The World Economic Forum is facilitating a two-year multi-stakeholder dialogue on the future of global cooperation, known as the Global Redesign Initiative (GRI). The objective is to stimulate an interdisciplinary thought process among business, government, academic, civil society, scientific and media leaders in order to identify concrete opportunities to strengthen global institutions and cooperative arrangements, as well as adapt them more fully to contemporary circumstances and challenges.
The Forum believes that the difficulties that existing instruments of global governance — including multilateral institutions — have had in mustering an effective response to the economic crisis, global warming, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and other challenges partly stem from major changes that have occurred since they were created.
The GRI’s underlying premise is that traditional conceptions of global governance require rethinking. Deepened global cooperation along current lines is necessary but not sufficient. A more multidimensional and inclusive approach to setting norms and generating collective action is needed for success in addressing the market and public system collapses that have accompanied globalisation.
How did the idea of the GRI come about?
It was launched at the start of 2009, when the financial crisis had exposed serious shortcomings in the way the international community was able to respond to a systemic crisis of such a scale. The World Economic Forum saw a need to rethink and redesign traditional approaches to international cooperation in order to mitigate the effects which future shocks might have on the international architecture, not just in the financial and economic sphere, but in other domains as well. Under the patronage of the governments of Qatar, Switzerland, Singapore and Tanzania, the Forum has used its platform to bring together leading thinkers and practitioners from various Forum communities in this unique thought process.
What are the key themes underlying the innovative proposals that have emerged from the GRI?
The proposals cover varied topics, but they essentially cover cooperation in the fields of economics, sustainability, development, security, and values. As an emerging country, India is playing an important role in international cooperation, and is likely to expand this role in the future. A number of proposals are directly relevant for the country, such as those dealing with talent mobility, trade, nutrition and water management, to name a just few.
What kind of reception did these proposals get at the multi-stakeholder summit in Qatar in June 2010?
A significant number of the ideas received positive feedback from governments and other actors at the Global Redesign Summit in Doha. Some of them were identified as especially relevant for the G20 agenda, while others were found to be particularly timely ahead of the upcoming COP scheduled for December in Mexico, where a series of special sessions will be co-convened with the Mexican government to examine them in greater detail. Overall, the meeting turned out to be a successful exercise in refining and advancing thinking around the proposals for the purpose of encouraging the ideas to be refined and embraced by governments, business and others who are willing to become their champions.
With only a few days to go for the Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai, what is the state of readiness?
We are in the midst of disseminating the proposals following their initial presentation at the Doha meeting earlier this year. This is being undertaken by various means, including selected meetings with relevant stakeholders at the Forum’s regional meetings, such as the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in Marrakech, the Summit in Delhi, and the Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai. Another opportunity for discussing these ideas are symposia that are being organised around the world on specific topics with local partners, where the proposals feature at the heart of the discussions on a broader theme. One such meeting has taken place in Tokyo in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Global Security Research Institute at Keio University.
What happens after the proposals are finalised at Davos in January 2011?
The Forum’s 2011 Annual Meeting in Davos does not represent a final milestone in the redesign process. Different proposals are at different stages of this process, with some requiring further discussion, some the subject of case studies that are either region or issue specific, and others being debated at higher levels of policy-making. Such conversations will continue in the context of the Annual Meeting, but also prior to that and beyond, facilitated by the Forum in cooperation with various stakeholders.