clipped from: www.antiwar.com-Jim Lobe
a new report by three US think tanks is calling on President-elect Barack Obama and other leaders to implement sweeping reforms in global governance
Strobe Talbott, president of the Washington-based Brookings Institution
Washington's own re-engagement with the international community by closing the Guantanamo Detention facility and affirm its commitment to uphold the Geneva Conventions and other laws of war in order to "reestablish itself as a good-faith partner".
give up their monopoly on the leadership of key global financial institutions, notably the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, and initiate reforms to the U.N. Security Council, including its expansion,
new Group of 16 that would replace the Group of Eight most industrialized countries as the main international forum to forge preliminary agreements on major global challenges, including dealing with the ongoing financial crisis, climate change, nuclear proliferation, and terrorism.
G-16 would include Brazil, China, India, South Africa, Mexico – or what the authors call the "Outreach 5" – and Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, or Nigeria
urgent action by both the G16 and Obama to stabilize the Middle East,
including immediate efforts to support an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement.
former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, Former Organization of African Unity Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim, and the EU's current foreign-policy chief, Javier Solana
also held consultations in Britain, Singapore, Berlin, Delhi, Beijing, Tokyo, Doha, and Mexico City.
including former national security advisers Samuel Berger (Bill Clinton) and Brent Scowcroft (Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush); former secretaries of state Lawrence Eagleburger and Madeleine Albright, who, along with Talbott, who served as deputy secretary of state under Clinton, were also on hand at the Plan's release. John Podesta, who served as Bill Clinton's chief of staff and is currently in charge of Obama's transition team, also served on the US advisory group.
The plan identifies four tracks
based on the "principle of responsible sovereignty"
The first track, "restoring credible American leadership",
"its commitment to a rule-based international system that rejects unilateralism and looks beyond military might,"
deliver "consistent and strong messages on international cooperation domestically and internationally"
The second track focuses on "revitalizing international institutions,"
US taking the lead in restraining the use of the veto in the UN Security Council
the governing boards of the IMF, the World Bank, and other international economic agencies would be restructured to reduce western dominance
The third track calls for action on specific global challenges faced by the international community,
to set targets for reducing greenhouse emissions
securing investments in nonpolluting technologies, adaptation, and rainforests;
reviving the nonproliferation regime
G16 "pre-negotiations" to reduce protectionist pressures and conclude the World Trade Organization's Doha Round to benefit poor countries.
Track Four focuses on resolving conflicts in the Greater Middle East
by intensifying existing diplomatic efforts with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, with the eventual goal of building a new security architecture for the region.
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