Imagine that we could build "start-up countries" and escape limiting, outdated forms of governance that hold people back. "Seasteading", according to its advocates, has the promise to do this, creating new "spaces for human freedom".
Imagine too governance structures more flexible and more relevant to our times. This is the daunting challenge that Mark Malloch-Brown addressed head-on in The Unfinished Global Revolution, which he discussed compellingly at the Carnegie Council (see transcript) and on Start the Week back in 2011. Malloch-Brown argued that national governments are no longer equipped to address complex international issues and that, as the world has become more integrated, we have also become less governed, even though if we are to tackle challenges such as poverty, international terrorism, climate change and the reform of the financial system, stronger global institutions are needed that revive, rather than replace, national governments.
See also: The Unfinished Global Revolution, Observer review