Altered States (PDF)

The dangerous turmoil is plain to see in the everyday failures of governments. Economic insecurity, polluted environments, the transfiguring power of global media, brooding conflicts of tribe and territory: all confound the capacity of even the most powerful state to govern alone, even on its own territory. For all the opportunities that globalization promises, it raises urgent questions of governance. Can states any longer govern? Has the achievement of democratic government come too late for most of the world? Can globalization be democratized? In Altered States, Gordon Smith and MoisTs Na?m provide practical recommendations for improved governance and for strengthening and reforming the United Nations. They explore the dynamics of globalization and discuss what makes today's globalization distinct. They test the prevailing wisdom about sovereignty and state capacity, and sort out the humbug. They consider whether sovereignty itself is an impediment or a requirement to security and prosperity. And, in three urgent areas ripe for progress ù preventing deadly conflict, providing opportunities for the young, and managing the many harms of climate change ù they advance plans of action by which states, with others in the global community, can govern successfully in the future. The message of Altered States is one of both hope and warning: globalization opens great possibilities of prosperity, security, and human well-being, but only if new ways of governance are constructed. The United Nations must lead in this process and, at the Millennium Assembly in September, seize the opportunity to reconstruct our future.