Atlantic-community.org is proud to announce the winners of the Global Governance 2020 competition. We would like to thank all participants for their contributions. The competition was very successful in terms of both the quantity and high quality of the articles we have received. All four categories of the competition received equally challenging articles, all indicating a good grasp of the issues in question and making provocative arguments. The wide response to the four categories given reveals the increasing relevance of the topic of global governance.
The four winners of the US-$200 prize in each category are:
- Institutions / Decision-making Processes:
John Dalziel Frew, Globalized Decision-Making Demands New Acting Styles - Trade / Finance:
Yam Ki Chan, Unipolarity's Days Are Numbered - Security / Human Rights:
Alyssa M. Ramsey, Human Rights: A Matter of Guiding the Invisible Hand - Environment / Climate Change / Energy:
Jordan Levine, Socioecological Innovation: An Alternative Future
Indeed, in the midst of the financial crisis and the questioning of the tenets of globalization the four categories gain a new significance. Globalization gave birth to the idea of global governance and the current crisis threatens to make the concept redundant. Your submissions reveal the issues to be prioritized and the reforms to be considered.
In the category of trade and finance, Yam Ki Chan argues that it is necessary that the international community takes steps towards stricter financial regulation. He further proposes that in the face of the global financial crisis and its grim consequences, the international community should establish a supranational reserve currency to reduce dependence on the US dollar. When it comes to institutions and decision-making, the concept of global governance creates a "new style of acting that leaves behind the outdated frames of governance exemplified by traditional theories." Global interconnectedness is reflected in Frew's metaphor that "the gently flattering wings of a butterfly in Brazil [cause] a tornado in Texas."
In the category of security and human rights, it emerged that one should not exist independent from other as "international security can only be guaranteed once human rights are upheld in every corner of the globe." (Alyssa Ramsey) To this end, wealthy democracies should promote environmentally sustainable economic development to create the "underlying support structure for a democratic society" which respects human rights.
Finally, in the category of environment, climate change, and energy, Jordan Levine draws attention to the fact that "the Earth is not an unlimited source of capital inputs." He proposes that life-cycle assessments be used to create a "system that effectively accounts for the social and ecological consequences of human activity at multiple geographical levels."
Once again, Atlantic -community.org would like to thank all of the participants for their submitted articles. The ideas presented and elaborated upon in the articles were refreshing in their ideas and policy recommendations, unfortunately there can only be four winners in the competition. However, we have compiled the best ideas from all submitted articles, and included them in a new Atlantic Memo on "Global Governance in 2020."
All shortlisted articles of the competition can be found here.
This competition was organized in cooperation with the Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance.
- 16
