“Gridlock” is the concept behind a book written by 3 eminent university teachers and international relations experts: Thomas Hale (University of Oxford), David Held (Durham University) and Kevin Young (University of Massachusetts Amherst). The book examines the gridlock in the complex global diplomatic web and the question of “Why Global Cooperation is Failing when We Need It Most”.
A reflection on governance that concerns Europe too, says Dassù
The book was presented today, 9 October 2013, in the Farnesina Library in the presence of Deputy Foreign Minister Marta Dassù and one of the co-authors, David Held, one of the United Kingdom’s leading experts in international relations. The apparent paralysis of global cooperation and international relations, which is having immediate effects on the standstill in major negotiations on security, economic and environmental issues, is analysed in the book, which also suggests innovate governance instruments to help international cooperation overcome the current impasse and meet the challenges of our times.
“We live in a multi-polar and highly complex world with institutions deeply rooted in the era following the Second World War. Today, those institutions are not sufficiently representative or flexible to meet global challenges”, underscored Held. He pointed out that the book is “an attempt to understand why we are unable to achieve global cooperation in today’s world”.
His words were echoed by Deputy Minister Marta Dassù, who commented that the book “addresses the question of why we are unable to manage these highly complex international problems, which are global in nature and no longer between or internal to states or trans-national, in an effective manner. It is therefore a reflection on governance, a reflection that also concerns Europe”.
