States are competing hard for advantage and populism is undermining the institutions and mechanisms for collective action. Our vision
Our initiative is based on a simple observation. Global problems without cooperative solutions lead to conflicts. The challenges the world faces—climate change, terrorism, migration, cyber insecurity and the like—ignore borders. Addressing them requires internation
al cooperation and collective action. However, collaboration is increasingly difficult as countries are turning inward. Today, the international community fails at producing the needed solutions. Military expenditures are growing fast while the United Nations budget is cut. International norms, in particular, human rights, are disregarded. The Internet is becoming a jungle where data is hacked and fake news spread. And we are losing the race against global warming. This situation is not conducive to peace. It leads to new conflicts on all continents. Peace is not just the suspension of war. Peace is made up of all the solutions that help reduce international tensions: cooperation to fight climate change and mitigate resource scarcity, institutions to channel power rivalries and better administer global public goods, regulation to address abuses of power and inequalities, intergenerational bridges and gender equality to create more peaceful societies. In other words, peace will only be sustainable if effective global governance underpins it. Our mission
Our mission is to contribute to bridging this governance gap. We maintain a specific focus on governance solutions in six major themes:
Peace & Security
Development
Environment
New technologies
Inclusive economy
Culture & Education
We support, improve, and complement multilateral institutions. Multilateral organizations with universal membership have legitimate mandates for the creation of rules and mechanisms to solve transnational problems. We pick up the slack when these institutions cannot act or when the solutions proposed are insufficient. We are multi-stakeholder. We foster hybrid coalitions by gathering old and new actors of global governance: states and international organizations, but also NGOs, companies, foundations, philanthropic organizations, development agencies, religious groups, trade unions, think tanks, universities, and civil society at large. We are project-oriented. We showcase and support concrete projects that are either normative (instruments of law, standards, and good practices) or capacity-building (new institutions, mechanisms, and innovations).
