2: Rules of the Game- Global Governance and Citizenship
- Page ID
- 292355
This page is a draft and is under active development.
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Explain the concept of global governance and why it is essential in today’s interconnected world.
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Identify the roles of major institutions such as the United Nations (UN), World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank.
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Critique how power and inequality shape global rules and who benefits from them.
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Differentiate between formal and informal structures of global interaction.
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Evaluate the concept of global citizenship and consider its opportunities and limitations.
Welcome to the Rules of the Global Game
Think of the world as the ultimate multiplayer game. Each country is a “player” with its own strengths, strategies, and resources. But here’s the catch—there’s no single referee. Instead, there are overlapping sets of rules, agreements, and institutions trying to keep order. Some players get more say in shaping the rules than others, while millions of individuals—the “non-elite players”—often feel left out of the decision-making process.
This is the world of global governance: the messy, fascinating web of formal and informal structures that shape how states, corporations, and people interact across borders (Weiss, 2013). Unlike domestic politics, where governments create laws, global governance relies on negotiation, persuasion, and sometimes sheer power to get things done.

