Global Governance Journal comes to Leiden
A team of researchers based at Leiden has taken over the editorship of the journal Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations. For the first time, the journal will now be based outside the United States. The new Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor Alanna O'Malley from the Institute for History explains why it is significant that the journal is now located at Leiden.
Global Governance is an interdisciplinary, journal that highlights the expertise of leading scholars and practitioners in international cooperation and multilateralism. Topics covered include peace and security, development, human rights, and the environment. As the main organisation for global governance, the United Nations is regularly featured.
‘At the recent General Assembly session in September we saw the United Nations are in crisis’, O’Malley says. ‘It’s the first time in twenty years that anybody has seriously committed to reform. I think this makes it a really timely moment to take over the editorship of this journal. Brill was already the publisher so we have now come to Leiden completely.'
Different composition
Not only has that editorial team changed continents, but its composition also looks different. O'Malley works with colleagues from the Institute of History and the Institute of Security and Global Affairs in The Hague, alongside colleagues from the University of Oxford, Tama University in Japan and the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS). ‘The United Nations is often associated with the disciplines of political science and law,’ O'Malley explains. ‘This journal offers a chance to emphasise the interdisciplinary nature of global governance studies. By researching how these organizations have evolved and changed, we can learn from what we have done before, so history becomes a central part of our enquiries.’
First issue
The first issue of Global Governance under the new editorial team will be published at the end of this year. Readers can look forward to an article by a close associate of former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, an analysis of opportunities for reform and an introduction of the new team.