We the people of earth: toward global democracy

Abstract

We Confront Daunting Twenty-First Century Challenges hobbled by twentieth century institutions. In a world ever more interdependent, deepening global-scale risks – climate change, financial instability, terrorism, to name a few – threaten the planetary commonweal, even the continuity of civilization. Yet coherent and timely responses lie beyond the grasp of our myopic and disputatious state-centric political order. Closing this perilous gap between obsolete geo-politics and emerging geo-realities delineates an urgent political endeavor: constructing a legitimate and effective system of world governance. Key steps on that path involve reforming the United Nations and nurturing new venues for the meaningful exercise of global citizenship