Power and Responsibility: Building International Order in an Era of Transnational Threats - Hardcover

Jones, Bruce D.; Pascual, Carlos; Stedman, Stephen John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0815747063 ISBN 13: 9780815747062

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press, 2009

Synopsis

"The aim of the Managing Global Insecurity project is to launch a reform effort of the global security system in 2009. That task is both ambitious and urgent.... The time to act is now." from the Foreword by Javier Solana

The twenty-first century will be defined by security threats unconstrained by borders from economic instability, climate change, and nuclear proliferation to conflict, poverty, terrorism, and disease. The greatest test of global leadership will be building partnerships and institutions for cooperation that can meet the challenge. Power and Responsibility describes how American leadership can rebuild international order to promote global security and prosperity for today's transnational world.

Power & Responsibility establishes a new foundation for international security: "responsible sovereignty," or the notion that sovereignty entails obligations and duties toward other states as well as one's own citizens. Governments must cooperate across borders to safeguard common resources and tackle common threats.

Power & Responsibility argues that in order to advance its own interests, the United States must learn to govern in an interdependent world, exercise leadership through cooperation, and create new institutions with today's traditional and emerging powers. The result of a collaborative project on Managing Global Insecurity, the book also reflects the MGI project's global dialogue extensive consultations in the United States and in regions around the world as well as discussions with the MGI project's Advisory Group, composed of prominent U.S. and international figures.

"The 2008 financial crisis has brought our global interconnectedness close to home. But economic insecurity is just one concern. Power and Responsibility provides a road map for building effective policies and legitimate global institutions to tackle today's suite of transnational challenges." Kemal Derviş, administrator, UN Development Program

About this title

About the Author

Bruce Jones is director of the Managing Global Insecurity initiative, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and director of the Center on International Cooperation at New York University. Carlos Pascual is the United States ambassador to Mexico and former vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.

Stephen John Stedman is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former assistant secretary general and special adviser to the secretary general of the United Nations.

Review

"What are the right kinds of institutions to order a globalized world, where transnational forces "that have stitched the world together can also tear it apart"? This question is addressed with notable range and sophistication in this collaborative work by three individuals with significant research and frontline experience in the area of global policy-making." — Ethics & International Affairs

"What is most innovative is the book's institutional agenda, which comes out of extensive consultations with officials and experts worldwide. This is one of the best efforts yet to provide a coherent synthesis of the security-interdependence worldview." —John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs

" Power and Responsibility analyzes the threats that surround us, but does not yield to the temptation to despair. It rightly points out that in a world of problems without passports, our security and prosperity depend on unprecedented international cooperation, and that such cooperation is within our reach. By accepting that sovereignty incurs responsibilities and by strengthening international institutions, governments can create an international order in which all can be safe and thrive. This book makes a compelling argument for such an approach." —Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of United Nations

"The vision, ideas, and solutions the authors put forward in this book have the potential to redeem American foreign policy." —from the Foreword by Brent Scowcroft

"I salute Power and Responsibility for undertaking the challenging endeavor of strengthening and improving our current means of international cooperation. This book sets a platform from which to take forward the vital agenda of restoring American leadership and creating a more effective international system." —Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State

"Offers timely, relevant, and responsible advice on America's future foreign policy. The authors address our need to strengthen our alliances and forge relationships based on common interests." —Chuck Hagel, former U.S. Senator (R.-Neb.)

"An essential guide to the critical decisions we must make to create a world where all people are secure and can prosper. The authors persuasively argue that in this age of transnational threats, we are compelled to think anew about the nature of power and the role of responsibility. And they challenge us to 'use the urgency of looming existential security challenges to prompt global action before their worst consequences are felt.'" —William J. Perry, former U.S. Secretary of Defense

" Power and Responsibility is that rare book that combines a major conceptual breakthrough with relevant and practical policy prescriptions. Scholars, policymakers, and all practitioners of statecraft should take heed." —Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

About this edition

• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0815747063
• ISBN 13: 9780815747062
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360