Global Governance: The Issue of Restorative Justice on a Global Scale

Traditionally, the authority to address issues such as security, economics and social welfare was the concern of individual governments. Nation-states were responsible for legislation related to citizens of that nation only. With the expansion of globalism, countries are substantially more interdependent. Cooperation is critical to the economic and political stability of many nations.

Further, as states become more and more interconnected, risks taken by any one nation threaten to impact all others. For example, the recent economic crisis in the US had immediate, dramatic effects on an extensive network of countries all around the world. This crisis was a clear illustration of how interconnected and interdependent our world has truly become.

This new global context has made it necessary to the rethink the notion of the sovereign state. International law has expanded in both scope and authority in order to address issues created by globalism such as environmental, economic and human rights concerns. With the expansion of international law, however, comes the contraction of the sovereignty of individual states.

International law has the potential to facilitate cooperation, but it requires a transformation in the way nations view their authority within their own borders. If international governance is to have authority and legitimacy, interests of individual states may be displaced by concerns shared by many. In these cases, who will determine the international agenda? Will it be directed by the more powerful nations? When nations have differing values, needs and issues which will prevail?

In addition, there is the concern of international security and intervention between nations in conflict. Braithwaite considers this type of international mediation “responsive global peacemaking” and proposes a framework within which to conduct this type of restorative justice (Capeheart & Milovanovic, 2007). His suggested “Responsive Regulatory Pyramid” is outlined below:

Source: Capeheart, L., & Milovanovic, D. (2007). Social Justice Theories, Issues, and Movements. Rutgers University Press. New Brunswick, NJ.

The effectiveness of this type of framework depends upon the authority vested in international organizations such as the UN. The following post will provide more details on key international inter-governmental organizations and their roles and responsibilities.

Further reading on the subject of Global Governance can be found at:

http://www.globalgovernancewatch.org/

London School of Economics has also published a thought provoking opinion paper on Global Governance called “The Hydra-Headed Crisis”. It can be found at http://www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/global/5publications2.htm