Core Knowledge Program

Becoming a Global Governance Expert

In addition to specific research supporting the implementation projects, OEF has a research program actively investigating key elements of our "Peace through Governance" argument.  The research conducted by OEF is organized in seven distinct research tracks. We list them below along with the kinds of questions we are investigating.

1. The relationship between peace and governance

• What specific forms or conditions of governance predict peace?
• Is the relationship between peace and governance stronger at a specific level of governance such as the state or sub-state level?
• What is the mechanism by which governance leads to peace?

2. Business and global governance

• Why should business participate in global governance organizations?
• When does business profit from peace and stability and when does it not?
• Does effective global governance improve business efficiency?

3. Trends and pressures encouraging global governance

• What conditions predict the formation of global governance systems?
• What predicts the success or failure of global governance systems?

4. The structure of effective governance organizations

• What internal policies and procedures (e.g. funding, hierarchy, decision-making procedures, identification of stakeholders, etc.) maximize mission effectiveness?
• What common organizational elements appear across existing global, regional, and sub-stategovernance organizations?
• What motivates organizations and other stakeholders to join governance organizations?

5. Theory of global governance

• What is the relationship between global governance organizations and the state?
• Can nonstate actors be considered sovereign over specific domains?
• How do global governance organizations achieve legitimacy?

6. States and global governance

• What are the limits of states in addressing modern global problems?
• When, why, and how do states agree to form state-based governance systems or participate with nonstate actors in global governance?
• When, why, and how do states act as spoilers to prevent the formation of global governance organizations?

7. Evolution of governance

• Under what boundary conditions is cooperation more effective in the long term than competition?
• Are there evolved predispositions in humans that support the boundary conditions for cooperation?
• How do social animals and social systems begin to cooperate rather than compete?