June 2020

UN 2.0 considers the kinds of enlightened global leadership and vision, norms, tools, institutions, and ethic of civic engagement required to better deal with pressing global challenges, from avoiding runaway climate change to preventing atrocities and reducing the disruptive potential of novel technologies.

Read-Report-Button

Drawing parallels to the 1944 Dumbarton Oaks conference that, in the midst of World War II and on the heels of the Great Depression, laid the groundwork for the successful 1945 San Francisco conference that founded the United Nations, the report argues for this September’s UN75 Summit and Declaration to lay the foundations for further innovating and strengthening global governance in the coming two-to-three critical years.

In presenting a bold yet practical roadmap for global renewal, UN 2.0 stresses the need for international organizations, starting with the United Nations, to harness creatively the ideas, networks, and capabilities of governments, civil society, and the private sector for effective global problem-solving.

Today, our collective task is to rekindle the orig­inal spirit of the founding of the United Nations and to build the smart coalitions needed to overcome the growing bottlenecks (whether institutional, political, financial, or psycholog­ical) to solving humanity’s inextricably global problems.

“UN 2.0 offers a path to renewal and a more inclusive and invigorated system of global governance, complementing and building on the UN75 Declaration to be endorsed by UN Member States.”

Foreword to UN 2.0 (2020), Ban Ki-moon and Gro Harlem Brundtland

In support of like-minded countries and civil society networks, such as those affil­iated with the intergovernmental Alliance for Multilateralism and the civil society-led networks UN2020 and Together First, this report offers a roadmap for strengthening global cooperation in the form of practical guidelines:

  • Orient near-term global governance innovation and strengthening agendas to the COVID-19 public health emergency and the broader socioeconomic recovery response.
  • Prioritize the adoption of and, if possible, augment the UN75 Declaration commitments made during the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly (September 2020-September 2021).
  • Support actively a new Expert Advisory Group on Inclusive Global Governance.
  • Design and advocate a World Summit on Inclusive Global Governance, to be held no later than September 2023.

Joining the ideas, partnerships, and legitimacy of both traditional national and increasingly powerful transnational actors in common cause to address common goals will usher in a new, more inclusive era of global governance. Inspired by our forebears in San Francisco, we can continue to pull through adversity and chart a more hopeful course for all humanity.

“The international institutions built since 1945 to help nations manage and resolve their problems peacefully—and together—are being weakened to a degree not seen since their founding. Yet dealing with global issues calls for policies and actions beyond the writ or capabilities of any one state.”

Foreword to An Innovation Agenda for UN75 (2019), Madeleine Albright and Ibrahim Gambari

Recent

  • Coping with New and Old Crises

    Global and Regional Cooperation in an Age of Epidemic Uncertainty “The pandemic has illustrated beyond dispute the gaps in our multilateral system. As countries go in different directions, the virus goes in every direction … We urgently need multilateral institutions that can act decisively, based on global consent, for the global good.” — UN Secretary-General … Continued

  • Reimagining Governance in a Multipolar World

    Since 2000, the Doha Forum has served as a premier platform for global dialogue on critical issues facing the world, bringing together thought leaders from governments, civil society, the media, academia, think tanks, and the private sector to promote the exchange of ideas, mutual understanding, policymaking, and action-oriented networks. During the 2019 edition of the … Continued

  • The Evolution of and Future Prospects for Transnational Environmental Crime Prevention

    Abstract This background paper will pursue the question of whether and how international organizations and criminal law can help us deal effectively with transnational environmental crimes (TEC) and, more broadly, environmental injustice. The paper will also explore the question of whether the climate change justice agenda can benefit from the expanded pursuit of transnational environmental … Continued

  • Ensuring sustainable peace: Strengthening global security and justice through the UN Peacebuilding Architecture

    While demand for international peacebuilding assistance increases around the world, the UN’s Peacebuilding Architecture (PBA) remains a largely ineffective and marginal player in the peacebuilding field. There are many reasons for the PBA’s shortcomings, including its original design, the Security Council’s uneasy relations with the Peacebuilding Commission, turf battles within the UN system, and the … Continued

  • Preventing the Kinds of Conflicts that are Hardest to Resolve and Most Costly in Lives

    Progress in conflict prevention depends upon a better understanding of the underlying circumstances that give rise to violent conflict and mass atrocities, as well as the warning signs that a crisis is imminent. In recent decades there has been a substantial amount of empirical research on the causes of violence and the driving forces of conflict. The policy … Continued

Featured

  • The UN-75 Declaration, a Daring Commitment for a More Perfect World

    by Richard Ponzio and Cristina Petcu On the heels of the 1930s Great Depression and in the midst of global turmoil — World War II — leaders from the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom gathered in 1944 at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., to consider a new … Continued

  • Albright-Gambari Commission Report

    Download the full Commission Report and Executive Summaries Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance (A4) Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance (Letter) Executive Summaries مواجهة أزمة الحوكمة العالمية (Arabic) 直面全球治理危机 (Chinese) CONFRONTING THE CRISIS OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE (English) CONFRONTER LA CRISE DE LA GOUVERNANCE MONDIALE (French) Перед лицом кризиса глобального управления (Russian) ENFRENTANDO LA CRISIS DE LA GOBERNANZA GLOBAL (Spanish) Related … Continued

  • An Innovation Agenda for UN 75

    The world needs a new kind of leadership and vision, combined with new norms, tools, and institutions.

  • Just Security in an Undergoverned World

    Just Security in an Undergoverned World examines how humankind can manage global problems to achieve both security and justice in an age of antithesis. Global connectivity is increasing, visibly and invisibly-in trade, finance, culture, and information-helping to spur economic growth, technological advance, and greater understanding and freedom, but global disconnects are growing as well. Ubiquitous electronics … Continued