After listening to the
soliloquy this week, and reading through the articles I have a greater
appreciation for the role global businesses play in the world, and how are more
than just the caricatures of profit monger or engine of growth and happiness. I
know that we will get to this question in part later on, however I have to
wonder now, if we are to truly hold the business world accountable in the
global sphere, do we not need a public international regime to do so? We read
about countries who were unable to adequately respond to economic actors in
their countries because they lack institutions or are just overwhelmed; is that
not a similar situation at the global level? Is the current global governance
enough to regulate and provide oversight to an increasingly complex web of
global business, or is a global government the only way to do so?
I tend to agree with
Christine that states often tend to look the other way and neglect to enforce
rules on international companies unless it directly harms them (the state); and
honestly that isn’t something which should surprise anyone. Having the U.S.
enforce its regulations on GE’s Bangladesh division doesn’t make a whole lot of
sense, so I am left wondering if there is a viable solution short of a global
entity with the enforcement authority to move against companies who violate a
set of agreed upon international norms. And if this is the only solution, how
would we even get that international governance regime? I recognize there is a
problem, but is there a viable solution?
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