The interregnum: Governance in the new world disorder

Abstract

There is a crisis of global governance at this moment in our history -- a moment being labeled as 'the interregnum -- a moment of transition from one world order to another. The turbulence and disequilibrium of this moment in our history have triggered intense and growing interest in the concept and practice of governance at all levels. This is not a reflexive moment; it is a time for serious reflection and contemplation; a time for reconceptualizing ‘global governance’; an auspicious moment for constructing a new global governance paradigm. To assist in this introspective exercise, it may be important to shift from 'problem-solving' theorizing to a 'critical theory' approach that stands outside prevailing understandings of what global governance has come to mean and discard the oversimplified state-centric vision of world order; replacing it with the more nuanced 'summative' global governance - a concept that is more sophisticated and flexible than previous ones and may provide the needed space and time for us to transform the practice of global governance.