2.2

Is there a global government? Technically, there is still no global government. Yet, Mails and other goods are delivered across borders every day. People travel from one country to another through various modes of transportation. There is a whole range of cross country activities. Disruptions are relatively uncommon. Generally, international transactions are distinguished by order. According to Steger (2014), global governance refers to the way institutions manage their own affairs. Bur the term governance is different from politics since politics is more about making compromises. 

Global Governance

Global governance refers to the totality of laws, norms, policies, and institutions. It defines, constitutes, and mediates trans-border relations between states, cultures, citizens, inter-governmental and non-government organizations. It also includes organizations and markets – the wielders and instruments of the global exercise of public power. However, international institutions and the pluralism of values must be reconstituted per the standards of governance and legitimacy of the 21st century, to remain viable. It must also be capable of addressing contemporary challenges effectively. 

Global governance also refers to purposeful systems of rules or norms that ensure order beyond what occurs nationally. In a domestic context, governance is usually more than the government, implying shared social purpose and goal orientation and a formal authority or police powers. It is a rules-based order without a government. The governance for the planet is weak. There is no principal authority, and there is little enforcement. The result is that the governed question the legitimacy of the rules promulgated if they do not agree with them and when they fail to implement or comply with the laws.

Global governance is also reinforced by non-state actors such as civil societies and markets. State and non-state structures find themselves sharing the governance stage. They are the Intergovernmental organizations and the UN system. Global governance is all but a journey in the process. The UN provides and accomplishes the plan for bringing together world leaders to tackle the pressing issues of the day for the wellbeing, growth, and prosperity of all peoples everywhere. It has also face the test of dealing with matters of militarization, the world's erratic changing weather behavior, and international criminal justice (Claudio, 2016). 

United Nations

The United Nations have become the embodiment of the international community of states, the focus of global expectations, and the locus of collective action as a symbol of an imagined community of strangers. It has made enormous positive contributions in maintaining international peace and security, promoting cooperation among states and international development. It has to be noted that the United Nations is not a nascent world government. Still, it has and can continue to contribute to improving global governance. 

Forms and Formats of Global Governance

 Global governance presents itself in different forms such as international agreements like the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) trade rules. Other global organizations composed of foreign bodies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank (WB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are also construed as global governance's manifestation. Furthermore, loose groupings such as G7 (member countries are the United States of America, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany) and the G20 (mostly composed of advanced and emerging economies including the European Union) and informal discussion fora (like the World Economic Forum) also contribute to effective global governance. The actors of global governance are as diverse as the forms and formats. Besides governments and international institutions, relevant actors also include civil society and businesses.

 Effects of Global Governance over Globalization

Global governance is not a global government. It does not recognize a world government or any central authority or power that seeks to resolve international issues. International governance can be in economic and political spheres. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major actor in global economic governance. Global governance leads to unilateralism in the context of politics and globalization, which weakens multilateralism as an instrument for making globalization work. While nation-states have tried to make a trend towards power hegemony and unilateralism, they are still needed because they are the only link between national and supranational levels (Fernandez et al., 2018). It should be remembered, however, that global governance is still a project unfolding that affects globalization. It sees the possibility to see how global governance will shape and create future environments in transition through world politics, international organizations, and the nation-state's position.

Environmental Governance

Collective approaches from governments and people are required to tackle the challenge brought on by rapid change and irreversible impact on nature on human activity. State governments and sectoral institutions have undertaken an initiative that has allowed nature to transcend political and social barriers to the effects of the global crises ignoring its consequences. Climate change is one of the most significant challenges that the world is facing right now. The framework of globalization challenges most systems of states competing with each other. Among the fields of environmental governance, environmental management is the most wanting in urgent answers in the form of collective action by the whole of the human community.

One of the issues concerning environmental governance has something to do with climate justice. The prevailing concern with the realm of climate justice lies in the aspect that most of those who suffer the adverse effects of the wrath of nature have very little to do with the causes of climate change. Hence, policymakers should take measures to enable the most considerable number of world citizens to save the natural environment. Not only that, industries must also take care of the environment by reducing their carbon emissions. They have already amassed significant amount of profits at the expense of nature. Hence, it is already time for them to do their share in saving the environment and spare people from the effects of the harsh forces of nature. 

Challenges of World Governance 

 Another significant challenge to current world governance is the aspect of militarization. In between the era after the end of the Second World War and the end of the Cold War, wars in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan have erupted. This shows that wars could happen if diplomatic means fail to resolve initial conflicts among states. Associated with the sphere of war is the existence of militarization, which constitutes one of the challenges of world governance. Many governments tend to step up their militarization efforts either for dominance or to avoid being dominated. As the world struggles to maintain a sense of relative peace in many parts of the globe, another challenge to world leaders has emerged in recent years. Very related to militarization is the problem of terrorism. As the world continues to take great strides for development through the advancement of science and technology, a sector of the society think that they are left behind or disadvantaged by the said process. Hence, they tend to disrupt it by sowing fear and confusion through violent acts that cost thousands of innocent lives. As the world grapples with addressing the problem of terrorism, solutions through military actions have seemed to add more to the problem than solving the problem itself. Hence, the policymakers ought to walk the extra mile to go beyond violent solutions and look at the very root of the problem on terrorism before a win-win solution can be attained. 

 Moreover, the challenges in the sphere of structural violence, human rights, environmental care, and personal peace have also emerged as many governments have embraced globalization to the fullest. Poor wages, inhuman working conditions, and gross exploitation of the natural environment are all manifestations of the challenges mentioned earlier. Hence, governments should negotiate with the influential multi-national and transnational corporations to give the workers their just compensation to their labor rendered. Aside from this, governments should also protect the natural environment since they are vital for humankind's wellbeing. After all have been said about the challenges confronting global governance, a search for a better way to govern the world should be attained. To achieve this, the problems concerning equality, human security, peace, and sustainable development should be appropriately addressed (Fernandez et al., 2018). 

The Role of International Law and the United Nations

 International law plays a significant role in fostering global stability and prosperity. Ideally, international law and its corresponding institutions serve as a smooth balm over the competing interests which nations can have. The philosophy is explicitly rooted in both international law and its institutional framework.  It is seriously troubling that many countries feel that their own national identities are being threatened by growing economic interdependence and undermining "Western" interest. An example of this is the drawing of the 9 dash line by the government of the People's Republic of China in the South China Sea. China claimed that its history has stipulated that most of the South China Sea is their rightful territory. This triggered territorial disputes among several Southeast Asian states, including the Philippines (Beech, 2016). According to Schwabach & Cockfield (2009), international law must clearly state its political principles and institutions and establish a consistent and functional institutional structure around this ideology. Today's values underlying international law are the values of liberalism—the rule of law, capitalism, democracy, and an emphasis on human rights. Hence, liberal legal institutions should impose stricter following of the principles of liberalism to contribute to a more secure and prosperous global community. 

 For its part, the United Nations sponsored the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948. It emphasized the values of liberalism as a mechanism to thwart national self-interest through the "recognition of the intrinsic nature of the rule of law and the basic freedoms and civil rights of all members of the human family and equal and inalienable rights. It served as the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world." The United Nations continued to promote these values through various institutions like the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Educational Organization ( UNESCO).UNESCO was founded in 1946 with the mandate "to contribute to peace and security by cultivating cooperation among nations through education, science, and culture to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law and the basic freedoms and civil rights upheld for the world's peoples, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion." (Schwabach & Cockfield, 2009). 

Conclusion

 Global governance is essential to facilitate global trans-border transactions and maintain world peace. Though technically there is still no global government, global institutions have helped facilitate carry out businesses in the economic and political spheres in the way nations relate with each other. Yet, several challenges related to the issues of terrorism, militarization, structural violence, human rights, environmental care, and the attainment of personal peace have confronted the realm of global governance. Nevertheless, these issues are addressed through a number of instruments facilitated by the United Nations and aided by international law. Lastly, despite the absence of a recognized global government, global governance is evident through several nations' consensus to adhere to policies facilitated by global organizations and the United Nations.