This course focuses on the interplay among states, international organizations, multinational corporations, civil society organizations, and activist networks in global governance. Global governance refers to the capacity within the international system to provide services and public goods. But to get to that point, global governance also must involve framing new issues, setting agendas, creating norms, building capacity, setting standards, and resolving disputes. Our cases are drawn from a broad range of issue areas, including health challenges such as COVID-19, economic relations, human rights, peace and security, and the environment. The objective is to better understand the dynamics and evolution of formal and informal global governance arrangements and what difference they make. In a major case in the class, for example, we will try to understand why there wasn’t better or more global governance in response to the Coronavirus? The course uses cases, role-playing, and simulations to help students learn how to work with international law to promote global justice.
Also offered by the Law School as HLS 2100.