The Globalisation of Risk in the XXI^st Century

Abstract

For better or for worse, in the connected world of today, there are new kinds of risk which are not consistent with national sovereignty or, indeed, with regional decisiontaking, but require a global approach. Whilst economic arguments linked to the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises favour devolution and regionalisation of the economy, some pressures of risk assessment drive the other way, towards decision taking at a higher, international level. The combination of these two forces makes the nation-state and its traditional centralisation appear archaic in the world of today. The present comment is an attempt to summarise arguments based on risk which drive towards a more international approach.