10. A Final Word

An exploration by contributors to this book of the critical issues that beset our planet reveals that states in the international (or inter-state) system need to look for ways to forge cooperative multilateral and multilayered institutions of global governance, without which the successful resolution of many of the transnational problems we face appears improbable.¹ Institution building generally tends to lag behind economic and technological changes. In the twenty-first century, these changes have eroded the capacity of states to fulfill the primary functions of providing for the security and welfare of national populations. Speaking at an International Peace Institute policy forum on October 23, 2015, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the need for states and international organizations to make a greater effort to create frameworks for effective global governance. He argued that global governance mechanisms were “not keeping pace with the challenges of a more complex and interconnected world,” adding that “[w]e need to tune all of our institutions to the times—times in which even the most local problems have a global dimension.”²