A blog by the Global Governance Centre, Graduate Institute, Geneva
By Osvaldo Javier López Ruiz – Is our conception of “liberty” in the 21st century the same as that for the “moderns” of the 19th century? The coronavirus pandemic challenges our views and the idea (or ideal) of a universal concept of freedom that can be applied globally.
By Christopher Szabla – The outbreak of Covid-19 has closed borders around the world, appearing to have deepened a crisis in globalization that has challenged the mobility of people, goods, and services between countries and even within them. Can global governance norms and institutions play a role in restoring or even improving movement in a post-Covid world given an ongoing hostility to them? History provides an indication that such a crisis may be as much of an opportunity to rearticulate an international regime as it is a potential hazard for it.
By Jerome Bellion-Jourdan – States are not off the hook in the “Business and Human Rights” agenda: a key take away of recent events at the United Nations and beyond; a timely reminder of the “smart mix of measures” foreseen by the UN Guiding Principles for States to foster business respect for human rights; a strong call on States to act, along with business, against the background of Kofi Annan’s warning: “if we cannot make globalization work for all, in the end it will work for none.”
By Martin Belov – A shift to a post-Westphalian reality requires rethinking our constitutional concepts, paradigms and institutional designs.