Globalization and Summit Reform: An Experiment in International Governance

Ever since I was a graduate student at the University of Chicago in October 1962, I have been interested in challenges at the global scale that could affect the future of humanity. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought home to me how vulnerable we are. Indeed it brought home that we could be dead from causes thousands of miles away with a warning of a maximum of thirty minutes. It was obvious the world was becoming smaller. As I looked out the window from my apartment in Chicago, I could see ch- dren of school age at play in the alley – despite it being a weekday. They weren’t in school. One rarely saw adult men with them – only women. What con- quences would that bring? Not far away was the headquarters of a strange group calling themselves the Black Moslems. There was a palpable anger that radiated from there. Where would this lead? Was there not a breaking point in how much difference in wealth and general well-being could be tolerated? I became increasingly interested in international politics, in particular about how we governed ourselves through international institutions and international law. Hans Morgenthau emphasized to us the importance of national interests. It became clear to me that governments needed interests as an incentive to act, c- tainly if there were important consequences in acting. Values were important but were not a sufficient condition.