Divided Nations

14 March 2013

Divided_Nations
© Oxford Martin School

Divided Nations: Why global governance is failing, and what we can do about it is published today (14 March) by Oxford University Press.

Understanding and overcoming global governance failure is the subject of a new book by Oxford University’s Professor Ian Goldin, Director of the Oxford Martin School.

The book considers the challenges facing the world as a consequence of rapid globalisation and shows that we need a radical new approach to global governance.

“Rapid urbanization together with technological leaps mean that we are now physically and virtually closer than ever before in humanity's history. While this has its advantages, it also brings with it systemic risks that are only just being identified and understood,” said Goldin, who is also Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford.

Ian Goldin alerts us to the fact that “we face a growing number of international challenges, such as climate change, pandemics, finance, cyber security and migration - which spill over national boundaries. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the UN, the IMF, the World Bank - bodies created in a very different world, more than 60 years ago - are inadequate for the task of managing such risk and solving collective action problems of the 21st century”

The growing gap between global problems and solutions reflects a crisis in global governance. Ian Goldin explores whether the answer is to reform existing structures, or to consider a radical new approach. By setting out the nature of the problems and the various approaches to global governance, Goldin highlights the challenges that we are to overcome and considers a road map for the future.

Ian Goldin is the author of 17 books including Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped our World and Will Define our Future (Princeton University Press, 2011) and Globalization for Development: Meeting New Challenges (Oxford University Press 2012).

  • Sign up to meet Ian Goldin on 25 April, 19:00 - 20:00 at Blackwell’s Bookshop Oxford, where he will be discussing Divided Nations. Tickets £3 from Blackwell’s customer service department. Further information

Ian Goldin discussed Divided Nations at:

Further information:

Divided Nations is the first edition in an occasional series of books published on the theme of “21st Century Challenges”. The series is co-produced by the Oxford Martin School and the Oxford University Press. The books aim to reach wide audiences and provide a better understanding of the nature of 21st century challenges, as well as insights into how to develop the most appropriate and effective strategies to respond to them. Future publications are already being planned on the topics of global demographic change, the promise of stem cell science, and the future of armed conflict.