The Global Governance Group is an international initiative bringing together academics, political leaders, and citizens worldwide to propose improvements in the global governance system in the light of the complex challenges of the 21st century.

Founded as the Club of Athens-Global Governance Group at the OECD by  Ambassador Kimon Valaskakis, our initiative is evolving into a partnership with the   City of Athens to jointly establish "The New School of Athens 2006".  

What is the New School of Athens? The New School of Athens (NSOA) aims at becoming a  21^st century version of Plato’s ancient Academy, focusing on issues of globalisation and the democratisation of world governance. In keeping with the tradition of the original School of Athens it will be a center of inter-ideological dialogue and a meeting place between opposing views of the world. In particular it will attempt to bring together the “free market” vision of globalisation, as exemplified by the World Economic Forum (Davos) and the alternate views of sustainable development, expressed by the World Social Forum (Porto Allegre).

Why a new initiative? The principal goal of the NSOA is to explore new ways to govern our world. This objective is based on the idea that the world is presently “institutionally mismanaged” namely that current global governance institutions are inadequate to meet today’s challenges and even less tomorrow’s. Our contemporary world order was designed at the end of the Second World War with the creation of the United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions and the larger “multilateral system” composed of many intergovernmental organizations like the WTO, the OECD, NATO, the European Union etc. This System designed to meet the problems of 1945 is proving less and less capable to face the challenges of 2005, hence the severe institutional mismanagement. One of the NSOA’s aims is to propose small and large changes to this multilateral system, including but not limited to United Nations Reform.

On this website you will find information on the organizational structure and activities of the Global Governance Group. You will also find a wide selection of articles, reports and data on the main issues facing the global community including initiatives aiming to deal with global challenges. As a way to maintain strategic focus, we will track progress on important topics and initiatives in order to respond to emerging issues and events that touch on them.  Additionally, you will find stake-holder sector projects to see how the public sector, private sector and civil society activities enhance and promote global governance. 

Do not hesitate to contact us to suggest other contributions related to global issues and publications to post on this site.

In the near future, our website will also feature online activities, such as a forum for discussion and questionnaires on global governance issues.