The Basic Challenges of Global Governance in the Absence of Rights-Based Global Government

Document Type : Original Article from Result of Thesis

Authors

1 PhD Student in Public Law, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan,Iran.

2 Assistant Professor of Public Law Department, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan,Iran.

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Isfahan University.

4 Assistant Professor, Public Law Department, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Isfahan Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

Peace and security, development and welfare, human rights, environment, migration, terrorism, and health are now among the transnational challenges that have remained unchecked due to structural and normative problems of the world government system. These challenges have been identified as various cases (e.g., multiplicity of institutions, their poor collaboration and uncoordinated performance, insufficiency of conventional arrangements for transnational management of problems, instability of equilibrium in power, lack of integrity in administration of global governance, anarchic extremity, liberal bias, normative contradictions in execution of human rights, democratic legitimacy and violation, and adaptation to or negligence of global transformations). Due to its unique characteristics, the rights-based world government can integrate, coordinately manage, and develop a hierarchical collaboration system between the relevant activists in order to achieve integrity and unity in structures and procedures. Accordingly, this government is able to manage and tackle the foregoing challenges. This study aims to address a serious question: what major challenges does the global governance face now in the absence of the rights-based world government? Bibliographical references are used in this paper through a descriptive-analytical approach to identify the dimensions of unfavorable global governance and determine the necessity of establishing the rights-based world government to tackle the major challenges to this type of governance.  The research results indicated structural and normative challenges to global governance, something which necessitates the establishment of a universal state to solve these major challenges.

Highlights

Introduction

The independently national governance within the modern Westphalian nation-state structure can lead to conflicts or disputes between countries over borders or interests. The necessity of global governance was presented to prevent war and arbitrariness, promote good governance everywhere, and control all countries. This idea was first operationalized by creating the community of nations and then completed over time by establishing the United Nations (UN). The dimensions of positive interactions between nation-states, establishment of international institutions, and regulation of global policies and affairs (e.g., global commerce and global health) are among the undeniable values of global governance now. However, recent crises such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the possibility of consequent nuclear attacks, the COVID-19 pandemic, the growing global risk of climate change, the ever-increasing cyber threats, and terrorism have seriously challenged the global governance system and highlighted the inefficiency of this type of governance more than ever before.

Although many philosophers have emphasized the necessity of establishing and strengthening global governance, it is apparently essential to make practical modifications to the current governance system in order to develop better global institutions and finally achieve more favorable governance in order to improve the current situation. Formal and informal institutions, methods, and initiatives—which together form “global governance”—can better solve transnational problems with higher levels of concentration, coordination, predictability, stability, and discipline. As a result, they can act as a world government to tackle many challenges in our world and present potentially efficient solutions.

In this paper, bibliographical references are employed to determine what major challenges face the global governance now in the absence of a world government. The research hypothesis indicates the establishment of unfavorable global governance due to structural, institutional, normative, and political reasons. In addition to identifying major challenges to global governance, this study aims to prove the necessity of establishing the rights-based world government (through the human unity under a common political power abiding by the norms of human rights) to manage and finally tackle these challenges.

 

Research Methodology

In this study, a descriptive-analytical approach was employed along with 30 scientific references (e.g., reputable books and papers) to describe the concepts of global governance and consequent challenges. The capabilities of the rights-based world government were then argued and analyzed to manage these challenges. The results and findings required to address the main research question were then extracted.

 

Findings

Global governance is defined as an institutional framework for developing politics, making decisions, and taking international actions. It is the source of many ideas and actions that have led to human advances such as socioeconomic developments, promotion of discourse, and implementation of human rights, peace, and environmental sustainability. Despite the foregoing advances, we now face many international problems such as the risk of climate change, environmental harms, terrorism, war, lack of humanitarian interventions in violations of human rights, migration, poverty, pandemics, financial instability, and multiplicity of mass murder weapons. In fact, the global governance system has failed to solve the foregoing issues in the absence of a world government for determining behavioral codes, regulating interstate relations, adopting multilateral approaches, and showing collective reactions.

Regarding the structure of global governance, formative problems include the multiplicity of governing institutions, coordination and collaboration, instability of equilibrium in power (i.e., the unilateralism of players), fragility of procedures, functional limitation, lack of integrity in implementation of global governance, anarchic extremity, and growing chaos. Due to its unique characteristics, the rights-based world government can infuse players with integrity, coordinated management, and development of a hierarchical collaboration system. This government can manage challenges to the current global governance by establishing integrity, unifying structures and procedures, and striking a balance between components and layers. Ultimately, it can solve the existing problems.

The substantive and normative challenges to global governance include liberal bias, normative contradictions in the implementation of human rights, democratic legitimacy and violation, existing gaps in governance, and adaptation to and negligence of global transformations. These challenges can weaken the pervasive attempts at creating a world for everyone and hinder the development of a peacefully fairer world. Hence, the rights-based world government overcomes the obstacles to participation in global decision-making processes by perceiving the necessity of making normative, political, or discourse-related changes in order to tackle the challenges caused by various shortcomings. It can then develop an accountable, flexible, an effective global governance system that supports sustainable peace by standardizing functions and removing the existing flaws. Hence, it can end the frequent failures in the internal modifications of the governance system.

 

Results

In addition to appreciating the commendable advantages of the currently established global governance system, this paper explains and classifies its major challenges as structural and normative challenges. For this purpose, management solutions to these challenges in the theory of the rights-based world government (i.e., human unity under a common political power abiding by norms of human rights) were searched for and then presented.

This study aimed to identify the major challenges to the global governance system under the state–country construct. These challenges were then classified as the structural and institutional category (i.e., formative problems) and the normative category (i.e., substantive problems). The next step was to discuss the necessity of modifying the global governance system through the collaboration of states, international organizations, large-scale organizations, and players of the civil society. Finally, the unfavorable global governance was explained in the absence of a pervasive rights-based political power with the capability of unifying people and officials.

It would be possible to discuss and identify the modification of the currently established global governance system without considering the alternative version of a common state. However, the authors sought the ultimate solution to management of challenges in the theory of the rights-based world government and explained their hypothesis based on the necessity of establishing the rights-based world government as a legitimate global political authority to modify the global governance system. To manage global risks and common grounds, it is essential to strengthen a globally pervasive participation, adopt a government system with a state (i.e., direct authority), develop certain solutions and approaches to political globalization, adopt a unified procedure in line with governance activists, create an integrated policymaking power for a unified world, explain the necessity of eliminating boundaries and omitting unnecessary geographical distances in humanity. In conclusion, the rights-based world government is a real opportunity to address and withstand catastrophic risks within the current global governance system in addition to determining the ways of establishing its governance.

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