ABSTRACT
There is a great transformation taking place around the world, coming from unprecedented world integration and intensification of exchanges. From the early 1990s, the world economy has become more diversified, with new poles of national and regional powers interacting with global networks of economic and financial interdependence. Trade and capital flows have been the twin forces behind this revolution. These flows have grown at a faster rate than world GDP. Corporations and capital are moving at an unprecedented pace. As a result, a new economic geography has taken shape, with many more players. A wider set of emerging powers and non-state actors aspire to play a stronger role in the global economic decision-making process, pushing for more equitable participation and representation. They are challenging the present Western dominance of international organizations, from the composition of the UN Security Council to the governing structure and voting systems of the IMF and the World Bank. Recent threats ranging from the disintegration of the financial system, to energy security or food price increases, demonstrate how closely interlinked issues and geographies are. An individual state, a subset of states, or the existing international institutions are incapable of effectively addressing the resolution of multisector global tensions. Global challenges such as climate change, global terrorism, scarcity resources, poverty, diseases, transnational crime, finance, development, trade, security, and defense will necessarily be subject to negotiation and diplomacy. They call for a collective and coordinated action bringing together the resources, skills and legitimacy, from a wider representation of countries.
