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| Madeleine Albright, former U.S. secretary of state |
In a world
marked by increasing interdependence, technological innovation and rising
inequality, Madeleine Albright believes many of the international development
institutions of the past are failing to keep up with the changes.
“Many of
the institutions on which we have long depended are beginning to show their
age,” the former U.S. secretary of state said Tuesday at the Inter-American Development Bank’s Demand
Solutions conference in Washington, D.C. “Our postwar institutions simply move
too slowly for a world that spins at Internet speed. The result is a kind of ad
hocery in global affairs.”
The concern
today, she explained, should be over how little power institutions like the
United Nations actually wield. Those institutions are reacting too slowly and
in some cases are being outpaced by the rise of nonstate actors — not just
terrorists, but also nongovernmental organizations, pension funds and
multinational corporations — who make decisions that are shaping the future.
“I’m not
saying we should just put nonstate actors at every decision-making table, but
the international system has not yet adjusted to the impact of these agents of
change,” Albright said.
The private
sector, she added, has an important role to play in the coming years in sorting
through today’s conflicts, inequality gaps and stagnant growth, as business can
provide the know-how, innovation and job creation that will invigorate
communities and countries.
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