Does the world need a government?

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019.

A recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas festival on Saturday 2 November 2019.

From climate change to tax evasion, humanity’s biggest challenges are increasingly global. Many of those frustrated by our lack of progress on these issues argue for some form of world government. If the United Nations, or some similar body, had real power over national governments, global agreements could be made and enforced. But others argue that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for seven billion people to hold a world government to account. Indeed, many find the idea of a world government sinister. Nevertheless, can we really solve our global problems without global political institutions?

SPEAKERS

ANDREAS BUMMEL
executive director, Democracy without Borders; co-author,
 A World Parliament: governance and democracy in the 21st century

IAN CRAWFORD
professor of planetary science and astrobiology, Birkbeck College, University of London

MARY KALDOR
emeritus professor of global governance, LSE; director, Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit, LSE; author, Global Security Cultures, Global Civil Society

DR TARA MCCORMACK
lecturer, international politics, University of Leicester

CHAIR: ROB LYONS
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cience and technology director, Academy of Ideas; convenor, AoI Economy Forum

Produced by Ian Crawford and Rob Lyons