Global Governance to the Rescue: Saving International Relations?

Abstract

International Relations teeters on the edge of an abyss of irrelevance. As an academic pursuit it has become disparate and fragmented. We have ceased to pursue greater clarity in the way that we understand the world around us; moreover, we have failed as agents of change that is, as purveyors of opinion and proposals about a better and fairer world order. As such, we no longer serve our students and those practitioners who seek our advice. The text outlines why and how International Relations teeters on the edge of an abyss. It offers a proposal for moving beyond the fragmentation and atomization that afflicts international relations. It also argues that global governance offers an opportunity to return to these questions.