The Future of the Global Order: Power, Technology, and Governance
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PWH Professor of Practice of Law and Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, discusses the impact of emerging technologies on human rights at our Fall 2019 Colloquium
From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea to the global economic and political effects of new technologies, the post-Cold War global order may be at a tipping point.
Broader systemic trends, such as globalization and climate change, mean that the challenges of today and tomorrow will be global - and require global responses.
The role of automated trading algorithms in the 2010 “Flash Crash” in the United States, combined with the specter of drone warfare around the world and the proliferation of military robotics, highlight how the intersection of technologies presents enormous challenges and opportunities for global norms.
Fundamentally, The Future of the Global Order research theme examines implications of changing global power dynamics, impacts of new technologies, and contributions of governance institutions for the future of international cooperation. It seeks to understand the drivers of change and the varied implications of those changes. Additionally, it offers new ideas for the preservation and evolution of the international order.
Standing faculty members from Penn provide guidance and direction for each Global Innovation Program research theme. The Future of the Global Order research theme is led by Michael C. Horowitz, Interim Director of Perry World House.
2021 Global Order Colloquium: How to See the Future: Forecasting and Global Policy
On September 27-28, 2021, Perry World House convened our annual Global Order Colloquium. This year's colloquium tackled one big question from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives: How can we better see the future? More specifically, what forecasting methods are most promising but neglected, how can these methods be implemented, how can forecasts be better communicated, and how can they be made most useful to policymakers? The colloquium built on work Perry World House is undertaking on forecasting and international politics, illustrated in the Keeping Score report that Perry World House released in February 2021. Perry World House also convenes a regular working group focused on topics related to geopolitical forecasting.
The New Space Age: Beyond Global Order
The world is entering a "New Space Age," one that will bring many challenges and opportunities— but academia and policymakers alike are struggling to keep up. A new report and thought pieces from Perry World House looks at innovative policy solutions in four key areas—public-private cooperation, military and competition, economic opportunities, and international law and global governance.
Workshop: The New Space Age: Beyond Global Order
On May 26 and 27, 2021, Perry World House held this workshop to explore how the space domain is changing. Panels looked at public-private cooperation on space activities; how space might be used by the military and how it might be affected by growing great power competition; economic opportunities in space; and how international law and global governance can be applied in space.
Workshop: Transatlantic Disruption: Challenges and Opportunities
Held on January 25 and 26, 2021, the workshop sought to bridge the gap between academia and policy, and focus debates on the state of transatlantic relations on three interrelated issue areas—nuclear deterrence, energy, and investment—to stimulate academic inquiry and exploit an opportunity to shape policies that can help guide transatlantic relations in new and productive ways.
On October 15 and 16, 2020 Perry World House and the Foreign Policy Program of the Brookings Institution jointly convened a virtual, non-partisan workshop to assess the state of U.S. multilateral policy and develop strategic recommendations for U.S. reengagement with the international order under the next administration.
2020 Global Order Colloquium: The UN at 75: Coronavirus and Competition
In recognition of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, Perry World House held our annual Global Order Colloquium, “The UN at 75: Coronavirus and Competition”, on October 5-7, 2020. Over the course of three days, we convened leaders from across the world in high-level virtual conversations to discuss the UN at 75 and the future of global governance in an age of great power competition and at a moment of global crisis.
Transatlantic Disruption: Challenges and Opportunities
For decades, the transatlantic alliance has been a community built on collective defense, mutual investment and trade, and shared values. But in recent years, its stability has been thrown into question by disruptive factors. This report and series of thought pieces, based on discussions and analyses at a recent Perry World House workshop, make several policy and research recommendations on the challenges and opportunities facing the transatlantic community.
This report draws on conversations at our recent workshop with the Brookings Institution's Foreign Policy Program. Taking into account the subsequent outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, it assesses the shifting global landscape of multilateralism, develops a set of principles to guide U.S. multilateral efforts going forward, and offers concrete action items for a new administration seeking to re-engage the international order. The report is authored by William Burke-White, Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Burke-White served as Inaugural Director of Perry World House from 2014-2019.
COVID-19 and the Future of the Global Order
The COVID-19 pandemic shuttered borders, battered the world economy, overwhelmed critical infrastructure, and killed over a million people around the world. As the hope for effective vaccines begins to brighten and – at least in some countries – an end to the pandemic is finally in sight, the virus nonetheless appears likely to leave lasting effects on the global order itself: the balance of power, the health of international institutions, and more. To study these long-term effects, we convened a working group on “COVID-19 and the Future of the Global Order", and recently released a report of their findings.
The Immigration Preferences of Top AI Researchers: New Survey Evidence
Artificial intelligence (AI) talent is global. AI researchers and engineers come from, and are in high demand, around the world. So how do they decide where to work? Given the global nature of demand, countries and companies trying to recruit AI talent face immense competition. In order to understand current and prospective flows of talent, researchers at Perry World House and the University of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute have investigated what drives AI researchers' immigration decisions and preferences, with a survey of more than 500 researchers.
2020 Global Order Colloquium Report
In an era of intensifying competition between great powers and amid a historic, global crisis in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic, where does the United Nations stand? This report explores this crucial question, synthesizing conversations from across the three days of our recent colloquium, "The UN at 75: Coronavirus and Competition", to consider the promise and realities of the UN system, as well as global governance and international cooperation more broadly.
2020 Global Order Colloquium Thought Pieces
The scholars and policy practitioners who attended the Colloquium have produced a series of thought pieces exploring the UN's legacy, how it could develop in future, and more.
Emerging Technologies and Global Politics Project
The Emerging Technologies and Global Politics Project is researching how a new generation of technologies is shaping global affairs, from how economies and societies function to the way that militaries will operate. This interdisciplinary, multi-method effort is led by Director and Richard Perry Professor Michael C. Horowitz and is composed of research teams studying the intersection of emerging technologies and global politics across a variety of different research areas.
