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Global Governance...Selected Sources

Compiled by Jeff Turner and Marlene Roy - Information for Sustainable Development Project

Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development


Books and articles

Andresen, Steinar. The effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission. Arctic, 46 (2): 108-115.

Bandow, Doug and Ian Vasquez (eds.). Perpetuating poverty : the World Bank, the IMF, and the developing world. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 1994. 362 p.

Contents: Introduction: the dismal legacy and false promise of multilateral aid (Bandow and Vasquez); The IMF: a record of addiction and failure (Bandow); The political economy of the IMF: a public choice analysis (Vaubel); The World Bank and the impoverishment of nations (Bovard); Understanding the World Bank: a dispassionate analysis (Burnham); Western aid and Russian transition (Eberstadt); Fostering aid addiction in eastern Europe (Tammen); Aid for black elephants: how foreign assistance has failed Africa (Ayittey); Development planning in Latin America: the lifeblood of the mercantilist state (Roberts); Mexico, markets and multilateral aid (Leon); Brazilian hyperstagflation: the case against intervention (de Castro); Foreign aid and India's leviathan state (Kamath); Philippine development and the foreign assistance trap (McGurn); America's iron trade curtain against eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (Bovard); The liberating potential of multinational corporations (Osterfeld); The high cost of trade protectionism to the third world (Finger); Self-determination through unilateral free trade (Powell).

Abstract: This book represents a collection of essays which dissect the role of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in promoting the politicization of economic life, in inhibiting private enterprise and delaying the emergence from poverty. The contributors argue that because of the nature of their structure, the bank and fund cannot change toward promarket and pre-growth policies.

Bogert, Carroll. "United Nations : battle scars." Newsweek (October 30, 1995) : 52-55.

Canadian Committee for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations. Canadian priorities for United Nations reform: proposals for policy changes by the United Nations and the Government of Canada. (s.l.): The Committee, June 1994. 47 p.

Notes: Publishing information assumed.

Childers, Erskine and Sir Brian Urquhart. "Renewing the United Nations system." Development dialogue (1994: 1). Uppsala, Sweden: Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, 1994. 213 p.

Commission on Global Governance. Our global neighbourhood. Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press, 410 p.

Contents: (Selected): Military transformations (The arms trade, Rise in civil conflict, Widespread violence); Economic trends (Persistent poverty, Eastern Europe's experience, Private sector); Social and environmental change (Population, Global media, Agents of change in civil society, Empowerment of people); Values for the global neighborhood (Global civic ethic, Combating corruption); Promoting security (Ending the threat of mass destruction: Eliminating nuclear weapons, The non-proliferation treaty, Chemical and biological weapons, Military spending, Arms transfers, Inculcating a culture of non-violence); Managing economic interdependence (Global decision making, Regionalism and informal multilateralism, An apex body: an Economic Security Council, Rules for trade and international competition : Trade and the WTO, Towards a strengthened multilateral trade regime; The IMF and global economic stability; Development assistance and the fight against poverty, Migration, Protecting the environment: Sustainable development and Agenda 21, Market instruments and the environment, The global commons, Principles of global environmental governance); Reforming the United Nations (Security Council, General Assembly, Trusteeship, Global civil society (Non governmental organizations, A people's assembly), Reforming UN economic and social operations, UNCTAD and UNIDO, Putting women at the centre; Strengthening the rule of law world-wide (The Security Council and the world court, Promoting international law); Call to action: Summary of Commission proposals.

Abstract: Deals with how the world has been transformed since 1945, making changes necessary in our governance arrangement. Recommends promoting security (including the security of people and the planet), for managing economic interdependence, for reforming the United Nations in ways that also offer a larger role to people through the organizations of international civil society and for extending on the global stage the rule of law.

Cox, Robert W. Perspectives on multilateralism. (s.l.): United Nations University, 1991. 51 p.

Notes: Includes bibliography.

Culpeper, Roy. Canada and the global governors: reforming the multilateral development banks. Ottawa: The North South Institute, 1994. 36 p.

Notes: Companion document to the author's longer, in-depth study: Canada and the multilateral development banks. Text in English and French.

Desai, Meghnad (ed.). Global governance : ethics and economics of the world order. London: Pinter Publications Ltd., 1995. 230 p.

Eban, Abba. "The U.N. idea revisited." Foreign Affairs 74 (5, 1995): 39-55.

Falkenberg, Geir. "Trade measures in international environmental agreements." EED report No. 1994/7. Lyasker, NO: Fridtjof Nansen Institute, 1994. 26 p.

Fawcett, Eric and Hanna Newcombe (eds.). United Nations reform: looking ahead after fifty years. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1995. 350 p.

Felix, David. Financial globalization versus free trade: The case for the Tobin Tax. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Discussion Paper No. 108. Paris: UNCTAD, 1995. 64 p.

Finkelstein, Lawrence S. " What is global governance?" Global Governance 1 (Sept.-Dec., 1995): 367-372.
Abstract: Defines global governance.

French, Hilary F. Toward treaties that work: improving the effectiveness of international environmental agreements. Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute, 1993. 17 p.

Abstract: Many of today's most pressing environmental problems are global in nature, and cannot be solved by nations acting alone. Already, governments have reached agreement on more that 170 environmental treaties, two-thirds or more over the last two decades. But though this progress offers reason for hope, some serious shortcomings in the current system of international environmental governance remain.

Gosovic, Branislav. The quest for world environment cooperation: the case of the UN Global Environment Monitoring System. London: Routledge, 1992. 284 p.

Abstract: Examines the genesis, evolution and performance of GEMS from its beginnings as recommended by the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment.

Haas, Peter M. and Ernst B. Hass. "Learning to learn: improving international governance." Global Governance 1 (Sept.-Dec., 1995): 255-285. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1995.

Abstract: Catalogs the features of organizations that have successfully learned to improve their programmatic activities for environmental management in order to provide a positive example of organizational design for encouraging effective governance after the Cold War.

Held, David. "Cosmopolitan democracy and the global order: reflections on the 200th anniversary of Kant's "Perpetual Peace"." Alternatives 20 (1995) : 415-429. 15 p.

Imber, Mark. Environment, security, and UN reform. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. 180 p.

Notes: Includes bibliography.

Contents: Two Hiroshimas every week; Debt, poverty and environment; The global commons; The UNEP role; Two cheers for Rio, 1992; Beyond UNCED: revenues and reforms; Appendix 1: Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Part II (The Stockholm Principles, 1972); Appendix 2: General Assembly Resolution 43/196 - A United Nations conference on environment and development; Appendix 3: Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.

Abstract: This book studies the interplay of three particular facets of the connection between environment and development: the role of Third World debt in perpetuating both poverty and environmental damage; the extension of the 'common-heritage of mankind' concept to include, not only the seas, but also the atmosphere and climate system, both to protect the commons and raise resources for development; and the reform of the UN in the aftermath of the many promises made at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit (UNCED).

Jacobson, Harold K and Edith Brown Weiss. "Strengthening compliance with international environmental accords: preliminary observations from a collaborative project." Global Governance 1 (May-Aug., 1995):119-148.

Abstract: The article presents preliminary observations from a collaborative project to explore how and the extent to which countries implement and comply with international environmental treaties.

Kenen, Peter B. (ed.). Managing the world economy: fifty years after Bretton Woods. Washington: Institute for International Economics, 1994. 430 p.

Contents: (Selected): Managing the monetary system; Managing the trading system: the World Trade Organization and the post-Uruguay Round GATT agenda; Managing development and transition; Managing the new international economic issues (International direct investment, Case for a global environmental organization, Migration); The future. Annex: The Bretton Woods institutions and global governance (ul Haq); Shared prosperity and the new international economic order (Summers).

Abstract: Review of the institutional framework for international economic cooperation undertaken by the IIE on the 50th anniversary of the original postwar economic organizations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Kennedy, Paul and Bruce Russet. "Reforming the United Nations." Foreign Affairs 74 (5, 1995): 56-71.

Kirton, John. Sustainable development as a focus for Canadian foreign policy. Working paper series No.25. Ottawa: National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE), 1994. 28 p.

Notes: Prepared for the NRTEE Task Force on Foreign Policy and Sustainability.

Contents: (Selected): Beyond trade and competitiveness: Canadian foreign policy in the 1990s; The new economic agenda: strengthening trade-environment links; The new environmental agenda: pursuing the promise of Rio; The new development agenda: coordinating resource redeployment; The new political agenda: building social accountability; The new security agenda: fostering environmental security; Global governance: shaping the new internationalism. Appendix A: Core definitions, principles, and dimensions of sustainable development (including discussion on sustainable development and common security); Appendix B: Public opinion on sustainable development as a Canadian foreign policy priority (and tables from Angus Reid, Goldfarb, Decima and Harris).

MacNeill, Jim, Pieter Winsemius, and Taizo Yakushiji. Beyond interdependence : the meshing of the world's economy and the earth's ecology. Oxford University Press, 1991. 159 p.

Notes: "Trilateral Commission book".

Macrae, Joanna and Anthony Zwi (eds.). War and hunger: rethinking international responses to complex emergencies. London: Zed Books, 1994. 242 p.

Notes: Forward by M.M. Sahnoun.

Contents: Famine, complex emergencies and international policy in Africa: an overview; The course of the four horsemen: costs of war and its aftermath in Sub-Saharan Africa; The political economy of internal war: asset transfer, complex emergencies and international aid; Human rights and wars of starvation; Angola: surviving against rollback and petrodollars; The function of famine in southwestern Sudan: implications for relief; Relief behind the lines: the cross-border operation in Tigray; Dangerous precedents? Famine relief in Somalia; The impact of war on food security in Eritrea: prospects for recovery; Gender, war and food; UN reform in a changing world: responding to complex emergencies; Engaging with violence: a reassessment of relief in wartime; Conclusion.

Abstract: The authors explore ways in which warfare creates hunger. The cases of Angola, Sudan, Tigray, Eritrea, Mozambique and Somalia illuminate the nature of complex emergencies in situations of war. Other chapters focus on the reforms required of the UN's machinery, reassess the role of relief in time of war, and ask how the international community should respond to the new circumstances of post-Cold War international interventions.

Mitchell, Ronald B. "Compliance with international treaties: lessons from intentional oil pollution." Environment 37 (May, 1995): 10-15, 36-41.

Najam, Adil. "An environmental negotiation strategy for the South." International Environmental Affairs. Hanover, NH: UP of New England, 1995.

Abstract: North-South environmental negotiations, especially as exemplified at UNCED, are increasingly adversarial and the reigning confrontational attitude among negotiators from both sides threatens to hinder the achievement of environmental treaties that are fair, wise, efficient and stable. An opportunity exists for the South to formulate a new strategy for international environmental negotiations - built around its own experience and around the principles of negotiation theory - that could better serve the realization of its environmental and developmental goals.

Porter, Gareth and Janet Welsh Brown. Global environmental politics. Dilemmas in world politics. Boulder: Westview Press, 1991. 208 p.

Contents: (Selected): Actors in the environmental arena (Nation-state actors, International organizations as actors, Non government organizations as actors, Corporations as actors); Issues and formation of environmental regimes (Transboundary air pollution (acid rain), Ozone depletion, Whaling, Trade in ivory from African elephants, International toxic waste trade, Antarctic minerals, Global warming, Destruction of tropical forests); Environment and world politics: security, North-South relations and trade: International security and the environment; The future: alternative approaches to global cooperation (Incremental change approach, Global partnership approach, Global governance approach).

Ruggie, John Gerard (ed.). Multilateralism matters: the theory and praxis of an institutional form. New directions in world politics. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. 479 p.

Ruggiero, Renato. "Growing complexity in international economic relations demands broadening and deepening of the multilateral trading system." UNCTAD Bulletin. (33, 1995) : 9-14.

Sand, Peter. Lessons learned in global environmental governance. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute, 1990. 60 p.

Abstract: Discusses how international environmental standard-setting and implementation practices can be upgraded to deal with the prospect of environmental issues moving from secondary to primary international concern and increasingly crowding the diplomatic agendas of nations.

Society for International Development North South Roundtable. Strengthening the United Nations for the 1990s. New York: The Roundtable, 1991. 43 p.

Conference: North South Roundtable Session on Strengthening the UN for the 1990s. (1991 : Tarrytown, New York).

Contents: Summary and conclusions; Introduction; UN agenda in the economic and social fields in the 1990s; The UN system and the specialized agencies; Financing the multilateral system; Relationship between the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions; Strengthening the UN for the 1990s.

Abstract: As a result of the end of the Cold War and a greater understanding between the superpowers, the United Nations is increasingly being used to settle political conflicts. However, the UN is making less headway in the social and economic development field. The real challenge in the 1990s is how to strengthen the role of the UN system in the development field - especially in the areas of human development, global environment and increased economic opportunities for the developing countries, particularly the least developed, as well as in addressing the issues of emergency situations, international migration, drugs and AIDS. In meeting these and other interdependent and interrelated challenges the multilateral system needs to become more effective.

South Centre. Enhancing the economic role of the United Nations. The South and the reform of the UN. Geneva: South Centre, 1992. 32 p.

South Centre. Facing the challenge: responses to the Report of the South Commission. London: ZED Books, 1993. 319 p.

Contents: (Selected): People centred development through collective self reliance (Gaitang); Women: the missing element (Pietilia); Inventing the future (Pisani); World orders, old and new (Chomsky); Policies for sustained growth and poverty reduction (Conable); National and international policies for development (Dadzie); Challenge to the South: seven basic principles (Galbraith); National dimensions of development strategies for the South (Islam); Multilateral compacts supporting economic reform (Sengupta); Achieving sustainable global development (Strong).

South Centre. The United Nations at a critical crossroads : time for The South to act. The South and the reform of the UN. Geneva: South Centre, 1993. 41 p.

Stubbs, Richard and Geoffrey R.D. Underhill (eds.). Political economy and the changing global order. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1994. 553 p.

Contents: (Selected): Theory as exclusion: gender and international political economy; from Bretton Woods to global finance: a world turned upside down; The changing GATT system and the Uruguay Round Negotiations; The political economy of North American free trade; The political economy of the Asia-Pacific region; Eastern and Central Europe in the world political economy; The marginalization of Africa in the new world (dis)order; The Canadian state in the international economy; Australia and the Pacific region: the political economy of "relocation."

"The UN at 50 Midlife Crisis." World Press Review (June, 1995) : 8-21.

"United Nations: To bury or to praise." The Economist. (October 21, 1995) : 23-27.

Urquhart, Sir Brian and Erskine Childers. "Towards a more effective United Nations : two studies." Development dialogue. (1-2, 1991): 96 p.

Contents: Reorganization of the United Nations Secretariat : a suggested outline of needed reforms, and strengthening international response to humanitarian emergencies.

Walker, James P. Alternative Financing for the United Nations : An idea whose time has finally come? Economic and Trade Policy Staff Commentary No. 10 (s.l.): The author, December 1995 : 12 p.

Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). Understanding the impact of the global economy on women and the environment. New York: WEDO, 1995. v.

Contents: no.1 - Codes of conduct for transnational corporations : strategies toward democratic global governance; no.2 - Transnational corporations at the UN : using or abusing their access?; no. 3 - Who makes the rules : decision-making and structure of the New World Trade Organization; no. 4 - How secure is our food : food security and agriculture under the new GATT and World Trade Organization. no. 5 - Who owns knowledge : who owns the earth : intellectual property rights and biodiversity under the new GATT and World Trade Organization; no.6 - Who decides where the money goes: decision-making and structures of the World Bank and regional development banks.

The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Our common future: the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. 400 p.

Abstract: Known as the "Brundtland Report". The mandate of the World Commission on Environment and Development was to formulate "a global agenda for change" and Norway's Gro Harlem Brundtland was asked to chair the Commission in November 1983. The final report was presented to the UN General Assembly in 1987.

Young, Oran R. International governance: protecting the environment in a stateless society. Cornell studies in political economy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1994. 221 p.

Notes: Successor to the author's 1989 title, "International cooperation: building regimes for natural resources and the environment."

Abstract: Distinguishes between "governance" as being a social function involving the management of interdependent individuals or groups, and "government," a set of formal organizations that make and enforce rules. Argues that governments have become increasingly weak, and that we should look towards international governance, not by forming a world government, but by creating other arrangements for solving international problems.

Young, Oran R. "The politics of international regime formation: managing natural resources and the environment." International Organization 43 (Summer, 1989.): 349-375.

Young, Oran R. (et al). Global environmental change and international governance. Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College, 1991. 33 p.

Internet Sources

Academic Council on UN System. Documents of Interest. http://www.brown.edu/Departments/ACUNS/NEW_documents/ (26 Feb. 1996)

Canada. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. "Canadian Study on a United Nations' Rapid Reaction Capability". Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/english/news/newsletr/UN/backgr.htm (28 Feb. 1996)

Childers, Erskine. "Perception and the United Nations." IISDnet. http://iisd.ca/security/UNAC/CHILDOC.HTM (28 Feb. 1996)

Clinton, President Bill. "Defense Issues v10, n75 : Assessing the United Nations at 50: Remarks by President Bill Clinton at the United Nations 50th Anniversary Charter Ceremony, San Francisco, June 26, 1995." DefenseLINK. http://www.dtic.dla.mil/defenselink/pubs/di95/di1075.html (26 Feb. 1996)

The Commission on Global Governance. "Our Global Neighborhood: the report of The Commission on Global Governance." The Commission on Global Governance. http://www.cgg.ch/ (26 Feb. 1996)

Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network; CIESIN. "Political Institutions and Global Environmental Change". CIESIN. http://www.ciesin.org/TG/PI/PI-home.html (28 Feb. 1996)

Council for a Livable World Education Fund. Project on Peacekeeping and the United Nations. "Briefing book on peacekeeping and the United Nations : The U.S. role in United Nations peace operations." Council for a Livable World Education Fund. http://www.clw.org/pub/clw/un/unbbook.html (27 Feb. 1996)

Earth Action. "No more Rwandas." Earth Action: A Global Network on the Environment, Peace, and Social Justice. http://www.oneworld.org/earthaction/earthaction_norwanda.html (26 Feb. 1996)

Earth United. "Web pages for discussion of world government." Earth United. http://www.bath.ac.uk/~adsjrc/eu/eu-main.html (26 Feb. 1996)

Frechette, Louise. "Canadian Perspectives on International Instruments for Peace and Security." ISDnet. http://iisd.ca/security/UNAC/FRECDOC.HTM (28 Feb. 1996)

Korten, David C. "The GATT and Democracy". Developing Ideas: PCDForum Article #6. http://iisd.ca/pcdf/1994/06KORTEN.HTM (28 Feb. 1996)

Korten, David C. "Power, Poverty, Economic Integration & Bretton Woods". Developing Ideas: PCDForum Article #1. http://iisd.ca/pcdf/1993/01KORTEN.HTM (28 Feb. 1996)

Korten, David C. "The U.N. and Bretton Woods : Rethinking Global Governance". Developing Ideas: PCDForum Column #74. http://iisd.ca/pcdf/1994/74KORTEN.HTM (28 Feb. 1996)

Hughes, J. "Better Living Through World Government: Transnationalism as 21st. Century Socialism." J's Launch Pad. http://ccme-mac4.bsd.uchicago.edu/JCV/Worldgov (28 Feb. 1996)

Maynes, Charles William. "The United Nations After the Cold War." IISDnet. http://iisd1.iisd.ca/SECURITY/UNAC/MAYNDOC.HTM (28 Feb. 1996)

Mills, John. More than Candles on the United Nations Birthday Cake. http://www.caa.org.au/CAA/horizons/h14/viewpt.html (28 Feb. 1996)

Mills, Kurt. Global Politics Home Page. http://www.yorku.ca/research/crs/mills/GP_Home.html (27 Feb. 1996)

Robertson, James. "People-Centered Development: Principles for a New Civilization". Developing Ideas: PCDForum Article #7. http://iisd.ca/pcdf/1994/07ROBERT.HTM (28 Feb. 1996)

Quizon, Antonio B. "Multilateral Development Banks: Who's the Real Boss ?". Developing Ideas : PCDForum Column #78. http://iisd.ca/pcdf/1995/MULTIDEV.HTM (28 Feb. 1996)

United Kingdom. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London; FCO. "FCO - Britain and the United Nations". FCO On-Line. http://www.fco.gov.uk/un/index.html (26 Feb. 1996)

United Nations. UN Home Page. http://www.un.org/ (27 Feb. 1996)

World Federalists Association. "Campaign for Global Change." World Federalist Association. http://www.getnet.com/wfa/ (28 Feb. 1996)

Yale University. United Nations Scholars' Workstation at Yale University. "Independent Working Group on the Future of the United Nations. United Nations Scholars' Workstation at Yale University. http://www.library.yale.edu/un/un1e.htm (26 Feb. 1996)

Journals, Magazines, and Newsletters

Academic Council on the United Nations System and United Nations University. Global governance : a review of multilateralism and international organizations. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

The Canadian Network on United Nations Reform. New world : the newsletter of the Canadian Network on United Nations Reform. Ottawa: Network, 1994.

Notes: New World can also be received by electronic mail.

International Organization. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Society for International Development; SID. Development: Journal of the Society for International Development. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

Organizations

Commission on Global Governance

The Commission on Global Governance is an independent group of 28 leaders with diverse experience and responsibilities. Their task has been to suggest ways in which our global community could better manage its affairs in a new time in human history.

11 Avenue Joli-Mont, Case Postale 184,,CH-1211 Geneve 28, Switzerland
Phone: +41 22 798-2713 Fax: +41 22 798-0147
Internet: info@ cgg.ch, http://www.cgg.ch

United Nations

1st. Ave. & 46th St.,New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212-963-1234

United Nations Association in Canada; UNAC

UNAC was founded in 1946 and attempts to promote international understanding through educational programs. UNAC enhances awareness of the roles that the UN plays in establishing and maintaining peace, development, and security in the world. Special emphasis is given to creating awareness of the roles of Canada at the UN.

130 Slater Street, Suite 900, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6E2
Phone: 613-232-5751 Fax: 613-563-2455

World Bank

The World Bank Group comprises five organizations: the International Bank for Reconstruction (IBRD) and Development, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, and the International Centre for the Settlements of Investment Disputes. The IBRD, founded in 1944, is the World Bank Group's main lending organization. It lends to developing countries with relatively high per capita incomes. The money the IBRD lends is used to pay for development projects, such as building highways, schools, and hospitals, and for programs to help governments change the way they manage their economies.

1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433
Phone: 202-477-1234 Fax: 202-477-6391


Page last updated: March 11, 1996