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Global governance

Global governance - understood as a combination of security providers, policies and underlying norms – is directly affected by the simultaneous evolution of threats and shifting centres of power. On the one hand, the world remains characterised by instability, conflict and human suffering, as well as by high levels of strategic uncertainty. On the other, institutions like the United Nations, the African Union or the European Union itself – as well as non-governmental organisations – have developed a wide range of tools to tackle evolving dangers.

International law and regimes, including norms on intervention (peacekeeping, the responsibility to protect) or justice (International Criminal Court), also provide a political and legal framework for global regulation efforts.But existing mechanisms are being increasingly called into question over their effectiveness and levels of legitimacy, in particular by those not represented in decision-making. This in turn challenges the position and role of the European Union and its aspirations to be both a norm-setter and a broad security provider.

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    30August 2013

    With the 68th General Assembly of the United Nations set to open shortly in New York, this alert re-examines what global governance means today in an environment where the state-centric Westphalian system has long given way to a more multi-centric and less regulated world.

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    15July 2013

    This alert examines the battle for supplying gas to Kiev, explaining how the once powerful monopolistic strategies of Gazprom - take-or-pay clauses, market partitioning and destination clauses - have either been neutralised or even turned against the company through the logic of the market and the regulatory power of the EU.

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    01July 2013

    After 23 years of punitive measures put in place under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, Iraq has finally cleared the way to end its pariah status in the international system. Although tensions remain with neighbouring Kuwait over a variety of outstanding issues, as this alert proves, a painful chapter in Iraq’s history has nevertheless been closed.

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    22May 2013

    On 25 April, the UN Security established MINUSMA to take over from the African-led mission (AFISMA) in Mali. This alert explores the possible impact of ‘robust peacekeeping’ in Mali and draws attention to the current application of an emerging template for inter-institutional cooperation in military crisis management.

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    13May 2013

    This study, the first of a new, restyled series of Chaillot Papers, focuses on how EU sanctions - or restrictive measures - work by providing an analytical framework to evaluate their success. In addition, it presents recommendations on how to improve the sanctioning process and elaborates on the future role of what has arguably become the most important foreign policy tool of the EU in recent years.

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    15April 2013

    Although considerable progress has been made regarding the implementation of multilateral nuclear approaches (MNAs) over the past few years, the drive appears to have already lost much momentum since its reinvigoration a decade ago. There is much potential in this realm for the EU to play a constructive role and for its internal diversity to become a foreign policy asset.

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    08April 2013

    From social media to irregular warfare and venture capital, a new political landscape characterised by power diffusion is clearly emerging. As a result, today’s (old and new) power holders not only bear responsibility for governing their own people; in the current hyper-connected world, their actions also have global repercussions.

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    27March 2013

    Since the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1997, much progress has been made in destroying existing stockpiles of chemical weapons. However, the CWC is faced with new threats and challenges due to advances in science and technology and the changing international security, political and economic environment. On the eve of the Third Review Conference of the treaty, this report examines some of the most pressing challenges facing the CWC over the next decade.

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    18December 2012

    For nearly a decade now, the EU has provided decisive support to international efforts to combat WMD proliferation. This policy brief illustrates the added value of EU support to existing international instruments dealing with non-proliferation, while recommending concrete steps to improve EU efforts to foster greater international cooperation.

  • 07December 2012

    The decison to award the European Union with the Nobel Peace Prize has both elicted praise and caused controversy. Yet rather than a reward for the present, the prize must be seen as a recognition for the past and an encouragement for the future.

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    19April 2010

    The Non-Proliferation Treaty is a central pillar in global efforts to prevent a destabilising armament competition and, worse still, nuclear war. Chaillot Paper No. 120 analyses the issues affecting the NPT in the lead-up to the 2010 Review Conference that will take place amid rising proliferation concerns and a renewed focus on disarmament.

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    09April 2010

    The New START, a bilateral nuclear arms reduction treaty, aims to significantly reduce the weapons stockpiles of both the US and Russia. While it may be seen as a positive step towards disarmament and for US-Russia relations, getting it past the US Senate is Obama’s next big challenge, writes Jean Pascal Zanders.

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    23December 2009

    It is not all gloom and doom. The Copenhagen Summit was the first of its kind. Never before had the international community been so well represented in its willingness to engage in efforts to save the world from the effects of climate change. It was in the context of Copenhagen that the United States committed itself to a thorough - if insufficient - emissions reduction scheme. The other top polluter, China, also began to use a different language compared to only a couple of years ago. Progress has been made. But given the scale of the challenge, it is profoundly unsatisfactory.

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    28October 2009
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    In the world in 2009, how can the main global players establish a common approach to security and what form will this take? In particular, will this common approach to security be derived from or related to the concept of human security? In order to answer these questions, contributors to this Chaillot Paper were asked to analyse how threats to national and international security are defined in the country of concern.

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    08October 2009

    Articels in this ISSue: Álvaro de Vasconcelos looks back to 1989 and draws conclusions for Europe today, Ahmet Davutoglu outlines his vision of future EU - NATO cooperation and the role of non-EU allies in contributing to the European Security and Defence Policy and Jean Pascal Zanders looks at Obama and the the first steps toward disarmament.

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    26June 2009

    Giovanni Grevi sketches out a new scenario for the changing international system: the interpolar world. He suggests that the shifts in global power will be shaped by the necessities of increasing interdependence - not least to confront shared challenges, from the economic crisis to climate change, and their political and security implications.

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    20January 2009

    This collaborative effort of the EUISS research team highlights what it considers to be the major political event of 2009: the election of President Barack Obama and the impact that the change in the American administration will have on the world. It covers the priority areas for US-EU cooperation of global governance, climate change, disarmament and non-proliferation, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and transatlantic relations.

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    17December 2008

    This policy brief reviews the recent US National Intelligence report on global trends in 2025, which predicts a more multipolar and heterogenous world, characterised by non-state actors and rising powers with different priorities such as China, India and Russia. In a world where Europe risks losing its clout, the brief urges the US and the EU to work together in reforming multilateral structures, developing common strategies to engage the new global players, and facing new environmental, demographic and economic challenges.

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    01November 2008

    Ce document examine les différences culturelles, historiques et conceptuelles qui font de la coopération de sécurité et de défense entre l’Europe et l’Amérique latine un processus complexe. Bien que les deux régions soient hétérogènes, dans un monde de plus en plus interdépendant et multipolaire, une coopération plus étroite est à la fois possible et nécessaire. Il est indispensable pour cela de hiérarchiser les priorités et de dépasser les coopérations ad hoc existantes.

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    25September 2008

    En mettant la priorité sur la prévention, l’Union européenne pourrait maximiser l’usage de ses ressources et le soutien des capacités des gouvernements et des sociétés pour lutter contre le fléau des armes légères, explique Damien Helly, chargé de recherche de l’IESUE sur l’Afrique, la prévention des conflits et de la gestion des crises.

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