From Westphalianism to Global Governance: The G8, International Law, and
Global Health Governance Through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
By: Obijiofor Aginam, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Law, Carleton University,
Ottawa, Canada, 48
th
Annual Convention of the International Studies Association
(ISA), Chicago, USA, 28 February – 2 March 2007
The Concept of Global Governance
The dynamics of emerging global interdependence of nations and peoples have led to
the emergence of global issues that defy the classic Westphalian inter-state system.
Global governance is a response to these complex global interdependencies. Emerging
global issues – global warming, transnational spread of infectious diseases, climate
change, disrespect the geo-political boundaries of nation-states. The globalized
challenges of emerging global issues defy the rules and regulations constructed solely by
states in the Westphalian international system. As a result of the globalization of the
world’s political economy, as evidenced by the volumes of
goods,
people and services
that cross national borders, policies at the “domestic-foreign frontier” (Rosenau 1997)
now converge and intermesh in a seamless web as a response to global issues: infectious
diseases, pollution, HIV/AIDS, illicit drug trade, pollution, and obesity.
Although the idea of global governance resonated in contemporary international
relations as a result of the gaps and limitations of the classic inter-state system, it was
popularized in the 1990s through the work of the Commission on Global Governance
(1995), and the emerging discourse in international relations (Rosenau, 1992).
Governance is defined (Commission on Global
Governance, 1995: 2) as:
1
The Westphalian international system emerged from the Treaty of Westphalia 1648 that ended thirty years
of war and conflict in Europe and led to the emergence of nation-states as the primary actors in
international relations. Applied to public health diplomacy, membership of multilateral health organizations
like the World Health Organization is open only to states, and only states can become parties to multilateral
health treaties, conventions and regulations negotiated under the auspices of those organizations.
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