Our Global Neighborhood: The Report of the Commission on Global Governance

The Commission on Global Governance was established in the belief that international developments had created a unique opportunity for strengthening global cooperation to meet the challenge of securing peace, achieving sustainable development, and universalizing democracy. A preliminary study led to the "Stockholm Initiative on Global Security and Governance" and the appointment of a distinguished 28-member commission serving in a private capacity independent of government or any organization. "The Commission's basic aim is to contribute to the improvement of global governance. It will analyze the main forces of global change, examine the major issues facing the world community, assess the adequacy of global institutional arrangements and suggest how they should be reformed or strengthened." The members believed that it should be possible to move the world to a higher level of cooperation than has ever been attempted, taking advantage of the growing recognition of global interdependence. Commission members divided themselves into four working groups on global values, global security, global development, and global governance, being guided by a single desire "to develop a common vision of the way forward for the world in making the transition from the cold war and in managing humanity's journey into the 21st century. We believe this report offers such a vision. The strongest message we can convey is that humanity can agree on a better way to manage its affairs and give hope to present and future generations." Today change is very rapid and highly visible. There is a need for balance, caution and vision. Our future will depend on the extent to which people and leaders around the world develop a vision of a better world and the strategies, the institutions and the will to achieve it. Leadership is urgently needed; leadership of a different character with a commitment to public service; leadership informed by an understanding of the most important transformation of recent decades, leadership grounded in a new value system based on a commitment to care for others embodied in the metaphor of being a good neighbor. The Commission was convinced that whatever ideas it advanced in institutional and other change, must be grounded in values that speak to the tasks facing the contemporary world, including acceptance of a global ethic, and courageous leadership at all levels of society infused with that ethic. Without a global ethic, the frictions and tensions of living in the global neighborhood will multiply; without leadership, even the best designed institution and strategies will fail. Barbara Ward summed it up in these words: "The most important change that people can make is to change their way of looking at the world. We can change studies, jobs, neighborhoods, even countries and continents and still remain much as we always were. But change our fundamental angle of vision and everything changes - our priorities, our values, our judgements, our pursuit