don’t have implementation capacities of their own.” By highlighting the operational weakness of most of the G’s, the Secretary-General is taking a strong position. By putting the UN on the intellectual side, he dares to tread ‘political’ ground, all while maintaining his pragmatism and neutrality. Here, he shares his views on the functioning of CEB and the growing debate about the fusion of the Security Council and G20... This is a Secretary- General in fine shape to lead.

Which cannot be said about the country of the Orange Revolution. The young people of the next generation that we meet here in Kiev, buzz with ideas and energy. The show trial and sentencing of former Prime Minister Timoshenko to seven years in prison is a disgrace. Even if Yulia no longer embodies the future in the eyes of her countrymen, she remains a symbol of the vengeful nature of the current president and his anti-democratic movement that have crystallized. We must not abandon Ukraine to new fascism.

October 2011, Jean-Christophe Nothias, Editor in Chief

Identity in a Global World

2011-09-20T07:24:30Z

If the idea of world governance is disturbing, the idea of an actual world government, the stage for the final dispossession of national sovereignty, is alarming. Should we regret the time when the master of the house imposed his will on his household, where the lord of the castle ruled over his domain and serfs, where the king reigned over his people? History tells us the contrary. As power expands to occupy ever bigger spheres it is accompanied, sooner or later, by a growth in the spheres of individual liberty. But on the way, societies experience change, often violent change. Should we fear global governance? No. At this time of challenges on a planetary scale, it is in the absence of global governance, that danger lies; in the illusion that governance exists, or, inversely, in our refusal to recognize what passes for governance.

On the other hand, loss of identity is an even worse risk. Uniqueness, according to some company directors who enjoy remarkable success on a global scale, is the key to survival. Photographer and filmmaker Wim Wenders intuitively acknowledges the same truth, even if he sees the dissolution of identity as one of the primary effects of globalization. For Marc A. Hayek, globalization creates both the opportunity and the need to strengthen identity; loss of identity is a harbinger of death. In fact, the two men agree on the importance of being distinctive –and are highly likely to meet on the far side of the world, as they both enjoy traveling so much. Let’s spare them a visit to Guantanamo, a territorial black hole, swallower of identity, and a void from which it is difficult to return to the real world. Over there on the island of Cuba, 172 prisoners are living side by side with released detainees and their guards, or –for the released– their ‘roommates’. In this issue, Edmund Clark and Michael Strauss give two particularly powerful points of view of Guantanamo, one through images and the other through its ‘extraordinary’ laws.

As he has done before, when challenging the detractors who criticize the WTO for failing to conclude the Doha Development Round, Pascal Lamy, director general of the WTO, is speaking out again; this time about the use of GDPs and import/export balances as yardsticks to measure the world. He wants to apply another benchmark, that of added value, and he is right. In this view, he is joined by Armatya Sen whose comparison between India and China denounces mere economic growth for its own sake. According to the Nobel Prize winner, India has grown financially –but without ensuring that the distribution of wealth improves life for all Indians. Professor Sen dares to suggest that China comes out better than his native country on several counts. It’s a pity that India is so keen to charm (recently, a Swiss daily produced a panegyric on India’s financial weight gain on nearly every page), without regard for the added value in favor of each Indian citizen. India may be more democratic than China but it still has work to do, is the basic message from the Harvard Professor of Economy.

The photographs from journeys in China by Marrigje de Maar, who spent five years visiting Chinese homes, tell us a lot. Not just about the modesty of the Middle Kingdom inhabitants, but also their capacity to look towards the future. Coincidentally, Marrigje, like Wim Wenders, has refused to put people into her images, they, like us, are on the other side of the lens. A choice not made by Harold Thibault and Tim Franco, who, on behalf of The Global Journal set off for Laos, a new “suburb” of China, where Mandarin is increasingly heard and taught.

Another form of loss of identity is experienced by women trafficked by men. Kathryn Bolkovac, a former American policewoman, who spent time working for Dyncorp (a private military company), now living in the Netherlands, has become the symbol of resistance in the face of silence and the neglect of obliterated feminine identities consigned to prostitution. Her narrative book, and the film inspired by her experiences, are two ways of getting closer to the drama involving both her employer DynCorp and its commissioning agent, the United Nations. She speaks freely to The Global Journal. Something Plantu, concerned about freedom of speech, would appreciate.

June 2011,
Jean-Christophe Nothias
Editor in Chief

It’s the Future, Stupid!

2011-09-16T20:34:38Z

Whatever the process, whoever is in charge, we always come back to wondering how current policies will shape the future. Are the men and women running our governments and institutions around the world able to help bring about the future we want?

It’s a good time to create a new obsession, on the condition that this obsession goes with hard questions and inevitable transformation. Each in its own way, the Global Voices in this seventh issue say that tomorrow’s world will not simply repeat what has come before. New forms of governance are emerging. Scott Weber, head of Interpeace, launches a how-to manual for creating new, sustainable national constitutions; Pierre Tapie, Executive Director of ESSEC, explains a new think tank that will explore the interaction between corporations and globalization; Mallika Sarabhai, a dancer turned politician, calls on the courage of all Indians to create democracy worthy of the name; and the Genevan thinker and visionary Xavier Comtesse talks about why he believes in the future of “Cloud Power”, while Jovan Kurbalija, Director of DiploFoundation, expresses his beliefs in new diplomacy. For us at GLOBAL, we wouldn’t exchange this observation post for any other media. Everything is happening here, at the heart of global issues, with the invention of political or new organizational approaches.

With its revolts, insurrections and other rebellions over, North Africa and the Middle East are only just beginning a long process of reinvention. The youth of developed countries must secretly envy the great wind of history that is sweeping countries hungry for change. The year 2011 marks the end of the “Western Democracy Export Company”. I still smile at how the great intelligence agencies failed to see it coming this spring. The illusion of an off-the-shelf Democracy delivered by the West will not have survived the time of the latest war in Afghanistan.

New blood, new ideas and also the end of omerta. Telling the people –the voters– that we can get by without nuclear power is a lie. Telling them that we could opt for new generation plants, whose waste has a lifespan of 300 years instead of 250,000, deserves a different propaganda than that of the “good-activists” media against nuclear. The witchhunt is open: “the nuclear lobby” is the enemy since Fukushima. Is it not rather the weakness of the mandate of the global organization for atomic energy that makes one shudder? Who are these white knights fighting for a nuclear phase-out when renewables are not yet able, either in terms of quantity or quality and potentially harmful and toxic as well, to substitute for it? Why not start with the question of “smart grids” and create new “Get off the old grid” NGOs since the current grid is totally unsuited to the new energy mix? So, yes, aberrations exist, regardless of the energy sector you consider. Do we want to deprive people of arable land in favor of land-use energy? If so, we could heat up the cemeteries in the South. What progress. Do we want to produce energy even if it cannot be stored? That will provide some nice data on waste. Do we want to keep second-generation nuclear power plants on life support or spend public funds on third-generation plants that offer nothing innovative, until the politicians have the courage to resist pressure from all sides and go straight to the new generation of nuclear power? Here, the brave would say, “That’s enough energy Manichaeism!” Energy consumption is exploding, as is the need for investment. So, let us drop the taboos and look at the mix and the timing required. Nuclear power must reinvent itself - and that’s good news. As we have done with ocean energy, where large amounts of energy await
us and marine farms are developing, let us ask the simple questions: by what means, how long, what dangers?

This Global also looks at another area of reinvention, that of urban violence. Under the pressure of the global sporting events that the city will host in 2014 and 2016, Rio has dared to rethink its police force. The results so far say a lot for the merits of boldness and show the way for many megacities around the world. That’s new governance, too. From the South.

September 2011, Jean-Christophe, Nothias Editor in Chief

The Spring of Progress

2011-05-07T20:03:54Z

We thought the word “progress” had disappeared from the dictionary, replaced by a blank space and a note: “See ‘crisis’ or ‘depression’”. And here it is making a comeback where least expected. The lead weight covering the countries of North Africa is yielding to the blows of the people. Whether orange or green, brown or red, no one can swear to the color, but the revolt of little Tunisia has shaken the world. The shock wave is traveling at top speed, stirring consciences and stomachs. It takes courage for Libyans to confront a dictator whose dementia has revealed its full extent. Courage, too, for Bahrainis to call for a new Prime Minister. It will take even more for Belarussians or North Koreans to end their torpor and throw off the Communist yoke of the past. The only certainty is that the insurrection underway marks the end of one world, but we must wait and see if it becomes revolution.

If China operates through planning ahead, many countries do not seem to know where the winds of history will carry them. The world’s largest economy, the U.S. is at a crossroads, the number of “Sputnik moments” that it could face are multiplying. On the central issue of energy policy and its commitment to climate change, it is difficult to imagine the United States playing Sleeping Beauty. The first part of the Obama mandate has been disappointing, to say the least, in this matter: nothing appears to be moving. But not so fast. We want to know more about the Americans who have not given up. Here, we introduce you to 15. These 15 are able to boost America’s legendary creativity and effectiveness, to create the consensus that is lacking. Without it, the dollar will weaken all the faster, currency reserves that have always been supported by the American conquering spirit will dwindle. The idea of an Apollo Program for Energy could be the solution the White House needs. The breakthrough will certainly be technological, (but also) - and probably the work of individuals. The members of Congress do not want it. But the members of the Dream Team we have assembled here seem to be saying “let’s do it without those sitting on Capitol Hill”. The new century has rolled in with a new lifestyle and pattern of consumption. Who can hold back the tide?

For the waves are powerful. Don Brasher, CEO of GTIS, is convinced that China will become the world’s largest importer probably by the end of 2011 and no later than early 2012. Number 1 exporter, Number 1 importer…and the West moves into the background. For how many months can the dollar remain as the reserve currency under that pressure? Will the emotions of the financial markets speed up this transition? Time is not always on the side of those in power, as North Africa has reminded the world’s leaders. And, while Iran appears to have been stalled in its nuclear race, the world has yet to accomplish a positive transformation of its own energy model.

To read the magazine, order a copy here

The Global Journal celebrates its first anniversary, and an optimistic future for global governance.

2011-05-01T12:10:24Z

Exactly one year ago, the Global Journal was founded jointly in Geneva and New York, a transatlantic link between two heartlands of the United Nations.

What was unforeseen was that a bridge would also rapidly connect us to Asia, where we now have a strong foothold and a lively, ongoing interest –see our exclusive reports on the designs of the Chinese military outside China. Our approach is both careful and thoughtful; our goal will be to avoid blinkeredness and indifference.

A further bridge is gradually being built in the direction of Africa, and yet another towards Brazil. Our New York outpost is almost becoming the poor relation by comparison. We expected more activity from that side, but it seems that the power of the US is turning back onto itself with an anti-Obama coup from the Democrats, or a Tea-Party witch-hunt. The States are yielding ground on many topics, still reeling from the shockwaves sent out from Lehmann and Madoff, from debt, military spending, a frazzled dollar…

Many American leaders have little taste for global governance or multilateralism. And yet, after a year of walking the corridors of emerging power at world level, a big surprise was waiting for us. At Copenhagen in December 2009 the governor of California announced the launch of the R20. Since then the group of 20 Regions has been flourishing with rare vigor.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a reputation for being a tough guy, and he has stood up no less than three times against his own camp, in order to ensure that the Assembly Bill n°32 (AB 32), The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, was passed in California. An act that has enabled the state to take a lead in the fight to reduce carbon emissions.

Newly freed from political office, he has decided to make himself available to other states and regions of the world, and to accelerate R20’s entry into action. The R20 concept, ‘invented’ in Geneva in the UN Development Program offices, is now thriving, largely thanks to Schwarzenegger, and has set up its headquarters in Geneva with the support of the Swiss authorities.

The idea for the R20 is simple. First of all, a premise: the principle lever for transformation of the world is situated at the level of regions and cities –ministries and parliaments often suffer repeated setbacks or deadlocks, and not just from the electorate. Next, a method: the possibility of uniting a maximum of skills, financial resources and influence, within a region-based entity, whose aim is to realize a Green Sustainable Economic Development Program. Strengthened by governor Schwarzenegger’s success with regard to his Green Economy policy, the R20 can take full advantage to move ahead; to efficiently associate each project with investors, UN agencies, industrial partners and advisors, civil society and public authorities. It is a revolution in itself, a new model of governance, which goes beyond the model based on local or national interests. Add to that premise and method an engine such as the governor of California, and you have a tool of governance that could well hit the bullseye.

Take time too, to read the interview with Jacques Attali, who is making waves with his “Tomorrow, who will govern the world?” It looks like another driving force for ‘la nouvelle gouvernance’. Read about what is going on inside the Icelanders’ heads, as they reinvent Iceland’s constitution, and discover what chemistry is bringing to the field of solar electricity. Both are helping to advance the world.

After a year spent investigating and witnessing ‘la nouvelle gouvernance’, this new political way of acting, The Global Journal is expanding, modestly –given the vast scale of the topics– but with determination. As this issue comes out, our new Internet site is going online, accompanied by a weekly newsletter sent from our new offices in the Palais des Nations, Geneva. The Global Journal iPad application will also be launched soon. We believe in a high standard of journalism, and we are moving forward with confidence in our pioneering work and our attentive observation of political changes on the global scale.

May 2011,

Jean-Christophe Nothias

Editor in Chief