Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation is Failing when We Need It Most

by Thomas Hale, David Held, Kevin Young

The issues that increasingly dominate the 21st century cannot be solved by any single country acting alone, no matter how powerful. To manage the global economy, prevent runaway environmental destruction, reign in nuclear proliferation, or confront other global challenges, we must cooperate. But at the same time, our tools for global policymaking - chiefly state-to-state negotiations over treaties and international institutions - have broken down. The result is gridlock, which manifests across areas via a number of common mechanisms. The rise of new powers representing a more diverse array of interests makes agreement more difficult. The problems themselves have also grown harder as global policy issues penetrate ever more deeply into core domestic concerns. Existing institutions, created for a different world, also lock-in pathological decision-making procedures and render the field ever more complex. All of these processes - in part a function of previous, successful efforts at cooperation - have led global cooperation to fail us even as we need it most. Ranging over the main areas of global concern, from security to the global economy and the environment, this book examines these mechanisms of gridlock and pathways beyond them. It is written in a highly accessible way, making it relevant not only to students of politics and international relations but also to a wider general readership.

Genres: Nonfiction, International Relations

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Also publishes as Tom Hale.

In 1970, Thomas Hale and his wife, Cynthia, went to Nepal to work for their first twelve years at a rural mission hospital in the village of Amp Pipal. Subsequently they moved to Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city, where they have continued their work with the mission. Recently Cynthia took a position as an associate professor at Nepal's only medical school, and Tom has written a one-volume commentary on the New Testament, first in Nepali and subsequently in English for translation into other languages.

Reviews

[Cindy Zautcke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thought-provoking book, especially for those concerned with good governance of our shared planet. I found parallels to possible explanations for why regional cooperation may be failing when we need it most as well.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, if dry analysis of the international system's current state of gridlock. I can't agree with their argument in its entirety, but they make a good case for it.