In today’s world, our major problems have gone global; including war, terrorism, environmental crises, economic calamities, pandemics, and social injustice. Many of our human-made systems are global as well. However, the one significant thing that has not gone global is democracy. Could that be the cause of our global problems? This stimulating presentation will describe an alternative way to govern our world, where “We the people” are in charge. Many scholars and lay people agree that only a global democracy can meet today’s toughest challenges.
11:00AM -12:30PM: WHAT IS GLOBAL DEMOCRACY?
Bob Flax, PhD. will explore the history of this idea, the movement that grew out of it, the paths to getting there, and how it might work.
Lunch Break
2:00 – 3:30PM: CREATING A WORLD SECURITY COMMUNITY AS THE PATHWAY TO GLOBAL DEMOCRACY
Chris Hamer will discuss one pathway for global integration, namely to apply the regional integration strategy of Jean Monnet and his ‘Action Committee for the United States of Europe’ in 1950. That is, start with a small core of member states to form a Community with limited aims, and evolve and grow from there through a series of further Treaties.
What are the options here? The Coalition for a World Security Community (CWSC) argues that the ongoing struggle between democracy and autocracy on the world stage implies that security issues should be the focus. The recent development of the ‘Coalition of the Wiling’ to aid Ukraine is a possible starting point for this process.
Meet Your Presenters:
Bob Flax is a member of the Executive Board of the World Federalist Movement – Institute for Global Policy (WFM/IGP), and was formerly Executive Director of Citizens for Global Solutions in the US.
Chris Hamer is President of the World Citizens Association of Australia (WCAA), the local Associate Member Organization of the WFM-IGP. He is also President of the Coalition for a World Security Community transnational working group.
The event will be moderated by Luiz Bispo, Secretary of the World Citizens Association of Australia, and the Director of Outreach and Communications with the World Federalist Movement WFM-IGP.
This event is free. You can attend either or both sessions, either in person or online.
To register, kindly email bispo@wfm-igp.org
Note: if attending online, Zoom credentials will be sent after registration.