World Future Society
Global Strategies
Forum
Global Republics – A Meta-Model for Global Governance
By: Stanislaw (Stan) Skrzeszewski
Summary: Globalization and the impact of information and
communication technology are leading people to re-think political structures and practices
and to consider global governance structures. We need a broad public dialogue on potential
meta-theories and models for such structures. Global republics, that is, states that have
a global scope and are not restricted by geography provide one potential meta-model.
ecent
trends and developments including globalization, information and communication technology,
increased human migration and the weakening of the nation-state are leading people to
begin to re-think national and political structures and practices and to consider global
governance and social structures. For example, the London School of Economics and Politics
has established a Centre for the Study of Global Governance to encourage dialogue on
global governance structures and Warsaw University has established a center for the study
of universalism. The July-August 2002 issue of The Futurist included a provocative
article on The Approaching Age of Virtual Nations, which posited that online
communities are evolving into virtual nations.
The increasing interest in global forms of governance and social structures requires a
broadening dialogue on potential meta-theories and models for such structures. Global
republics, that is, states that have a global scope and are not restricted by geography
provide one potential meta-model.
The concept of global republics is derived from elements of self-determination,
multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism and internationalism. A global republic maintains that a
group of people who share a claim to a common heritage (ethnicity, language, traditions or
religion) or a shared culture or value system (common laws, economic space, communities of
interest and universal ethics) can, through a process of self-determination, form an
affiliation or tribe. It recognizes that the prime feature of personal identity is not
necessarily ethnicity or nationality and that in the future other forms of identity may
become paramount. The new affiliation or tribe can establish a governance structure with a
form of common citizenship and a social structure that is independent of geographical
location or existing nation-states.
E-Government structures such as electronic/virtual communication and participation will
be central to the creation of global republics. The Web will be the metaphor for global
republics. Global republics could also be referred to as e-Republics. The government
structures of global republics will be networked and will overlap current governance
structures.
Although it could be argued that global republics are just an extension of ethnic
nationalism, they are not. Ethnicity is one element that may bring people together to form
a global republic, but it need not be the only or critical element. The self-determinant
nature of global republics, along with their cosmopolitan values, moves them beyond
nationalism.
Global Republics are not inevitable but current trends point in the direction of new
forms of global political and social organizations. The key driving trend is
globalization. Globalization refers to the growing political, social and economic
interdependence among countries as reflected in increasing cross-border flow of people,
goods, services, capital and know-how. Sociologist Malcolm Waters defines globalization as
"A social process in which the constraints of geography on social and cultural
arrangements recede". At the level of an individual state, globalization refers to
the extent of inter-linkages between a state’s society and economy and the rest of
the world.
The spread of globalization is aided by the increasing ability of countries,
organizations, businesses and individuals to interact with one another faster, cheaper and
with greater ease. Globalization will naturally lead to the development of new political
structures and organizations that will transcend local and national structures. Although
global governance will likely remain a distant dream, new forms of inter-national and
extra-national governance and political structures will be required to meet the demands
imposed by globalization. The development of global republics is a potential and
innovative response to a global reality.
Globalization is driven singularly by new information and communications technologies.
The Internet and the Web have removed physical communications barriers and have brought
about the development of virtual relationships between individuals and groups of
individuals through instantaneous global communications. These relationships involve
people who are located in a variety of geographic locations but who share a common
history, culture, interest, need or some other expression of self-identification,
including random or serendipitous connections. The development of new forms of
relationships which were not possible before, radically increase the number of interfaces
between people and provide increased opportunities for cultural, social and political
exchange between and among people regardless of geographic location.
The new technologies are beginning to produce a world without borders, where geography
is no longer a defining factor, in which an individual has choice and can select from
different values, cultures and languages. This is changing the nature of nationality, the
nation-state, governance and political structures. Unfortunately, in some countries such
as China and Saudi Arabia, the Internet is heavily monitored and censored and as a result
full participation in global communications is not yet possible.
New high-capacity, two-way broadband technologies will provide the two-way
communications and information infrastructure that will provide the connectivity required
for participation in and contribution to new global governance structures including global
republics. Global, accessible broadband networks will be essential for the successful
development of global republics. Extra-national information channels capable of linking
citizens of global republics to government Web content and service applications anywhere
in the world will be required.
The development of global republics will also be driven by continued widespread
migration. Recent increases in migration between nations, which began in the 1980s for
economic, educational and political reasons are leading to more national and cultural
groups being spread across the globe. The world consists of people in motion because of
business, tourism and relocation. This human mobility has resulted in increased
interaction between diverse groups of people. In fact, "only 10 to 15 per cent of the
world’s geographic countries can be reasonably described as ethnically
homogeneous". More and more ethnic groups are becoming dispersed around the globe.
Within the national borders of many developing nations "men and women, rushing
into cities, are remaking civilizations and redefining their identities in terms of
religion and tribal ethnicity which do not coincide with the borders of existing
states". If national governments are to continue in any sense to represent an
ethnically defined society they will have to find ways to develop political and governance
structures that extend beyond geographic borders. This is unlikely and will lead to a
further weakening of the nation state. This may not lead to the demise of the nation state
but will lead to the development of parallel, global structures.
Nation-states as they are now constituted are losing their omnipotence due largely to
the growing authority of international organizations and businesses. Coalitions of
sovereign states are often required to accomplish international objectives. The wide range
of global alliances, such as the United Nations and the WTO, and regional alliances, such
as NAFTA and the European Union attest to the shrinking authority of national governments.
Nations tend to represent power structures and the dominant culture although this
culture is unlikely to be the only culture within a certain area. The declining strength
of nation-states also tends to support the strengthening of some minority cultures that
could lead to a greater cacophony of nations on the world stage.
At the same time differences within nations are also becoming more pronounced as the
number of separatist movements and civil wars increases. "Racial and ethnic
identifications are also de-massifying in parallel to what is happening in the economy and
the media" that is, ethnic tribes are getting smaller and more numerous. For example,
people see themselves as Guatemalan rather than Hispanic, or as Quebecois rather than as
Canadians.
The decline of the state is not a cause for alarm. It should be noted that the state
tends to be a "purely western notion, one that until the twentieth century applied to
countries covering only 3 percent of the earth’s land area". Many of the newer
states are simply constructs of decolonization and their borders are the sad and
accidental result of colonial struggles and do not match ethnic, tribal, cultural or
religious realities.
Within geographically defined areas, focusing on common citizenship may be more
realistic than using national identity or ethnicity to define membership. The changing
nature of countries, nations and ethnic identities require a creative political response
if they are not to lead to significant political disruption. The concept of a global
republic as a form of political structure for national or shared identity is one such
creative response.
Of course, global business corporations and their organizations are way ahead of the
development of global political structures. Global companies form a political-economic
system that exists above the older system of state governments and that often operates
independently of the state government system.
Economist Robert Heilbroner points out that "the economic reach of capital is
immeasurably larger than the political reach of the national entities from which it
operates... What emerges in this increasingly globalized pattern of production is a
challenge to the traditional relationship between the economy and the state...national
governments become increasingly unable to cope with the problems that arise from the
intrusion of the global economy into their territories, most egregiously in moving jobs to
low-wage countries...from this imbalance emerges the risk of instabilities for which no
remedy exists...Insofar as the malfunctions exist on a transnational scale they require
transnational political counterforce and nothing of the kind exists." Of course, the
point that should be obvious here is that if no political counterforce exists it should be
created.
The first elements of global organization and political structure tend to follow
business and in particular multi-national conglomerates, many of which have larger
economies than some developing nations. The WTO and the World Economic Forum are two
examples of global business governance structures. Global political structures seem to be
lagging behind business or economic structures. Global business personalities (e.g.,
George Soros) are evolving faster then global political personalities. The global
cosmopolitan is an academic or a business man and less likely a politician.
Global businesses are the first examples of transborder organizations. Consumers are
not far behind. Many consumers can now spend their money anywhere in the world through the
World Wide Web and e-business. A purely national market offers a restricted market with
limited consumer choice. When given the opportunity, consumers want to make choices on a
global basis.
What is required now are comparable political and social structures that will run
parallel to multinational corporations and to consumer behavior and demand.
A strategic response to these trends and to the needs of forms of global governance
requires a change in the concepts of citizenship, the nation-state and governance. Lester
Thurow states that "Today building geographic (national) empires has become
irrelevant. With land and natural resources much less important to building a wealth
pyramid, geographic empires don’t create the wealth they used to create… as
knowledge rises in importance …those that create the big breakthroughs in technology
will be remembered as the empire builders of our times". Bill Gates is the obvious
example.
Global republics present a model for developing governance around people with common or
shared culture, values and education rather than around people who happen to live in the
same geographic area. The development of a model for a global republic represents a
innovative and complex strategic response consisting of multiple inter-acting governance
elements that stands in eloquent counterpoint to the simple and linear systems represented
by the current models of nation-states.
Global republics are states with elected heads and political representatives based upon
the consent of individuals to join and be governed through a social contract or a
constitution. The major difference between global republics and existing republics is that
they are not limited to a geographic area.
Global republics would be based on:
- Symbolic environments rather than geographic
- Common political and social programs
- An official language or more likely, a set of languages that will facilitate open
communication.
- An e-government structure: electronic/virtual communication and participation. The
government structures of a global republic are networked and should overlap current
governance structures.
- Decision making and participation based on electronic plebiscites
- Multiple citizenship’s and a prelude to global citizenship
- A new set of institutions that will support a new approach to social organization. The
development of the institutions of global republics will take time and the process will be
evolutionary and cumulative. The key is to begin a process of experimentation and to build
institutions for global republics that will complement what exists in current
geographically based republics.
- The cosmopolitan rights of global citizens (e.g., human rights, justice) can be based on
the Kantian idea of 'cosmopolitan law': a system of law for states and citizens that
transcends national boundaries and limits state sovereignty. This 'cosmopolitan law',
whose theoretical origins we find in Immanuel Kant’s Towards Perpetual Peace,
may fill the gap between traditional international law, which applies primarily, though
not exclusively, between states, and constitutional law, the domestic law that regulates
relations between a state and its own citizens.
The reasons for the development of global republics include:
- Providing political mechanisms for organizing ethnic groups across existing political
boundaries that more and more only reflect geographic boundaries. As such they could be
tools for ensuring peaceful coexistence.
- Providing mechanisms for advanced social and cultural understanding.
- Providing mechanisms for the open flow of information and the sharing of knowledge on a
global basis.
- Enabling people with a shared history, identity and culture to maintain a sense of self
in the global village.
- Playing a role in managing the global economy and facilitating global trade, market
transactions and consumerism by creating a new basis for open markets. To be meaningful
global republics must play a role in economic development.
- Providing an interim step or an alternative to global governments.
- Increasing the role of local and global governments and reducing the global influence of
individual nation-states, such as the United States which has been described as the last
nation-state.
There are many useful models of transnational organizations that provide some elements
of a framework for how a global republic might be structured. The European Union provides
one example of how economies can be integrated across physical geographic borders. The
European Parliament serves as an example for political action across national borders. The
Euro and the US dollar demonstrate that a currency can function across physical borders.
They represent the first examples of global currencies that could be used anywhere in the
world.
The continuing emergence and evolution of supranational organizations (United Nations,
G-7, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, World Bank, International
Olympic Committee) and regional pacts such as NAFTA provide further examples that should
be examined for ways in which global republics might be structured.
Fully developed models for global republics do not yet exist. A good place to start to
explore potential models is to identify some questions that need to be answered before
global republics could be created. These questions include:
- What would define membership or citizenship in a global republic? Would it lead to
numerous dual citizenships? Is this a problem?
- Would a global republic be an extension of an existing state? An appended organization?
Or, would it supersede the existing state? It may lead to more federated states or EU-type
arrangements.
- What form of government would be used to govern a global republic? Republican?
Parliamentary?
- What rights and responsibilities would an individual or an organization have to this
state, for example, in the areas of voting, running for political office, taxation,
military service and a legal and court system?
- How would a global republic be funded, since it would require crossing multiple existing
jurisdictions? Could double taxation agreements such as that developed by the OECD provide
a model?
- What guidelines would define how a global republic might work? How would global
republics be integrated across various existing national borders?
- What is the blueprint for erasing jurisdictional lines that would divide e-government
services and information that might be provided by a global republic?
- What employment arrangements would cover global republics? Would the free movement of
labor be possible across a global republic? It seems to be working in the EU.
- How can open information exchanges be established between people who are located in many
parts of the world? The success of global republics will depend on the open and effective
flow of information.
Although there are many issues that would have to be resolved before a global republic
could be created there are several strategic directions that global republics would need
to pursue to make them viable including economic development, global information access
and global personal mobility.
To be relevant and to play a role that actually impacts on people, a global republic
has to be able to impact on economic development in order to address issues of wealth
creation and distribution, poverty etc.
Global republics will depend on facilitating global access to information through
greatly increased interpersonal and inter-community interaction, information sharing and
problem solving. Creating new and enhanced avenues for social involvement and
communication including facilitating partnerships between cultural agencies and non-profit
organizations within the global republic, providing global resource sharing networks that
will enable people to gain awareness and to engage in global discussions, and to
facilitating global community links.
National immigration laws pose the strongest impediments to the global flow of moving
people and even employees. The European approaches to dealing with these impediments
include a system of work permits, residence permits and visas (Schengen), the right to
permanent residence and systems of dual citizenship. Global corporations should encourage
the establishment of global immigration policies to accommodate the changing needs of
industry and new types of employees.
The first steps in the development of global republics will be to initiate broad
discussions on the concept of global republics and to begin the process of answering the
questions that must be addressed before a global republic will be created. For the
discussions to be meaningful, further research into global republics is required. Because
of the importance of the concept, it should be of interest to international funding
agencies that are exploring new models for global governance. This should form the basis
of applications for the research funding that will be necessary to realize the further
development of global republics.
The development of global republics will lead to a struggle between people seeking
post-national identities and those that wish to return to the traditional nationalism or
the civic nationalism such as that promoted by Michael Ignatieff. Ignatieff argues that
civic nationalism is based on identification with the state and on the values of
democracy, rather than traditional nationalism that identifies with the nation. I agree
with identifying with the values of democracy, but prefer to look beyond a nationalist
state to a more global perspective.
State-based citizenship is no longer adequate to cover the growing number of people who
in actuality identify themselves as citizens of the world. Novelist James A. Michener when
asked to comment on the meaning of life included the following response: "to be
at the same time a citizen of a larger world"
The evolution of citizens of the world and development of global republics will require
an ability to imagine a three-dimensional map of the world. This map might look like
Jackson Pollock drew it in that the various global republics dispersed over the globe
would overlay the traditional nation states and city-states. This map would represent the
actual complex relationships between people that live on this planet as opposed to the
overly simplistic maps of state borders.
With globalization more and more people will find themselves at a distance from those
with whom they feel the closest affiliation or identification, but they will communicate
with one another using the new communications technologies. Under these circumstances,
where for example, there may be no Canada but people will self-identify as Canadians,
existing political boundaries will not well serve these people. This is why the concept of
global republics in general is such an important one.
Ultimately, however, the success or failure of a global republic will depend on the
commitment and ingenuity of a group of people who share the same mythologies, values,
culture and illusions about themselves and who choose to form a governance structure in
support of their self-perception.
Increasing globalization will create the demand for change in existing political and
social structures that will catalyze our imaginations into envisioning new forms of
community. For the next generations these new forms of community will be part of the new
forms of relationships brought about changing realities. For the next generations, the
forms of our imaginations will be actualized.
About the Author
Stan Skrzeszewski is a partner of ASM Advanced Strategic Management
Consultants (ASM), a firm he founded in 1992. ASM specializes in bringing people and
technology together. ASM excels at helping organizations and communities to create new
visions and develop people-based and technology-based strategies that ensure success. He
is a frequent speaker in Canada and internationally on topics ranging from cosmopolitanism
to personal quest strategies to the animate nature of information and has written on an
equally wide range of topics. His address is 411 Rippleton Place, London, Ontario, Canada
N6G 1L4. E-mail asmstan@attcanada.ca
His latest ventures are:
Founding Director of June Estate School in Bhimtal, India. The June Estate School will be
a state-of the art residential school, located in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Founding Member, Philosopher’s Café and Quick Think: Fast Philosophy for All –
open philosophical discussions held in coffee shops and fast food outlets in London,
Ontario.
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