Can Institutions Save the World? Neoliberal Institutionalist Perspective on Global Governance

Liberal institutionalism has traditionally emphasized the need for institutional arrangements to initiate and sustain cooperation among states. The theory regenerated much interest in the capacity and potential of global governance structures, for stable international cooperation and peaceful coexistence in the post-cold war world. During the last 30 years the world has witnessed a revolution in governance, both private and public, in the areas that have been filled with regulatory bodies, loose initiatives, regimes, ephemeral and more persistent forms of governance whose political activity in most cases takes place outside the channels of formal politics. This should not, however, overshadow the fact that global organizations designed to address global problems are increasingly incapable of managing the instabilities created by global interdependence. This article explores the relationship between neoliberal conceptualisations of the international affairs, state power and global governance, analysing the features of the current geopolitical transition and its possible consequences for the liberal world order.