Governing the Environment: Three Motivating Factors

Governance arrangements have become increasingly complex over time, such that today everything from the Internet to medicine and warfare is subject to some form of governance at the global level. Notably, these changes in global governance can come slowly or quickly, depending on circumstances. For example, evolutionary change is evident in the establishment of new treaties and protocols on regulating the various aspects of war and its aftermath - an area where the list of agreements is long and growing. But change can also happen very quickly as new mechanisms - for example, for coordinating states' responses during pandemics - are established during crises. Copyright © Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 2015.