New Global Governance is in the Making,and It Looks Good

by Alain Ruche

If governance is the art of governing, then it is clear that gover-nance is in crisis, at every level. The level at which governance ismost often conceived—the nation state—is simply unworkable.International organizations lack legitimacy, are stuck by vestedinterests and are ruled by the majority. Nobody believes anymorein reforming the UN Security Council. What is striking is that mostof the pillars of our society are under stress: family, trade unions,enterprises, political parties, universities, religion and the like.

We feel that something is happening beneath the surface. Weknow that an individual-based approach is leading us to situationsthat threaten the survival of the human species and our planet.Decades-long efforts to educate or predict frightening futureshave not worked as catalysts for action. However, times are chang-ing and new values are emerging.

We are now at the tipping point of a new paradigm that is basedon co-creation. The knowledge society and information age areonly transitory steps. The co-creative paradigm reflects the shiftfrom vertical control and command towards horizontal peer shar-ing among and between communities. We live in a complex worldpervaded by openness, adaptation, interdependence, speed, par-ticipation, networks, trust, integrity, passion, sharing, holism,non-linearity, and above all, self-organization and emergence.

The co-creative paradigm brings unprecedented change in gover-nance, and these changes look good for humanity and the planet.With transaction and collaboration costs minimal, it gives manystakeholders an opportunity to take responsibility, even on globalissues. This ensures that the views and values of the world’s peopleinform and shape the decisions taken at any level. The changegoes beyond governance; it reaches to modes of production andof property as well. Rather than a revolution or a reform, it is asubterranean and self-nurturing wave.

What we know or do matters less than who we are—as individualsand interconnnected collectives. Interactions that blend the in-dividual and the whole tend to take priority. We interact for thesake of an emerging and multiple identity. Through this process,we are building self-generative and sustainable global governance.

The priority for us is to develop ourselves in connection with othersand the universe, and also to be inspired by collective wisdom.What do we want as a Human Species living on this planet? Is con-quering new territories in the galaxy part of the future? How do weinternalize artificial intelligence, which will be even more disruptivethan the Internet?  How do we digest the blurring distinctions be-tween reality and virtuality? What will be our biological componentas the distinction between human, machine and nature fades away?How will the reversal from information scarcity to informationabundance impact us? How can the myriads of contributors on

the web and on the ground get an income? These questions areabout global governance and are part of an invitation to cross theriver by feeling for stones.

We need to hold an intention of collective wisdom as a basis forglobal governance to replace the current mechanics of voting andconsensus building. This wisdom can be sourced from a state ofinner peace, delicate attention, active listening and harmony withthe universe—as well as from inaction and subtle, permanentabandonment. It will emerge from a new story of who we are andwhy we are here. It will constantly evolve from our interactionsand broadening our limited ‘scientific’ rationality to a subjectivefirst-person experience of sense-making and feeling.   

More than awareness and presence, we need a flexible global gov-ernance permanently enriched with spontaneous actions adaptedto the moment. The question is where to put our attention in thecomplex and rapidly changing world. We need to recognize pat-terns to condense experience, to go beyond theory and make theright practical decisions. A source of optimism is the collaborativepractices that are rapidly spreading everywhere—born from thedigital revolution and the reclaiming of the Commons Move-ment. They are generating global networks of several kinds thatproduce new ideas, create policy-making, scrutinize or advocate,and create new platforms and standards for governance. Gover-nance by governments will not disappear, but their form andessence will change. Possibly networked models of nation or re-gional governance will emerge. The nature of governance itselfwill become an evolving concept, with a built-in capacity to adjustto unprecedented change at all levels of human experience.

Changes in global governance are only one aspect of an emergingplanetary transformation, marked by its spiritual-ecological andintegral orientation. Intangible aspects of global governance—inparticular, peace and collective wisdom—will complement the tan-gible aspects (e.g., poverty, climate change and security). The con-sumptive-materialistic, atomistic orientation prevailing today willdisappear as we become aware of a planetary consciousness. 

Representative democracy is also under severe stress. We tend tothink of democracy as an attribute of political regimes rather thanthat of political practices. Our assumption that capitalism andmodernity have an exclusive and intrinsic relationship withdemocracy needs to be re-assessed.

The task now is to build a narrative that creates a correspondingpolicy-making. This will open up the prospect to reconcile whatwe see as paradoxes among values and among cultures. The Western mindset—focused on rights— and the Eastern mindset—focused on one’s duty to others—will mutually nurture them-selves.  An integrated geography of thought and action will appear.A real worldview—a unified society of mind—will emerge withenriched normative standards reflecting multiple histories and futures on democratic thinking.

Alain Ruche is Adviser to the Secretary General of the European Union ExternalService and a Kosmos Global Ambassador.

62 www.kosmosjournal.org | fall.winter 2013 Photography | Bircan Ünkar