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International Affairs: Global Governance

Learn the importance of global governance and explore the processes and institutions finding solutions for global challenges.

9,324 enrolled on this course

Flags representing nation-states
  • Duration

    4 weeks
  • Weekly study

    3 hours

Understand the fundamentals of global governance

Countries across the globe are increasingly linked and dependent on each other. This can lead to tensions and confusion. This course will give you a compass to navigate our interconnected world.

You’ll learn all about global governance, which aims for increased cooperation between nations, and why it’s vital. You will also explore the complex processes and institutions aiming at managing global challenges and issues, learning how the large variety of stakeholders can make global governance a tricky job.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 15 seconds Each year, several thousands of meetings gathering hundreds of thousands of individuals representing governments as well as private entities take place across the globe to discuss problems such as climate change, trade liberalisation, investment protection, migration flows, security threats, or the safety of consumer goods.

Skip to 0 minutes and 38 seconds Many of these meetings occur under the auspices of hundreds of international organisations and in accordance with the rules from thousands of international treaties. Some of these meetings aim at making new rules or amending existing ones, while others focus on the implementation of and compliance with those rules. How do we make sense of all these initiatives to make the world a better place? This course will push you to unleash your critical thinking on that question and practise it within a social learning environment.

Skip to 1 minute and 10 seconds You will explore and navigate the complexity of international affairs, which means that you will discover the visible and the invisible in international processes of governance, evaluate the tractable and untractable dimensions of global problems, discuss the respective contribution of the private and public sectors in providing solutions to difficult challenges. On the practical side, you really identify a toolkit of global regulation and learn to use it to address complex problems.

What topics will you cover?

  • The visible and invisible: international summits and norms of global governance.
  • The global regulatory toolkit : hard law and soft law
  • Blended governance mechanisms
  • Beyond state to state solutions: public-private partnerships

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Explore why an interconnected world needs global governance
  • Identify the variety of stakeholders in global governance
  • Assess different types of rules and regulation at the international level

Who is the course for?

This course has been created for those either studying, or with an interest in, subjects such as social sciences or economics, international studies, political science, economics, history, anthropology, sociology or development studies. It might also be of interest to junior professionals in world affairs.

What do people say about this course?

I found this to be a very informative course

"I found this to be a very informative course that made me learn about political aspects of the world not previously considered."

Thank you for your well-documented and complete course.

"Thank you for your well-documented and complete course. The globalisation & global governance are the main topics that will be the key to understand & anticipate the next years & decades."

Who will you learn with?

I am a Professor of International Relations/Political Science and Director of Executive Education at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

Who developed the course?

The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies is an institution of research and higher education dedicated to the study of world affairs.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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