| 10 June 2008: Anne-Marie Slaughter | |
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Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Government at Princeton University, gave a very interesting seminar on "Networking as the best form of global governance." After a brief presentation and introduction to her thoughts, Dean Slaughter answered insightful questions on the topic from participating students at the Lee Kuan Yew School, Tsinghua University, University of Waterloo, and Wilfrid Laurier University.
8:00 Introduction by Karolina Werner. 4 schools participating: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy; Tsinghua University, University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier. Thanks to the Crawford School for helping with the technology.
8:05 Donna Liu introduces Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton.
8:09 Anne-Marie starts her discussion with a few words about videotechnology and her excitement to be involved, as well as to link back across the Pacific to Shanghai.
8:12 In 2009, there will be a new US president. Anne-Marie hopes that he will:
1. Issue an order to close Guantanamo, and also issue a statement saying that the US will abide by the Geneva Convention. She thinks that this is the biggest issue with the US’ reputation and its claim to uphold the rule of law and moral authority: it is impossible to claim to uphold rule of law and then violate it! She references Joe Nye’s discussions of “soft power.”
2. Start serious negotiations on climate change, especially with developing nations and China!
3. Make a serious commitment to the non-proliferation regime. Calling for a world free of nuclear weapons. The US in the past has not been serious about living up to its part of the bargain, and that should change with a new president
4. (maybe?) Serious commitment to reforming global institutions to making them more representative. Agreement that we are living in a 21st c world with institutions created for a 19th c world. She would especially like to see Security Council reform!
8:23 Anne-Marie mentions that the World Bank and IMF are symptoms of a larger problem: IMF designed to stop 1930s problems, not for development! Lenders competing with private lenders: now need new structures and new goals, new decisions.
8:25 No agreement on what they should become, just agreement that they need to change! Anne-Marie suggests the UN call a conference to look at what they should become and address the key economic challenge of the 21th c: making globalization work for everyone. Institutions should be changed in a way to allow them to address these problems.
8:30 Anne-Marie proposes ways of tackling these issues by using trans-governmental networks, such as online networks! Technology makes it possible for us to network in countless combinations for different purposes Examples: commerce, political fundraising, terrorism, activism
8:38 Conclusion: We need to be able to connect to officials in every country on earth at every level to be able to solve these problems: to create global networks that are connected to central organizations.
We face common problems that we MUST solve together, or we will all go under!
Must develop INSTITUTIONS to solve these problems!
8:42 Question period
Lee Kuan Yew: Do you think that such institutions will be a solution to the problem, given different democracies’ divergent interests?
AMS: Concert of democracies vs. league of democracies: concert is a group of democracies doing three things:
1. Strengthen cooperation among existing democracies worldwide. Democracy is a universal!
2. Watching over current agreements. Open press and opposition allow compliance to be supervised, which will be needed when looking at things like climate change or nuclear control. Example: countries joining EU are connected to EU network.
3. Engage in dialogue with democratizing countries about democracy and how to get there
8:50 Tsinghua: on the Kyoto Protocol
AMS: Chief objections that treaty does not bind developing countries as well as developed countries. And it does not go far enough
8:57 WLU: How likely do you think any of the changes regarding global institutions are, especially security council?
AMS: Just moderated a panel of SC members and they’re dealing with this now! Plan B: adding 6 new permanent members OR expanding permanent members to include members from every continent.
Should work through UN to create reform and let SC reform come through that.
IF we don’t reform SC, then by 2020 UN will be increasingly irrelevant.
9:00 Tsinghua, by email:
1. In your paper, you suggest seeking a third way between the Kyoto Protocol’s requirements for emission reductions and opposition to any binding constraints. My questions are: what shortcomings are there about the Kyoto Protocol from angle of the USA? Are there some schemes in United States about such third way?
2. In the world of globalization, to build a harmonious international network, how can developed countries like US help the developing countries grow rapidly and healthily?
AMS: No shortage of ideas, just a shortage of political will to hammer out details, especially on carbon trading. Needs to be accompanied by lots of incentive for cooperative development of new technology. The best way to help others is to help them develop environmental technology, and to actively work to develop alternative sources of energy and green technology to allow for sustainable growth. Need a collaborative approach to growth!
9:04 Waterloo: What is the relationship between networks and formal global governance? Are they alternate or interconnected?
AMS: My thinking has evolved in the last 10 years! I think now that the role of the institutions is to be the convenor and facilitator of these networks. Unite formal institutions as central nodes in broader networks
9:09: LKW on nuclear non-proliferation:
AMS: As long as US and other nuclear states are convinced that they can maintain monopoly, no incentive to disarm or go any further. But now there are new states that could become nuclear powers (eg Iran, Saudi Arabia; Brazil, etc). With this growth of new states, that’s the incentive to live up: better to have world with no nuclear weapons!
A new government should support agreement with India as both parties seen that Bush’s dialogues with India have been very good.
9:13 Tsinghua on environment:
AMS: China needs to leapfrog the West on environmental issues by taking themselves from current Chinese lifestyle to a point beyond the current Western lifestyle, and we all need to develop a new environmental lifestyle and new technology.
9:19 WLU on networks.
AMS: Formal networks allow for sanctions when people do not comply with compact. Active networks need to connect with traditional institutions for this purpose.
9:23 Waterloo asks for the take on China and India’s role in institutional change
AMS: In 21st c, now a country must also take morak responsibility for itself, and allow permissible intrusions on sovereignty – eg. UN to protect people – so the new connections must also take this into account. What one nation does has a direct impact on another. China is moving in the direction of pressuring other governments
9:28 LKW via email: When you talk of global network, the history seems to suggest that all such networks and multilateral institutions have been tilted towards powerful developed nations. As a result vast majority of developing countries feel left out. Be it WTO, UN, IMF or many other groupings existing currently. How do you think the future networking can address such imbalances?
AMS: Developing networks can form counter-networks! This is the best way to solve it, and then they make it clear that they can harness the power of networks on their own. Networking is avery democratic technology!
9:30 Thanks!
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