I would like you all to read the materials listed below. The two specific documents/events – The Report of the Commission on Global Governance in 1995 and the September Security Council Summit on Post-COVID-19 Global Governance – are both UN initiatives. The course is not about the UN specifically, though we will talk about it among other actors. It simply happens to be the arena where the term of global governance appears with greater frequency and in which the term has a more tangible/practical meaning. Both documents/events mark a watershed moment in the international system. Both aim to speak for and to the future. As you read through them, think about the notable differences between the two documents/events. Do they capture how you think about the meaning of global governance? Do they offer a credible response to the challenges that they seek to address?
—–Our Global Neighborhood, The Report of the Commission on Global
Governance. (1995). (Access online here):
http://www.gdrc.org/u-gov/global-neighbourhood/index.htm
You can skim read the report but, please, give a bit more attention to chapters 1 and 2.
—-1a) Nelson Mandela Foundation. “Annual Lecture 2020: Secretary-General Guterres’s full speech.” Saturday 18 July 2020.
(Access online here):
https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/annual-lecture-2020-secretary-general-guterress-full-speech
—-1b) Security Council Report. “Security Council Summit on Post-COVID-19 Global Governance.” (2020).
(Access online here): (follow the in-text link to Niger’s Concept note.)
https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2020/09/security-council-summit-on-post-covid-19-global-governance.php
—-1c) Video recording of the United Nations Security Council Summit on Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Global Governance Post-COVID-19.” 24 September 2020.
(Access online here):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2ndwAoWm_0
It is a 3-hour video, but there is a lot of empty space in-between the speeches. You might want to listen to the UN Secretary-General and a selection of other speakers. It is easy to scroll and locate each one.
1a,b,c all form part of a single effort to respond to the global crisis brought on by COVID 19. It is best to read/watch them in that order.
