A century ago, the world experienced economic and social collapse from failing to respond to the pressures that innovation wrought upon trade.[1] A mere 13 years ago, the world skirted disaster during the Great Recession.[2] A scant two years ago, COVID devastated the global economy and more.[3] And now, war has erupted in Europe.[4] Each shock has eroded the confidence in nations to adequately protect individuals while the trade in identity grew at the expense of selective privacy. It is little wonder that a critical pivot point stands before us.
Now an echo of last century’s need for a global solution exists.[5] Nations must determine the new regulatory framework that establishes acceptable global practices on privacy and identity for individuals, market actors, nations, and international institutions.[6] As democratic and undemocratic systems adjust to the information and communication technology of today, a global race is underway redefine the dominant social contract between a nation and its citizens.[7] The dominant social contract will possess significant influence in the global competition for the vertical framework that will shape the horizontal regulatory framework among nations for generations to come. As President Biden’s first speech to the joint session of Congress noted: “We’re in competition with China and other countries to win the twenty-first century. We’re at an inflection point in history.”[8]
A generation ago, the United States and democracies defined the dominant social contract, its vertical framework, and in turn the international institutions that shaped the global economy of today.[9] When compared to fascism, Nazism, and communism, individuals selected a social contract for a democratic system in combination with capitalism to deliver individual security. However, the gradual emergence of corrupt authoritarian, oligarchy and socialist market economies threatens the dominant social contract position of democracy and capitalism. These threats further erode individual security and raise the stakes to address these challenges to global justice. The old metrics based on consumption and deregulation are no longer delivering an acceptable level of individual security to remain the dominant the social contract.[10]
Instead, the United States and democracies must establish the new metrics that will redefine the dominant social contract and generate the modern vertical regulatory framework. Then these nations must shape the horizontal framework for an international standard that delivers equitable access and appropriate treatment of individuals within the global network.[11] In other words, capitalist democracies must establish the Equitable Network Standard for the global economy.
In the words of Roosevelt “We have a chance, we citizens of the United States, to use our influence in favor of a more united and cooperating world. Whether we do so will determine, as far as it is in our power, the kind of lives our grandchildren can live.”[12] Individuals must be assured of selective privacy for themselves and security for their shared communities in the global network. An Equitable Network Standard built on sustainable metrics determined by democracies for justice in access to and treatment within the global economy can provide this assurance and deliver again for peace.
[1] See Rabindranath Tagore, The Essential Tagore, 170-182 (Fakrul Alan, et al. eds. 2011).
[2] See Shi-Ling Hsu, Capitalism and the Environment: A Proposal to Save the Planet, 32-33 (Cambridge University Press, eds. 2021).
[3] See Rachel D. Thrasher, et al. Policy Response to COVID-19: Lessons for the Global Trade and Investment Regime, 1 Boston University Global Development Policy Center (Nov. 2021).
[4] See https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/24/world/russia-attacks-ukraine (last visited Apr. 22, 2022).
[5] See Rabindranath Tagore, The Essential Tagore, 170-182 (Fakrul Alan, et al. eds. 2011).
[6] See Mathias Risse, A Précis of on Global Justice, with Emphasis on Implications for International Institutions, 54 B.C.L. Rev. 1037, 1048, 1056-57, 1061 (2013), http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/bclr/vol54/iss3/; Frank J. Garcia, Convergences: A Prospectus for Justice in a Global Market Society, 29 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 128, 129-30 (2016).
[7] See Frank J. Garcia, Convergences: A Prospectus for Justice in a Global Market Society, 29 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 128, 141, 150 (2016).
[8] President Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States, Joint Address at the United States Congress (Apr. 28, 2021) (transcript available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/).
[9] See International Financial Organization, Bretton Woods Documents – Riddle Comments on Bretton Woods Proposals – Comments, 1849648, WB IBRD/IDA STAFF-09-02, World Bank Group Archives, Washington, D.C., United States; President’s Special Message to the Congress urging adoption of the Bretton Woods proposals for an International Monetary Fund and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Bretton Woods Documents – Roosevelt Address to Congress on Bretton Woods – February 20, 1945 – United States Treasury – Washington, DC, 1849657, WB IBRD/IDA STAFF-09-02, World Bank Group Archives, Washington, D.C., United States.
[10] See Frank J. Garcia, Convergences: A Prospectus for Justice in a Global Market Society, 29 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 128, 141, 143 (2016).
[11] See Mathias Risse, A Précis of on Global Justice, with Emphasis on Implications for International Institutions, 54 B.C.L. Rev. 1037, 1048, 1056-57, 1061 (2013). http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/bclr/vol54/iss3/; Frank J. Garcia, Convergences: A Prospectus for Justice in a Global Market Society, 29 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 128, 129-30 (2016).
[12] See President’s Special Message to the Congress urging adoption of the Bretton Woods proposals for an International Monetary Fund and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Bretton Woods Documents – Roosevelt Address to Congress on Bretton Woods – February 20, 1945 – United States Treasury – Washington, DC, 1849657, WB IBRD/IDA STAFF-09-02, World Bank Group Archives, Washington, D.C., United States.
