Alistair Michie: Wish CCG’s new book to contribute to the genesis of new policies
October 11 , 2021
Alistair Michie, Chair of CCG International Expert Council, General Secretary of the British East Asia Council
On October 11, the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and Springer jointly launched the book, Consensus or Conflict? – China and Globalization in the 21st century, a book focusing on tackling with global challenges and promoting global governance, for the first time in the world.
Below is Alistair Michie’s address for the book launch:
I am very pleased to join this book launch from Scotland.
My joining is symbolic of the exceptional international spirit of our book:
· We have a German – British publisher
· We have a British co-editor and a Chinese co-editor
· The digital post-production of the book was completed by Springer in India
· And the book draws together a galaxy of global leaders contributing essays.
Our first task as co-editors is to express our profound thanks to all those who accepted our invitation to contribute essays for this book.
We are deeply grateful that so many distinguished leaders and scholars gave so freely of their time.
The generosity of our writers has resulted in what we believe is a truly unique book.
Never before has such an authoritative group of essayists come together to develop deep new thinking about global governance that is relevant to current shared global challenges.
Another unique aspect is how our essay writers address current global challenges – such as climate change and COVID-19.
Our writers hail from across the globe and share views with great authority thanks to their wealth of professional experience.
In their essays, they express deep concerns about the historically unprecedented upheavals in the world.
They describe the unparalleled turbulence that mankind is facing in the form of multiple crises, any one of which with the potential to bring civilization to its knees. The most obvious of these is the threat posed by climate change.
In our book, leaders and scholars spell out why these perils pose a stark choice for the human race.
They stress how any path that leads to conflict increases the risk of catastrophe.
In this context, the common thread is that a consensus must be reached about the future of our world.
Our writers have put forward many ideas and potential new policies, reflecting their vision of what this consensus should be and how it is the only way forward for the human race.
We believe that, given the sentiments expressed by our essayists, and the turmoil visible in the world in 2021, the publication of this book is extremely timely.
Our motivation for creating the book draws on the spirit and core culture of CCG.
The first element of this book springs from the concept of ‘globalization’ that is embedded in the DNA of CCG.
A globalized world is an essential for a peaceful and sustainable world order.
The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed forces that pose great challenges to the realization of a peaceful and sustainable world order, but it was also a major catalyst that motivated us to collaborate and co-edit this book.
Unsurprisingly China takes a central role in many of the essays you can read in this book, but we believe that as China now represents almost 18.5% of the world’s population, this balance in the book is proportionate.
In addition, China has been and continues to change at a very rapid rate, as reflected in data published in 2020 by the Brookings Institute in the United States – I quote:
In the 1950s, over 90% of the global middle class resided in Europe and North America. Today, over 20% live in China. China is experiencing the fastest expansion of the middle class the world has ever seen. By 2027, we estimate that 1.2 billion Chinese will be in the middle class, making up one quarter of the world total.
Many of our writers have highlighted how China has hugely benefited from trends in globalization in recent decades.
In turn, they have placed a great deal of emphasis on threats to the advance of globalization, due to the challenges facing global governance.
The essays contrast current global governance challenges with the last great world cataclysm – the upheaval caused by World War II between 1939 and 1945.
That war was also the catalyst that laid the foundations for a ‘rules-based world order’.
Several writers highlight the 1944 Bretton Woods meeting that played a crucial catalytic role in creating this ‘order’ or ‘system’. At the core of that order was the creation of the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and GATT, which eventually gave birth to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Our essayists explain how the United States led the foundation of this ‘rules-based world order’ and continues to dominate its operation.
Our writers also present generous data about global governance that provokes serious reflection. For example, when the UN was founded in 1945 the population of the world was around 2.5 billion. By 2021 that total is over 7.8 billion.
However, of all the people living in the world today, less than 4% live in the USA, while no more than 10% of the global population comes from European nations.
This explains why so many of our authors urge that global governance needs to evolve to reflect the views of the 86% of the world’s people who, so far, have had a very limited influence on the creation of the rules in today’s ‘rules-based world order.’
The collaboration between Wang Huiyao and myself as co-editors is built on a consensus on many topics.
A primary shared belief is in the immense importance of the role of think tanks, which have become even more valuable as the pace of change increases and the world has to deal with exceptional crises like COVID-19.
Governments lack the luxury of time to think and reflect as officials deal with the daily demands in an ever-fast-moving world.
Think Tanks like CCG provide the space for careful thought and reflection.
In an ideal world, think tanks should support governments by providing a stream of ideas from multiple angles and sources that can be turned into policies to tackle challenges in governance.
It is our sincere wish that some of the many ideas in this book may contribute to the genesis of new policies that deliver positive benefits to all of humanity.
I said earlier that this book is unique from the range of global leaders and scholars who have provided essays.
The book is also unique in the twelve global leaders who have also recommended you read the book.
So please take their advice and read the book!
[Book Introduction Video]
Download Book at Springer
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-5391-9
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