Global Policy Council 2009 Conference Report
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Global Policy Council 2009 Conference Report Berlin, March 12-13, 2009 GPC Conference Report 2009 | Page 2 of 32 CONTENT Introduction .............................................................................................3 Interplay ..................................................................................................5 Debate ....................................................................................................7 Session 1: Crafting an Inclusive Global Agenda: Issues and Priorities................................................................................7 Session 2: Approaching Global Governance: Principles, Instruments and Actors.........................................................9 Session 3: Regulating Markets: How to Deal with the Financial Crisis and its Implications?.................................................11 Session 4: Expanding Opportunities: How to Reduce Poverty, Promote Equality and Stimulate the World Economy?.......15 Session 5: Building Global Governance: How to Deal with Climate Change and Energy?.........................................................17 Concluding Session ..............................................................................20 Program ................................................................................................24 List of participants .................................................................................28 About us: Project Description................................................................31 GPC Conference Report 2009 | Page 3 of 32 Introduction food shortages, soaring oil prices and the se- from year to year, the GPC brings together vere implications of climate change were add- both experienced and new members, depend- ing to the feeling of global insecurity. The way ing on their expertise in the currently most in which all these developments unfolded illus- relevant issue areas in which challenges re- trates the tremendous difficulties encountered quire a global response. During the GPC when trying to provide concerted answers to meeting, various gatherings fostered ex- global crises. change and discussion among members. Rather than comprising a set group of experts Convening on March 12-13, 2009 in Berlin, the GPC used gatherings ranging from panel Josef Janning: “At the Bertelsmann Stiftung, we are convinced that globalization can and must be man- aged politically. To this aim, I welcome the contribu- tions from our GPC participants as experts, discuss- ants and multipliers of solutions for the manifold challenges facing us in our common global future.” The Global Policy Council (GPC), which the Bertelsmann Stiftung created in 2006, is a brainstorming meeting of leading global affairs thinkers. The GPC aims to identify and dis- cuss the components of a truly global agenda and to develop a fresh approach to global governance that is more holistic and more inclusive than previous efforts. How urgent a more global response to both the immediate and long-term challenges of a globalized world is has become apparent throughout last year. Even before the financial With a rising total world population on the one hand and increasing standards of living in developing and emerging countries on the other, effective global gov- and economic crisis hit the world, extreme ernance of the world’s limited resources is more needed than ever. GPC Conference Report 2009 | Page 4 of 32 discussions to dinner debates and the presen- Session 5: Building Global Governance: How Not only during the GPC, but in preparing the tation of expert reports. All participants were to Deal with Climate Change and session topics, the project team invited think given inspiration in an opening dialogue and Energy? tank representatives from around the world to address between former German Chancellor Concluding Session: Global Responsibili- contribute expert reports on the essential chal- Helmut Schmidt and former United States ties: Building New Inclusive Part- lenges of the globalized world from the per- Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize nerships spective of their particular country or region. Laureate Henry Kissinger. Additionally, sev- eral participants gave recorded interviews on their observations of the globalized world pub- lished on the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s YouTube channel1. At the GPC 2009, experts gathered from all 6 inhabited continents to debate and craft the emerging agenda for global govern- ance in the following issue areas: Session 1: Crafting an Inclusive Global Agenda: Issues and Priorities Session 2: Approaching Global Governance: Principles, Instruments and Actors Session 3: Regulating Markets: How to Deal with the Financial Crisis and its Implications? Session 4: Expanding Opportunities: How to Reduce Poverty, Promote Equal- ity and Stimulate the World Econ- omy? The impact of the global financial crisis demonstrated the extent to which regulation on an international level has 1 Bertelsmann Stiftung YouTube channel: become essential in an interconnected and interdependent world. Without enforced international standards, crisis in the future will only become more frequent and devastating in scope. For this reason, one of the GPC 2009 www.youtube.com/BertelsmannStiftung sessions tackled the question of how to implement a new international financial policy. GPC Conference Report 2009 | Page 5 of 32 Moreover, they outlined the long-term prefer- Interplay inger stressed the importance of such study ences of their political elites for meeting these groups that can assist in “find[ing] the road Helmut Schmidt and Henry Kissinger dis- challenges2. This input shaped the thematic from where one is to where one wants to go cussed3 the implications of the current global focuses of the GPC sessions. […and in] accumulat[ing] new answers…” to economic crisis as well as the long-standing emerging challenges of a globalized world. As the expert reports and ensuing debate at challenge of nuclear proliferation and the GPC made very clear, a truly global sketched out new structures for its manage- The current economic crisis will be more seri- agenda must be concerned with reconciling ment in international politics. Having borne ous than any economic crisis of the past cen- interests, understanding all actors as having responsibility during a period in history in tury. At the same time, it can also serve as a an equal footing and pursuing the global good. which global political structures also faced catalyst for achieving the most significant This report offers a session by session ac- fundamental change, the two experienced, changes of recent times. Both politicians also count of the major obstacles hindering effec- former statesmen offered their insights for agreed that the outfall of the crisis will be tive global governance in the respective issue managing global structural challenges. more international and more extensive than areas from diverse international perspectives. any of the economic downturns of the 20th It furthermore portrays suggestions and pro- century. In contrast to the past, the post-Cold posals on how to overcome the challenges of War world has undergone 20 years of global- a globalized world. ization and is now home to markets that are truly global in scope. As a result, the crisis induces global consequences that require international solutions. Despite economic globalization, both Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Kissinger regretted that po- litical systems have not kept pace with eco- Henry Kissinger and Helmut Schmidt address the nomic markets, maintaining their predomi- GPC in a reflection on global power and order. nantly national orientation. Precisely for this Concerning the role of the Global Policy reason, the outbreak of the financial crisis Council in this solution process, Henry Kiss- surprised many politicians and the proper in- stitutions needed to solve the problem still do 3 not exist. While the G20 has come together to Phoenix transmitted the conversation, now available under: http://www.bertelsmann- tackle the implications of the crises, they still 2 Expert reports are available at stiftung.de/cps/rde/xchg/SID-B7746891- lack a common strategy in terms of stimulus www.shaping-a-globalized-world.org 1E27F61D/bst/hs.xsl/media_93982.htm reactions and for repairing the banking sys- GPC Conference Report 2009 | Page 6 of 32 tems. A failure to find global political solutions Firstly, it should continue to assist countries in in coordination will inevitably lead to constant financial trouble to reinstate macroeconomic crisis, Henry Kissinger argued. stability. Secondly, it should become the au- Mr. Kissinger furthermore expressed doubt thority for ensuring the harmonization of stan- that the G20’s current structure will prove dards on an international level. adequate to meet global international chal- In addition to the urgent problems brought on lenges. Nevertheless, he contended that, with by the financial crisis, long-term, intercon- the help of study groups, the G20 could in the nected issues must remain on the interna- future institutionalize solutions on a global tional agenda. In order to address the crisis, basis. leaders cannot ignore long-range goals. In this vein, Henry Kissinger reminded today’s lead- ers of their obligation to sustainably combine Henry Kissinger: “If the statesmen are farsighted, this period could be marked as one of the great both solutions to immediate and long-range transitional periods of history.” problems. For the two discussants, one of the most Mr. Kissinger,