2005 could well prove to be the decisive year for a revitalization of the United Nations. The present reform constellation is more favorable than it has been for years. A conference of the world’s heads of state and government scheduled for autumn 2005 offers a historic opportunity to identify...

Serious deficits have until today prevented the United Nations (UN) from assuming the leadership role set out for it in the Charter in coming to terms with global challenges. The international debate over how this situation could be changed is more lively and concrete than ever before. One...

The ongoing power shift within the global economy calls into question the established structures of multilateral decision-making. Mainly two factors are responsible for the growing governance gap in international affairs. As the emerging powers of the South gain new prominence, the G7/G8 summit...

The Millennium+5 Summit held on the occasion of the United Nations’ 60th anniversary did not live up to the great expectations placed in it. But it cannot be said either that the summit failed. Despite a polarization between North and South that grew in intensity in the course of the...

China’s headlong rise to the status of a world power is leading to some profound changes in the global system: Indeed, we can say that a new multipolar order is in the making. The consequences of this transformation are impressively evident in Africa. China’s expanding presence there is...

Global politics were recently graced with a new, influential steering committee. Since the global financial crisis, the leaders of the 19 most important industrial and emerging countries, as well as the EU, have been striving to stabilize the world economy. Nevertheless, there are many questions...

To the surprise of many, China has taken a pro-active stance in negotiations on the post-2015 agenda for global development at the United Nations (UN). In September 2013, the government issued a comprehensive position paper that aptly addresses a wide range of global challenges, from poverty...

Eight years after its formation at the leaders’ level, the Group of 20 (G20) has consolidated its status as the power centre of global economic governance. The informal club of 19 nation-states plus the European Union has set itself ambitious goals. They want to lead the global economy towards...