9.5.4        The Advantages of Collaborative International Governance

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Collaborative international governance is the enforcement of international law instead of depending upon unilateral interventions by single countries or coalitions.  There are many political advantages in such a framework: 

·      Sensitive enforcement of a legal decision, taken after a formal transparent process, avoids losing the moral high ground. 

·      De-politicised published rules would be seen to be fairer than the current political ‘horse-trading’. 

·      Resisting a properly constituted law-enforcement intervention is not the same as resisting an unauthorised military threat from another country.  Whereas the latter has the effect of uniting the country to combat the threat (6.3.6), an authorised law-enforcement action is likely to be popular with at least some of the population. 

·      It would be able to avoid involving ex-colonial powers, whose presence can be a complication.

·      Each successful enforcement of the law strengthens its deterrent effect. 

·      A country which had been formally appointed to act as a "sheriff" for an issue would be acting on behalf of all the countries in the world, so it would not be significantly damaged politically; it would be less likely to be the target of adverse propaganda (7.4.3).

·      Countries would still be able to pursue unilateral agendas, but they would have to use persuasion rather than force – as envisaged in Joseph Nye’s concept of using ‘soft power’ (6.7.7.3).  They would find this to be much more successful: what has been referred to as “exemplarism” is a better strategy than exceptionalism and coercion.[1]

Countries which supported an international rule of law would be trading an imagined autonomy for real security with dignity.  A report by the National Defense University made “the core recommendation for the United States to offer China a framework of concepts and terms for integrated mutual restraint”.[2]  Strengthened international law would extend the principles of this bilateral thinking into a global framework.

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