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STRATEGIC CONTEXT
The Challenge of
Globalisation
As the processes of globalisation and technological innovation continue
to accelerate, the world becomes more interconnected, interdependent,
and unpredictable. Working within this uncertain and dynamic landscape,
senior decision-makers around the world face the challenge of making
critical choices regarding the deployment of human, technical, and
financial resources based on incomplete and imperfect information.
Competitive threats, scientific and technical innovation, environmental
concerns, legal and regulatory constraints, civil unrest, local community
values and traditions, market instability, and shifting political
alignments all impact the nuances and scope of decision making.
Recent changes in the political landscape as a result of September
11th have added a considerable burden to the existing world conditions.
The development of decision support, knowledge management, and leadership
development capabilities is not commensurate with the pace of our
technological advances or the globalised nature of commerce. Our most
elite Cold War institutions have not adapted well to a post Cold War
strategic landscape where new modes of collaborative leadership and
multi-stakeholder problem solving are required.
As the 21st century unfolds, an ever more integrated global system
demands an ever more inclusive and holistic approach to global governance.
More than ever before in history, we need the rigorous application
of best thinking and best practices to the management of global systems.
Nothing less will suffice, if we are to secure the well-being of our
children and protect the fragile web of life that supports and nurtures
humanity’s existence on this planet.
Establishing a more integrated and effective system requires significant
reform of existing institutions and policies. Yet it is unclear how
reform is to proceed and who has a legitimate right to conduct and
inform the planning and decision-making process. Where once nation
states dominated, today the business sector and civil society demand
seats at the table. Transparency, accountability, and democracy have
become the watchwords of citizens, trade unions, and environmental,
human rights and religious communities who are no longer confident
that elected officials and business leaders can be trusted to act
in the best interests of humanity or the environment.
A New Approach
In the midst of heightened public concern and a growing commitment
to consider new options, a compelling challenge resides in convening
individuals drawn from the major stakeholder communities for sustained
and structured dialogue, inquiry and collaborative action. The complex
array of challenges and opportunities that characterize the globalisation
process requires methods of inquiry, deliberation, and assessment
that are similarly global, systemic, and inclusive in nature. What
is required are structured and generative multi-stakeholder dialogues
and deliberation processes that reach across traditional sectoral
and professional boundaries and result in new levels of integrated
thought and action.
Out of this cross-sectoral interaction, the possibility exists to
create new alliances and coalitions between constituencies that can
align governments, the corporate sector and civil society in new and
increasingly democratic and inclusive ways. Indeed, it is only new
combinations of individuals and organizations building coalitions
around the common good that will succeed in providing both the integrated
thought and action necessary to shape the processes of globalisation
constructively as well as to ensure that democratic institutions are
strengthened at the global level. Such an undertaking would be unprecedented
and potentially historic in its consequences.
The Commission on Globalisation
The proposal for an international and cross-sectoral Commission on
Globalisation grew out of State of the World Forum 2000, convened
September 4-10, 2000 in New York. The conference was a multi-stakeholder
“post Seattle” dialogue on globalisation and coincided with
the UN Millennium Summit of Heads of State. The event was unprecedented
in scope and diversity and gave rise to the recommendation that such
a substantive and diverse interaction should be continued in light
of the growing public and political debate on globalisation and global
governance, heightened by the protests from Seattle to Genoa. The
Commission is the result of these discussions and considerations.
The first priority has been to establish a global network of leaders
drawn from diverse constituencies. To date, two hundred such leaders
have agreed to participate in Commission activities as either Commissioners
or Co-Chairs. The Commission was formally launched at its Inaugural
Meeting of the Commission in London December 13-15, 2001
convened at the London Business School. A
Joint
Statement, signed by over 100 Co-Chairs and Commissioners, calling
for the world community to take action to reconcile the contradictory
tendencies inherent in globalisation, was published in the global
edition of the Financial Times on December 13, 2001.
This statement contributed to the overall press coverage the event
drew.
During the two-day gathering, 80 Co-Chairs and Commissioners, as well
as a select group of invited guests, discussed the Commission’s
strategy and purpose; substantive work and process; and management
and governance.
The Commission network
met again for its Second
Annual Meeting in Mexico City December 4-7, 2002.
Over
150 Co-Chairs, Commissioners and specially invited guests participated
and discussed issues including the war on terrorism and human rights,
free trade and social equity, migration and the displacement of peoples,
risk management in the global economy, and pathways to a sustainable
civilization. In addition, Policy Action Group and Special Initiative
leaders organized small-group roundtables, and provided special briefings
for the entire conference. A full-day special session on Poverty and
Globalisation, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency,
was organized on the opening day of the conference, which was followed
by the opening dinner, sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton.
A third gathering of
the Commission network was hosted
by the Foundation in Support of the Commission on Globalisation, an
independent non profit organization established as an affiliate of
the Forum in Europe to cultivate greater European support for the
Commission. The conference, National
Sovereignty - Universal Challenges,
convened in Brussels, Belgium June 18-20, 2003, drew specialists from
around the world and from conservative and liberal perspectives to
examine the phenomenon of US power; the deepening fissures in the
transatlantic alliance; and what can be learned from the development
of the European Union.
The strategic intent of all of these activities of the Commission
is to build a global coalition of individuals and institutions committed
to exercising democracy at the global level; working collaboratively
to take actions that will shape globalisation humanely; and refining
the processes related to multi-stakeholder deliberations.
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