Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

Civilian capacity vital to managing global insecurity

The most critical challenges facing the world - from climate change and nuclear proliferation to infectious diseases and terrorism - are transnational in nature, demanding a transnational response. New approaches to global governance require the exercise of ‘responsible sovereignty’, argues Carlos Pascual, foreign policy director at the Brookings Institution.

Facebook Digg Yahoo Del.icio.us reddit StumbleUpon Mixx Google

The most critical challenges facing the world - from climate change and nuclear proliferation to infectious diseases and terrorism - are transnational in nature, demanding a transnational response. New approaches to global governance require the exercise of ‘responsible sovereignty’, argues Carlos Pascual, foreign policy director at the Brookings Institution.

Style and message were also important to realizing foreign policy objectives. Democracy could only be nurtured from within societies, said Pascual, a board member of the National Endowment for Democracy. He was speaking today at the launch of the Managing Global Insecurity (MGI) Project’s Plan for Action, a set of foreign policy recommendations for world leaders, he stressed the importance of building civilian capacity for renewing U.S global engagement, contrasting the $750 billion military budget with the $38 billion available for diplomatic, foreign assistance and other foreign policy commitments.

Imposing democracy is an oxymoron, said former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Highlighting her role as chair of the National Democratic Institute, she stressed that real democracy promotion involved “systematic work supporting the nuts and bolts of democracy”, including independent media and rule of law.