{"id":127452,"date":"2024-12-18T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/les-nouvelles-regles-du-jeu\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T11:02:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:02:35","slug":"les-nouvelles-regles-du-jeu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/les-nouvelles-regles-du-jeu\/","title":{"rendered":"Les Nouvelles R\u00e8gles du jeu"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In today\u2019s context of global crises and challenges (in particular climate change), how and by what means can we \u201cgovern\u201d the world? This book by George Papaconstantinou, a professor at the European University Institute in Florence, and Jean Pisani-Ferry, a researcher at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels,[1]<\/a><\/sup> attempts to answer these questions.<\/h6>
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Papaconstantinou<\/span> George and Pisani-Ferry<\/span> Jean, Les Nouvelles R\u00e8gles du jeu Comment \u00e9viter le chaos plan\u00e9taire,<\/em> Paris: Seuil (La R\u00e9publique des id\u00e9es), 2024, 144 p. [translation: New World New Rules: Global Cooperation in a World of Geopolitical Rivalries<\/em>. Newcastle upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing, 2024, 192 p.]<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n \"\"\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cGoverning the world\u201d is a recent idea that emerged in the aftermath of the two world wars. After the failure of the League of Nations, which was created in 1919, the Bretton Woods economic, monetary, and financial system was introduced in September 1944, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The aim was to fund the postwar reconstruction effort, and the system laid down restrictive ground rules. The creation of the United Nations (UN) in October 1945, then its agencies (including UNESCO, the WHO, and the FAO),[2]<\/a><\/sup> and the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 completed the system. This global governance consecrated the supremacy of the US dollar and the influence of the Western countries in international organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collective international action relies on a legal requirement for states to follow the rules (or face sanctions), but it is also dependent on the economy and the nature of international relations. Economists think that incentives to cooperate are the most useful, and political scientists believe that powerful international institutions (of which there are 2,400) are necessary. Defining the rules of collective action is a key objective, so the authors provide a critical assessment of multilateralism in nine domains in order to draw lessons from it. They examine common goods (the climate, public health, global digital infrastructure), channels of interconnection (international trade, capital flows, migration), and integration \u201cbeyond borders\u201d via the alignment of national regulations with global standards (competition, banking regulation, taxation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to protecting common goods, the picture is mixed. The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by a coronavirus, was a health disaster, leading to at least 7 million and probably 25 million deaths. Thanks to scientific cooperation, the genome of the virus was sequenced, and a vaccine was developed. However, the response to slow down the contagion was not fast enough, and the WHO was ineffective. Reform is needed to give the WHO investigatory powers in the event of an epidemic, and to allow it to coordinate public health policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kyoto Protocol, which was signed by developed countries in 1997 (although not ratified by the United States), launched the battle against climate change, with targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, it was a failure. By signing the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries committed to an emissions reduction policy, but without obligations. This was a turning point, and there is now a near-consensus on the existence of global warming thanks to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose expertise is undisputed.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n

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Digital networks and the internet are common goods, since global digital interconnection has become a vital infrastructure with huge implications for national security. With digital multinationals ignoring state laws, particularly those designed to protect private life, states are keen to maintain their sovereignty. Common governance with a \u201ccode of conduct\u201d such as the European Union\u2019s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is required, as is a scientific forum similar to the IPCC to pool knowledge and reach a consensus about the possibilities and risks of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Migration is another domain without rules of governance, despite the huge human and social costs of its mismanagement.<\/p>\n

Since key sectors of the world economy are dominated by digital multinationals (particularly American ones), countries have introduced \u201cbeyond borders\u201d regulations to limit their extraterritoriality (for example to control company mergers). In terms of taxation, the major breakthrough was the end of banking secrecy, an old practice with particular prevalence in Switzerland, which allows significant tax evasion. The United States used its extraterritorial power to impose changes in 2010, and Switzerland ended banking secrecy in 2018. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has also worked to tax multinationals at a 15% minimum rate, while the European Commission has imposed heavy fines on Google. The rules of governance for multilateral trade are the backbone of globalization, and the WTO has used them to encourage reduced tariff barriers. However, free trade is now being challenged, and China (which joined the WTO in 2001) is playing its part with a trio combining the state, the Communist Party, and public and private companies. In 2018, the United States started a trade war with China, but the WTO failed to play its role as arbitrator. Meanwhile, geopolitics (namely, the Sino-American rivalry and Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine) is contaminating the economic sphere.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n

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\n Voir aussi<\/span>\n
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\n \n \"\"<\/a>\n <\/span>\n \n The European Union agrees on AI Act<\/a>\n \n \n \n <\/use>\n<\/svg>\n <\/a>\n <\/span>\n
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23 January 2024<\/div>\n SOUPIZET Jean-Fran\u00e7ois<\/a>\n
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\n \n \n <\/use>\n<\/svg>\n\n Newswatch\n <\/a>\n Geopolitics<\/a>\n Science and Technology<\/a>\n Society<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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At the end of their analysis, the authors conclude that there is no authoritative model to explain the successes and failures of multilateralism, but that six ingredients play a role:<\/p>\n