Out of the ashes? Reflecting on the future of global governance

The often contradictory picture that emerges with regard to the G7 has much to teach us about the current state and future development of global governance in general. The tension that arises between the significant progress on matters of substance and process shown in the evolution of the G7 is coupled with increasing demands and widening gaps, as a result of the growing complexity of the challenges faced by multilateral fora and rising expectations when it comes to issues of legitimacy. Similarly, sharp criticism and contestation directed at the European Union or the International Monetary Fund should not lead to reductive diagnoses of global collapse. These phenomena could rather be interpreted as an indication of how the globalization process is broadening and evolving at a far greater pace than its founding institutions ever envisaged, and may not be necessarily incompatible with the order itself. Reflecting on how one conceives this global contestation, this concluding chapter considers some alternative scenarios on what the future might hold, along with a tentative basis for further research on these matters.