“No Country, No Matter How Powerful…Can Control the Forces of Globalization on Its Own”

Economic crisis will leave no part of the globe untouched, yet it also offers widespread opportunity for citizens to assess priorities. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urges nations to select priorities that reshape and improve the world for the common good: "For the roots of this crisis go beyond an abject failure of financial governance and neglect of warnings of the risks being run," Annan writes for the Times in London. "Connections between economies have been revealed which were clearly not fully understood, let alone regulated." No country can control or avoid the powerful forces of globalization, and Annan urges full cooperation from all countries, a multilateral approach. "The only lasting and effective solutions to the challenges we face will be those which have the security, opportunity and welfare of all at their heart," Annan notes. "Fairness and equity can no longer be an afterthought. No one's stability, security and prosperity can be guaranteed unless we strive to tackle the gross inequality of wealth, opportunity and influence in our world." Current political structures have failed to address today' challenges, let alone tomorrow's, and immediate acceptance of a new paradigm, as well as global cooperation, is the only way to leave a better world for future generations. – YaleGlobal