A Crisis in Global Governance?

The failure of the Copenhagen conference on climate change and stalemate in the Doha Round of WTO negotiations are the most prominent examples used by critics in making the case that global governance is in crisis. The rise of the BRICs is often seen as not merely bringing to the fore new sets of national interests but as posing a fundamental challenge to the legitimacy of existing international regimes. A number of international organisations are widely perceived to be failing to deliver on their mandates. Is global governance in crisis? What policy prescriptions can we derive from the failures and successes of international organizations? What do we know—and what do we not know—about what makes for successful global governance?

This Signature Lecture is co-sponsored by the Balsillie School of International Affairs.